Good point Swift.

 

Also, to all of you who think he is an a**hole (he probably is, but Ive never met the man so I dont know) I do know first hand some good that he did that doesnt get talked about alot or mentioned.

 

When I lived in Tampa, for two years in middle school a little league baseball complex in a league I was in, burned down....Steinbrenner paid to have a new one put up.

 

Also, we didnt have middle school athletics the year before I went to middle school in Tampa. Steinbrenner put up the funding to have middle school sports in a variety of different sports grades 6-8.

 

Those two gestures will always stay with me.

 

I'm sure the guy has a good side too. My comments are more related to the way he handles himself with his staff, public, etc.

Really?

 

I couldn't stomach working for the guy.

 

Just exactly what makes him the best owner? The fact he owns a baseball team with the largest market?

 

The fact that he will spend what it takes to win.

 

The fact that he funded his own new stadium (wouldn't that be nice Marlin fans?).

 

The fact that he saved the Yankees from CBS.

 

The fact that your team will have a chance to win it every year by the team he puts out on the field.

 

The man wants to win first and foremost over alot of owners who hide money in private accounts.

 

The guy has more money coming out of the Yankees than he know what to do with. And he's pissing a lot of it away.

 

You need to level the playing field before you can declare him the best of the 30 owners in baseball.

 

You could put more than 1/2 the other owners in his situation and they may spend just as much to field a good team, or they may meddle quite a bit less and let the guys who know what they're doing build a stronger team more economically. They would likely praise their staff and players and allow a pressure free, winning atmosphere to build in the clubhouse.

 

Steinbrenner is a cancer in New York who only wins as much as he does because he is throwing money at the problem with little sense of how to do it right.

 

I usually see eye to eye with you on just about everything, but I don't think you could be more wrong about Steinbrenner.

 

He's not as wealthy individually as Carl Pohlad of the Twins or Arte Moreno of the Angels or a few other owners (I think Henry, too), but here's the thing, he takes all of the money from the Yankees and tunnels it back into the team.

 

Does it help that he's got one of the four major logos that generates around $1 billion in annual income? Sure, but that doesn't mean he simply takes the profit and proclaims himself happy, he's constantly investing in his onfield product, turning them into less of a sports team and more of an icon.

 

You could say he's manaical, you could say he's demented, but he is not a cancer...he's one of the bright spots of the Yankee organization. Do you think any other owner in sports would have done what he did to get ARod? Heck, the Red Sox needed a short-stop like ARod and they couldn't close the deal, and they have just as many resources as the Yankees. Steinbrenner is simply on his own level when it comes to being an owner. Perhaps comparing his team to that of the hapless Rockies or Marlins is unfair, but to say that he is at such an overwhelming advantage is unfair...there are 4 or 5 teams that could easily keep up with the Yankees (Mets, Red Sox, Angels, Dodgers, Twins) but choose not to, or go about it in the wrong way, or try to do so on a "budget" (which is laughable when you have the kind of money/attendance/market that those teams do at their disposal).

 

Steinbrenner may not be the nicest guy, but that doesn't make him a bad owner.

Do you remember how much a hole the Yankees organization was in when it was owned by CBS?

 

He invested (yes invest, a term not understood by most baseball owners) to get his team to win and get to a higher level.

 

An owner's job is to make money and make his product the best it can be, and Steinbrenner does just that.

 

He helped revolutionize the economics of sports. He didnt just make the Yankees a team, he made them an empire and a brand. He got them their own network.

 

He is the best there is at what an owner is supposed to do. Make money and spend money.

 

 

With Yankee fans, we have a love/hate relationship with the Boss. We love his deep pockets and commitment to winning, but HATE his meddling in baseball operations.

 

Does anyone remember the hard-on he had for Hideki Irabu? :mischief

 

And the Boss also had a hard on for David Ortiz when he only cost a cool million.

 

But enough with defending the Yankees, my stomach is beginning to churn.

Talk about an owner being too involved?

 

After the Yankees were upset by the Florida Marlins in the 2003 World Series, Steinbrenner froze out Cashman, ignoring the GM?s opinion that the team needed to get younger and focus on strengthening its pitching staff. The Marlins had a speedy young leadoff man, Juan Pierre, who made the Yankees? offense look ponderous. So Steinbrenner went about getting his own fast leadoff hitter, signing free agent Kenny Lofton?even though, at 37, Lofton was slowing and the Yankees had nowhere to play him in the outfield. Cashman was kept in the dark. In fact, Towers, the Padres general manager, knew more about the Yankees? interest in Lofton than Cashman did. ?I asked him, ?Cash, are you guys on Lofton?? He said, ?Sh*t, I don?t know. I guess. I haven?t heard,? ? Towers says. ?That makes it tough as a GM?not knowing who your team is after.?

 

 

By December, Cashman?s unhappiness was such an open secret that the Post quoted friends saying the GM wanted out. Steinbrenner responded the next day?by exercising an option to extend Cashman?s contract for another year, without saying a word to Cashman about it.

 

?If you take the most confident person in the world, and you whisper in their ear long enough, You can?t, you can?t, you can?t, then even the most confident person in the world will eventually walk around and say, ?Well, maybe I can?t,? ? says a friend of Cashman?s. ?That?s what happened with Brian.?

 

 

 

you can read the rest of the story here

Do you remember how much a hole the Yankees organization was in when it was owned by CBS?

 

He invested (yes invest, a term not understood by most baseball owners) to get his team to win and get to a higher level.

 

An owner's job is to make money and make his product the best it can be, and Steinbrenner does just that.

 

He helped revolutionize the economics of sports. He didnt just make the Yankees a team, he made them an empire and a brand. He got them their own network.

 

He is the best there is at what an owner is supposed to do. Make money and spend money.

you put it really well.

 

i don't like the guy, but he's done a hell of a job as an owner.

I usually see eye to eye with you on just about everything, but I don't think you could be more wrong about Steinbrenner.

 

He's not as wealthy individually as Carl Pohlad of the Twins or Arte Moreno of the Angels or a few other owners (I think Henry, too), but here's the thing, he takes all of the money from the Yankees and tunnels it back into the team.

 

Does it help that he's got one of the four major logos that generates around $1 billion in annual income? Sure, but that doesn't mean he simply takes the profit and proclaims himself happy, he's constantly investing in his onfield product, turning them into less of a sports team and more of an icon.

 

You could say he's manaical, you could say he's demented, but he is not a cancer...he's one of the bright spots of the Yankee organization. Do you think any other owner in sports would have done what he did to get ARod? Heck, the Red Sox needed a short-stop like ARod and they couldn't close the deal, and they have just as many resources as the Yankees. Steinbrenner is simply on his own level when it comes to being an owner. Perhaps comparing his team to that of the hapless Rockies or Marlins is unfair, but to say that he is at such an overwhelming advantage is unfair...there are 4 or 5 teams that could easily keep up with the Yankees (Mets, Red Sox, Angels, Dodgers, Twins) but choose not to, or go about it in the wrong way, or try to do so on a "budget" (which is laughable when you have the kind of money/attendance/market that those teams do at their disposal).

 

Steinbrenner may not be the nicest guy, but that doesn't make him a bad owner.

 

 

What really got to me is the notion that Steinbrenner is the "best" owner in baseball. Sure I'm willing to give him credit for reinvesting a good portion of his $1B in revenue back into the team. But who's to say Loria (or a number of other MLB owners) wouldn't do the same thing if they had that kind of dough?

 

But, is spending $$$ lavishly on his team the only criteria for being the "best" owner? I place greater value on the way an owner treats his employees, on the way he works to instill teamwork and pride amongst his organization. Steinbrenner is completely disrespectful to most everyone who works or plays for him. It's all about George. He's egocentric and as you stated likely maniacal and demented.

 

Personally, I'd rate Loria much higher. He also wants to field a winning team, and is doing all he can given his financial constraints. Loria's character is head and shoulders above Steinbrenner's, and Loria is a much better owner, IMHO.

So you base how good an owner is on the fact that he treats his co-workers well and not championships and revenue?

So you base how good an owner is on the fact that he treats his co-workers well and not championships and revenue?

 

 

Hmm. I wouldn't put it quite like that.

 

The point I'm making is I believe other owners in the league could have done more with the Yankees than Steinbrenner. His disrespect of his players and employees has created ill will throughout his organization. His meddling has cost him championships. You give a guy like Cashman (or Beinfest for that matter) $230M and let him spend it anyway HE wants and I believe the team he builds would have no holes in the rotation, bullpen or lineup. Not only that, but he probably doesn't even need the full $230M to get the job done.

Really?

 

I couldn't stomach working for the guy.

 

Just exactly what makes him the best owner? The fact he owns a baseball team with the largest market?

i totally agree. it seems like you have to walk on eggshells working for him. im sorry but the public humiliation and statements he issues to the public are highly unprofessional and pretty much overreactions on his part.