Remember George Steinbrenner

Every sports fan knows who George Steinbrenner was. He’s as famous as generic Viagra. To most of us, he was more than a simple man and his name is still associated with the legacy he left to the world of sports. Unfortunately, George Steinbrenner passed away on July 13th, 2010. His death was caused by a heart attack, on the same day of the 81st All-Star Game. If you are one of his fans, read more about his career and about what he left behind to sport generations to come.

Who was George Steinbrenner anyway? This man was the main owner of the New York Yankees. Also, he was one of the managing partners of the team and one of the characters in the TV comedy, Seinfeld. As far as his sports career is concerned, George Steinbrenner owned the New York Yankees for 37 years, starting on 1973 and until his death, making it the longest ownership in the club’s history. One of his most important legacies is the success of his team during his ownership which translates into 7 World Series won and 11 pennants. Moreover, this man was also involved in the Great Lakes industry. George Steinbrenner was also known as “The Boss”, a nickname that he received due to his intensive involvement in what concerned his team. He is remembered as the manager and owner who was willing to interfere with daily decisions and the “boss” who liked hiring and firing and sometime re-hiring managers of the team. One of the former managers of the New York Yankees, Dallas Green also used to call him “Manager George” due to the same reasons.

But perhaps what we remember most about George Steinbrenner is what he did for baseball out of passion. Steinbrenner revolutionized the baseball industry. He was the first owner to ever sell TV cable rights. MSG Network purchased this right from him. Moreover, in the 1997, “The Boss” signed a contract with Adidas for nearly $100 million. Also, as there were divergences between him and MSG Network in what concerned the fee the network had to pay, The New York Yankees came up with their own cable network, called YES Network. Perhaps one of his greatest achievement is making the Yankees a $1.2 billion business, while their initial franchise was worth $10 million.

George Steinbrenner was also one of Seinfeld’s most iconic characters. Always voiced-over and seen only from the back of his head during meetings or asking for a calzone, George Costanza’s boss was a recurrent and fun character that made Constanza’s job for the Yankees one humorous adventure. George Steinbrenner will always be remembered as a great man, entrepreneur and above all baseball fanatic.

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