George Steinbrenner: The Boss who changed the Yankees, MLB

Position	Owner, New York Yankees
Active years	1973–2010
Date of Birth	July 4, 1930
Native place	Bay Village, Ohio, United States
World Champions	×5 (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2009)
Full name	George Michael Steinbrenner III
Nickname	The Boss

The Bio

On January 3, 1973, a group led by George Steinbrenner paid $8.8 million to CBS for the New York Yankees. But he turned the Yankees into a billion-dollar sports empire with his big bank account and “win at all costs” mentality. Today, 50 years after that eventful day and 12 years after George’s death, the Yankees are worth $7.1 billion and are the richest team in baseball. George Steinbrenner ruled with an obsessive eye for detail. He kept an eye on everything, from trades to the air blowers that kept his ballparks clean. George changed the franchise and sports in general by starting his own TV network and ballpark food company. In 2009, George Steinbrenner moved the Yankees from the historic “House that Ruth Built” to the new $1.5 billion Yankee Stadium. His creativity and drive helped the Yankees win 27 championships, 40 American League pennants, and more championships than any other professional team in North American sports history.

George Steinbrenner was loved for his kind heart and willingness to help others, but he was also a controversial businessman. This was because he was the best owner in baseball, if not all of sports. People liked The Boss because of what he did for charity, how loyal his players were to him, and how well he took care of his players. But George Steinbrenner was never liked because he did things that were controversial and got into fights with managers and players over words. His character was like a fierce rival who expected to win the pennant after putting money into good players.

Early Life

George Michael Steinbrenner III was born on July 4, 1930, in Rocky River, Ohio. He was the only son of Rita and Henry George Steinbrenner II, who spent his early childhood in this western suburb of Cleveland. On his maternal side, he was Irish and on his paternal side, he was of German descent.

Henry was a world-class track and field hurdler while he was at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He graduated in 1927 with a degree in engineering and was the top student in Naval architecture. He could have trained for the 1928 Olympics, but his girlfriend Rita Haley gave him a choice — either to marry her or to go to the Games. Later, the older Steinbrenner became a wealthy shipping magnate. He inherited his family business, which ran freight ships on the Great Lakes hauling ore and grain. George III was named after his paternal grandfather, George Michael Steinbrenner II, who took over a shipping business from his father-in-law. Henry called the house “The Anchorage.” A generation later, George used the same name for his house in Tampa, Florida, near where the Yankees train for spring training.

Even during the Great Depression, George Steinbrenner had a comfortable childhood, but he often told the story of how his father refused to give him an allowance and instead gave him chickens instead. George Steinbrenner made money by selling eggs to his Bay Village neighbors.

George Steinbrenner went to Culver Military Academy in northern Indiana in 1944 and graduated in 1948. In 1952, he got his Bachelor of Arts from Williams College. George was a normal student at Williams who did a lot of things outside of school. He was in a group called Delta Kappa Epsilon. He was a good hurdler on the varsity track and field team. George Steinbrenner was also the sports editor of The Williams Record, played the piano in the band, and played halfback on the football team in his senior year.

After he graduated, George Steinbrenner joined the U.S. Air Force. He was made a second lieutenant and sent to Lockbourne Air Force Base in Columbus, Ohio. After getting out of the military on good terms in 1954, he went to Ohio State University to get his master’s degree in physical education. He met his future wife, Elizabeth there. He married her on May 12, 1956. Hank and Hal were their sons, and Jessica Steinbrenner and Jennifer Steinbrenner-Swindal were their daughters.

George Steinbrenner’s road to business success

In 1957, George Steinbrenner joined Kinsman Marine Transit Company, the Great Lakes transportation firm that his great-grandfather acquired in 1901 from The Minch Transit Company, which was held by a family cousin, and renamed Kinsman Marine Transit Company. Steinbrenner worked tirelessly to effectively resuscitate the firm, which was struggling in adverse market circumstances. Kinsman prioritized grain exports above ore in its return to prosperity. Later, George Steinbrenner was part of a group that bought the American Shipbuilding Corporation, and in 1967, he was named chairman and CEO. By 1972, the company’s yearly total sales had surpassed $100 million.

Steinbrenner in sports business

George Steinbrenner joined the sports franchise business for the first time in 1960, against his father’s desires, with the Cleveland Pipers of the National Industrial Basketball Association (NIBL). Steinbrenner recruited John McClendon, the first African American coach in professional basketball, and convinced Jerry Lucas to join his club rather than the rival National Basketball Association. In 1961, the Pipers moved to the new professional ABL, which was formed by Abe Saperstein, owner of the Harlem Globetrotters. McClendon quit in protest midway through the season as the league and its clubs ran into financial difficulties. The Pipers, on the other hand, had won the first half of a divided season. George Steinbrenner replaced McClendon with Bill Sharman, a former Boston Celtics standout, and the Pipers won the ABL title in 1961-62. The ABL collapsed just months into its second season in December 1962. Steinbrenner and his partners lost a lot of money on the deal, but Steinbrenner eventually paid off all of his creditors and partners.

With his budding sporting ambitions put on hold, George Steinbrenner turned to the theater. His Broadway career started with The Ninety Day Mistress, a short-lived 1967 production in which he collaborated with another rookie producer, James M. Nederlander. Although Nederlander immersed himself in his family’s company full-time, Steinbrenner only invested in a half-dozen plays, including Seesaw, a 1974 Tony Award candidate for Best Musical, and Legs Diamond, a 1988 Peter Allen disaster.

The Yankees bid

The Yankees had struggled throughout their time under CBS ownership, which took over the franchise in 1965. CBS chairman William S. Paley informed team president E. Michael Burke in 1972 that the media giant planned to sell the club. Steinbrenner, who had been an investor in Buffalo’s unsuccessful 1969 Major League Baseball expansion effort and had engaged in a failed attempt to acquire the Cleveland Indians from Vernon Stouffer a year earlier, was brought together with Burke by experienced baseball executive Gabe Paul.

George Steinbrenner and minority partner Burke led a group of investors in acquiring the Yankees from CBS on January 3, 1973. During a press conference announcing the sale of the Yankees, Steinbrenner was presented. For many years, the asking price was stated as $10 million. Nevertheless, Steinbrenner subsequently disclosed that the agreement included two parking garages purchased from the city by CBS, and that shortly after the deal concluded, CBS purchased the structures back for $1.2 million. The Yankees’ net cost to the group was therefore $8.8 million.

The 1973 off-season would remain contentious as George Steinbrenner and Paul argued for the hiring of former Oakland Athletics manager Dick Williams, who had left immediately after guiding the club to its second World Series win in a row. The following legal wrangle, however, prohibited the Yankees from employing Williams since he was still under contract to Oakland. The Yankees selected former Pittsburgh Pirates manager Bill Virdon to command the club on the first anniversary of the franchise’s ownership shift.

The reign

George Steinbrenner imposed a strict grooming rule, prohibiting players, coaches, and male executives from sporting any facial hair other than mustaches, and scalp hair from growing below the collar. The policy resulted in several unexpected and amusing situations.

At the 1973 home opener against the Cleveland Indians, when the Yankees stood at attention for the National Anthem with their caps off, George Steinbrenner, who was in the owner’s box adjacent to the New York dugout, saw that numerous players’ hair was too long for his standards. He scribbled down the uniform numbers of the offenders Thurman Munson, Bobby Murcer, and Sparky Lyle and had the list, along with the requirement that their hair be clipped immediately, given to the manager since he didn’t yet know their identities. The command was delivered to the players hesitantly. Once Don Mattingly was benched for not adhering to this diktat.

During the 1980 season, the Yankees signed Dave Winfield to a 10-year, $23 million deal, making him the costliest ever player in baseball. But Steinbrenner slammed Winfield’s poor performance in a crucial September series against the Toronto Blue Jays in 1985. This critique got somewhat out of date as many felt Steinbrenner made the comments after the 1981 World Series. Part of his remark prompted Ken Griffey Jr. to say that the Yankees were one of the teams he would never play for. In 2001, Winfield cited Steinbrenner’s hatred as a factor in his choice to join the Hall of Fame as a representative of his original club, the San Diego Padres, rather than the team that propelled him to national prominence, the Yankees.

George Steinbrenner also stoked a controversy after the Yankees’ World Series defeat in 1981. After a Game 3 defeat in Los Angeles, Steinbrenner held a news conference in his hotel room, displaying his left hand in a cast and other injuries he said were sustained in a fight with two Dodgers supporters in the hotel elevator. Nobody came forward regarding the brawl, leading to speculation that he made up the tale to inflame the Yankees. After the series, he offered a public apology to New York City for his team’s performance, while promising supporters that work to assemble the squad for 1982 would begin immediately. He was roundly chastised by both players and the press for doing so since most people believed losing the World Series did not need an apology.

The suspension

A Washington Star writer called Jim Polk noticed inconsistencies in political contributions to the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP), which turned out to be a slush fund for the Watergate burglars and others. George Steinbrenner had participated in the unlawful practice of straw contributions, in which he gave checks to workers who subsequently gave the money to CREEP. To bypass campaign contribution limitations, $100,000 was contributed in different amounts.

George Steinbrenner pled guilty in 1974 to felony charges of illicit political donations and misdemeanor obstruction of justice for deleting records linked to the checks. He was fined $15,000 and given to probation, and his criminal record prompted Billy Martin to famously declare of Reggie Jackson and Steinbrenner, “One’s a born liar, the other’s convicted!”

The Cardinals’ owner, Fred Saigh, was the only other MLB owner who had been convicted of a felony up to that time. 49 Commissioner Bowie Kuhn was more compassionate, banning George Steinbrenner for two years before returning him at the start of the 1976 season after a 15-month suspension so he could attend the inauguration of the freshly refurbished Yankee Stadium. Ronald Reagan pardoned Steinbrenner for his misdeeds on his last day as president in 1989.

The big bang signings

George Steinbrenner had entered a new league. By the end of 1975, arbitrator Peter Seitz effectively overturned Major League Baseball’s reserve clause, paving the way for free agency and Steinbrenner was determined to exploit it. The Yankees had already signed Catfish Hunter, who had become a free agent prior to the Seitz verdict due to the Athletics’ violation of contract.

Everything improved for the Yankees in 1976, thanks to new ownership and a fully refurbished Yankee Stadium. In his second season as manager in the Bronx, Billy Martin pulled an MVP season out of Thurman Munson, the Yankees’ first captain since Lou Gehrig in the 1930s. In 1977, the Yankees stumbled out of the gate amid squabbles between Jackson — the self-proclaimed straw that stirred the drink — Munson, Martin, and George Steinbrenner, who was still residing in Cleveland at the time, attending to his family’s shipping business. The Yankees trailed the AL East by five games as late as August 7, 1977, but went on a spree after that, winning 27 of their next 30 games to seize the lead. The Yankees won the division for the second consecutive year and then defeated the Royals in the ALCS for the second consecutive year. This time, the Los Angeles Dodgers awaited them in the World Series, reigniting a rivalry that was one of baseball’s finest in the 1950s. The Yankees won the World Series in six games, with Reggie Jackson hitting three home runs against three different pitchers in the last game.

By the early 1980s, George Steinbrenner had become a full-fledged celebrity. He’d worked with Martin on Miller Lite commercials and was frequent at upscale New York eateries like Elaine’s. Four years after Greenfield savaged Steinbrenner in New York, Marie Brenner kissed him in the same journal in 1981.

“He came out of Cleveland, an almost-nobody with some riches and a bullyboy demeanor, and brought back to the New York Yankees the power and glitter that had once made them legendary.”

The Yankees added Dave Winfield to their lineup before to the 1981 season. Yogi Berra was hired after the 1983 season and fired 16 games into the 1985 season. George Steinbrenner’s 12th change in management in 11 years happened when Yogi Berra left.

Winfield’s 10-year contract with the Yankees included an annual payment to Winfield’s charitable foundation. George Steinbrenner thought that the money and foundation were being mismanaged. In 1989, Steinbrenner and Winfield each sued the other over payments to a foundation. A former volunteer for the foundation, Howard Spira, offered to confirm Steinbrenner’s suspicions—for a price. Steinbrenner paid Spira $40,000 in 1990. When these deals were found out, Commissioner Fay Vincent, who went to Williams with Steinbrenner, banned him from baseball for life. Vincent had planned to ban Steinbrenner for two years, but he changed it to a lifetime ban because George Steinbrenner was able to keep his job as vice president of the US Olympic Committee. The move made Yankees fans happy, and at that day’s game against the Tigers, they started chanting “No more George!”

Reinstatement and championship years

George Steinbrenner was reinstated in 1993. He wasn’t as interested in helping the Yankees run their baseball business as he had been in the past. He left day-to-day baseball decisions to Gene Michael and other executives, and he didn’t trade young players like Bernie Williams for more experienced ones when they showed promise.

In 1992, the Yankees were in the race for the American League East title for only a short time. In 1993, they were in the race with the eventual winner, the Toronto Blue Jays, until September. The Yankees were in first place in the American League East in 1994 when a strike stopped the rest of the season. In the same way, a strike by the players helped them make the playoffs in 1981.

Joe Torre became the new manager. People made fun of the hire—a famous headline in the New York Daily News called Torre “Clueless Joe”—but the results were seen almost right away. In the next five years, the team won four World Series and 10 division titles (and a wild card spot in the year they didn’t win the division).

In 1995, the team went to the playoffs for the first time since 1981. In 1996, they won the World Series by beating the Atlanta Braves in six games. They went on to win the World Series in 1998, 1999, and 2000. In 2001, a seventh-game loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks kept them from winning a fourth straight title.

George Steinbrenner was happy that the Yankees were back to winning, so he was able to enjoy his later years. In 1999, he made up with Yogi Berra and Lou Piniella and went to see Joe DiMaggio and Catfish Hunter, two Yankees legends who were dying. DiMaggio had lung cancer and Hunter had ALS.

After that, the Yankees made the playoffs every year until 2007. In 2003, they beat the Boston Red Sox to win the AL pennant, but they lost the World Series to the Florida Marlins. This kept George Steinbrenner from becoming the first owner to win championships in two major sports leagues in the same year. He had won the Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in June of that year.

In 2008, the Yankees didn’t make the playoffs because they finished third in the American League East. But in 2009, the Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series to win their 27th title. Seven of those titles were won while George Steinbrenner was the team’s owner.

Retirement

George Steinbrenner collapsed during Otto Graham‘s funeral in 2003. Thereafter, he started to appear less regularly in New York. In June 2005, Steinbrenner picked his son-in-law, Steve Swindal, as his successor. After Swindal and Jennifer Steinbrenner divorced in 2007, the Yankees bought out Swindal’s financial interest in the organization, and Hal Steinbrenner took over as chairman of Yankee Global Enterprises.

George Steinbrenner spent most of his time in Tampa, Florida, from 2006 until his death. Following the 2007 season and the decision not to re-hire manager Joe Torre, Steinbrenner’s health deteriorated to the point where he formally resigned and turned over ownership of the Yankees to his sons Hal and Hank Steinbrenner.

George Steinbrenner’s public appearances began to fall as suspicions of strokes and dementia circulated. In 2007, he delegated most of the team’s day-to-day operations to his sons Hal and Hank. Steinbrenner made his last visit to the stadium for the All-Star Game in 2008. The franchise Steinbrenner purchased for $10 million – with just $168,000 of his own money — was valued at $1.5 billion in 2009. The Yankees were therefore the third most valuable club in professional sports, after only Manchester United of the English Premier League and the Dallas Cowboys. “I’ve been extremely fortunate,” Steinbrenner told Bill Madden, who naturally inquired about Henry’s thoughts on his son’s achievement. “I’m not sure,” Steinbrenner said. “I believe… he’d be quite delighted.”

Steinbrenner made few public appearances and provided no interviews after relinquishing day-to-day management of the franchise. Friends and family members hesitated to comment on persistent speculation about his worsening health, including reports that he had Alzheimer’s disease.

On July 15, 2008, Steinbrenner made a rare appearance on the field in the Bronx for the 79th All-Star Game. He proceeded slowly through the stadium’s media entrance while wearing dark glasses and leaning on one of his buddies for assistance. Afterwards, he and his son Hal were driven onto the field at the conclusion of a lengthy pre-game ceremony in which the All-Stars and 49 of the 63 living Hall of Famers were announced at their respective fielding positions.

He utilized a wheelchair on future trips to spring training, regular-season games, and other excursions. Derek Jeter and Joe Girardi secretly gave the first 2009 World Series Championship ring to Steinbrenner in his stadium suite on April 13, 2010. According to sources, he was “nearly speechless” at the time.

According to the Forbes 400 List published in September 2009, George Steinbrenner’s estimated net worth in 2009 was $1.15 billion. George Steinbrenner was the first baseball club owner to sell cable television rights (to MSG Network).

Steinbrenner had been threatening a transfer to New Jersey for years, and stadium ideas for a future Olympic bid had been made on the West Side of Manhattan, but ultimately, the stadium was across from the original House that Ruth Built in the Bronx. This was the house built by George.

Steinbrenner attended the opening and burst into tears when he was introduced.73 He witnessed two more regular-season Yankees games that season, both against the Rays in Tampa, while the Yankees won the World Series against the Phillies. Steinbrenner attended two World Series games, as well as the opener the following year, when he was presented with his ring.

Steinbrenner died nine days after his 80th birthday, on July 13, 2010, the morning of the 2010 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, following a heart attack at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, Florida. His death occurred nine days after his 80th birthday, two days after veteran Yankee Stadium public address announcer Bob Sheppard died, and eight days before former Yankee manager Ralph Houk died. The Yankees stated on July 14 that its players and coaches will wear a Steinbrenner tribute patch on the left breast of their home and road jerseys, as well as a Bob Sheppard commemorative patch on the left arm. The Yankees’ first home game at Yankee Stadium following the All-Star break and Steinbrenner’s death was on July 15. Prior to the game, the club unveiled a mural honoring the late owner above the right-center field bleachers, and closer Mariano Rivera placed a bouquet of flowers on home plate.

The Steinbrenner family erected a memorial at Monument Park on September 20, 2010, to honor Steinbrenner. He was laid to rest at Trinity Memorial Gardens in Trinity, Florida.

Off The Field

Steinbrenner was known as a boss who was very bossy. Only three Yankee employees stayed on the job from 1973, when Steinbrenner took over, until 1999, when he sold the team. Steinbrenner shook up Major League Baseball in his first few years with the team by giving high-priced contracts to free agents like Catfish Hunter and Reggie Jackson. This led to back-to-back World Series titles in 1977 and 1978 and caused player salaries to skyrocket.

Steinbrenner was impulsive and liked to be in charge, which made it hard for him to get along with his employees and managers. From 1973 to 1990, there were 19 different people in charge of the Yankees. Since the 1910s, the Yankees hadn’t won a championship until the 1980s. But when Steinbrenner came back to running the Yankees in 1993 after being banned for life, he was willing to spend money to give his team every competitive edge. This led to 13 straight playoff appearances and five World Series titles for the Yankees.

Steinbrenner quickly became known for how quickly he changed management staff. In his first 23 years, he had 20 different managers. Billy Martin was fired and hired five times by himself. During his first 26 years with the club, he had 13 different people in charge of publicity. Harvey Greene, who has been fired many times by George, said, “The first time George fires you, it’s very scary.” “The next three or four times, I thought, ‘Great! The rest of the day is free for me.” [65] Steinbrenner fired Greene, who was in charge of PR for the Yankees. The next day, Greene got a call from Steinbrenner’s assistant, who asked him why he wasn’t at work. Steinbrenner told Greene, who was late to work, “If you’re late again, you’re fired.” [66]

Over the course of 30 years, he hired 11 general managers. He was also well-known for going after expensive free agents and then fighting with them. Billy Martin said something famous about Steinbrenner and his $3 million outfielder Reggie Jackson in July 1978. One is a liar by nature, and the other has been found guilty.” Martin’s first departure was because of Steinbrenner’s comment, even though he resigned (tearfully) before the Yankees’ president, Al Rosen, could follow Steinbrenner’s order to fire him.

Steinbrenner helped many good causes by giving money. In 1982, George went to the funeral of a police officer who had died on the job. During the ceremony, the American flag was folded in a military style and given to the officer’s wife and young children. “He was worried about their education and how they would pay for it, so he set up the Silver Shield Foundation,” said Mr. Steinbrenner’s close friend James E. Fuchs, who also helped start the foundation. He often gave money to the families of police officers who died on the job in Tampa and New York City. He also gave many poor children college scholarships.

Steinbrenner comforted Ron Karnaugh after his father died during the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. They stayed in touch until Karnaugh died. Steinbrenner helped a lot of people and organizations from his home in Tampa, including the Boys and Girls Club and the Salvation Army. Mel Stottlemyre remembered that when he was getting treatment for myeloma cancer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital, he casually mentioned to Steinbrenner that he wished he could watch Yankee games from his room. Stottlemyre heard that Steinbrenner went all the way to Mayor Rudy Giuliani to make sure he could watch the games from his room. Steinbrenner also gave $1 million to St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital, which named a wing after him.

Steinbrenner gave money to a lot of senators and representatives. In 1988 and 1992, he voted for George H. W. Bush. During the recount of the 2000 presidential election in Florida, he voted for Al Gore. Steinbrenner voted for George W. Bush and gave $5,000 to help pay for a recount of the Bush-Cheney election. In 2008, he gave money to the campaigns of Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, and John McCain. He gave $2,300 to Clinton, $4,600 to Giuliani, and $15,000 to McCain Victory 2008.

The Steinbrenner family has owned the Yankees for the longest time. The group that owns the Philadelphia Phillies is second with 41 years. Yankees Global Enterprises now owns the baseball team, YES, and the Legends, as well as 20% of New York City FC and a number of other investments. Most recently, RedBird Capital bought a 10% stake in AC Milan for $1.3 billion last year.

“It was one man’s force of personality and vision and commitment to restoring the Yankees’ greatness, and it worked,” Yankees president Randy Levine said. “I think George Steinbrenner is the greatest owner in the history of sports.”

Even though all of this happened, George Steinbrenner never let the Yankees’ traditions die out or fall apart. Instead, The Boss made it better, grew it, and turned it into a major force. He started the Yes Network, which was a big step forward in promoting the pinstripes.

George Steinbrenner offered a lot of money to put together a team that had never been done before. His platform helped Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, both of whom are in the Baseball Hall of Fame and are loved and respected by fans of all teams, not just the Yankees. He spent money to help the Yankees grow, making them stronger so they could win titles while constantly fixing up an unfinished business.

Awards and honors

• Seven-time World Series champion as owner of the NY Yankees (1977, 1978, 1996, 1998–2000, 2009)
• Two-time Stanley Cup champion as owner of the NJ Devils (2000, 2003)
• Three-time Outstanding Team ESPY Award winner as owner of the Yankees (1997, 1999, 2001)
• The Flying Wedge Award
• 1992 Tampa Metro Civitan Club’s Outstanding Citizen of the Year Award.
• Steinbrenner Band Hall at the University of Florida named in his honor
• George M. Steinbrenner High School in Lutz, Florida named in his honor. Steinbrenner was a generous contributor to the Tampa Bay area.
• Yankees spring training field named George M. Steinbrenner Field in March 2008 in his honor
• The entrance to the new Bryson Field at Boshamer Stadium at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill named for Steinbrenner and his family.
• A life-size bronze statue of Steinbrenner was placed in front of the stadium in January 2011.
• Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1969

Famous quotes by george Steinbrenner

“I will never have a heart attack. I give them.” – George Steinbrenner

When Steinbrenner bought the Yankees, he famously promised a hands-off operation: “We’re not going to pretend we’re something we aren’t. I’ll stick to building ships.”

“I’m really 95 percent Mr. Rogers and only 5 percent Oscar the Grouch.”- Steinbrenner as he approached his 75th birthday

“When you’re a shipbuilder, nobody pays any attention to you. But when you own the New York Yankees … they do, and I love it.” – George Steinbrenner

“I care about New York dearly. I like every cab driver, every guy that stops the car and honks, every truck driver. I feed on that.” – George Steinbrenner

“Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing. Breathing first, winning second.” – George Steinbrenner

“Owning the Yankees is like owning the Mona Lisa.” – George Steinbrenner

“I hate to lose. Hate, hate, hate to lose.” – George Steinbrenner

“I’ve been lucky enough to be successful, and I want to pass it on. I don’t want to die with all this money. I want to give to the people. I don’t want to be the richest man in the cemetery.” – George Steinbrenner

“In the end, I’ll put my good acts up against anybody in this country. Anybody.” – George Steinbrenner

He once likened himself to George Patton: “He was a gruff son of a b—- and he led through fear. I hope I don’t lead through fear, and I would hope it was more love and respect, but maybe it isn’t.”

“I haven’t always done a good job, and I haven’t always been successful. But I know that I have tried.” – George Steinbrenner

“Winning means everything…You show me a good loser and I’ll show a loser.” – George Steinbrenner

“When you’re entrusted with a tradition, you’ve got to protect it.” – George Steinbrenner

“Surround yourself with amazingly intelligent men and women. The people I work with not only are smarter than I am, possessing both intellectual and emotional intelligence, but also share my determination to succeed. I will not make an important decision without them.” – George Steinbrenner

“Second place is really the first loser.” – George Steinbrenner

“I’m not a win at all costs guy. Winning isn’t everything. It’s second to breathing.” – George Steinbrenner

“I used to be very hands-on, but lately I’ve been more hands-off and I plan to become more hands-on and less hands-off and hope that hands-on will become better than hands-off, the way hands-on used to be.” – George Steinbrenner

“From 1973 to 1982 I ate the exact same lunch every day. Turkey chili in a bowl made out of bread. Bread bowl George. First you eat the chili then you eat the bowl. There’s nothing more satisfying than looking down after lunch and seeing nothing but a table.” – George Steinbrenner

“But why shouldn’t I speak out? Don’t you speak out in this country?” – George Steinbrenner

“I hate to lose. Hate, hate, hate to lose.” – George Steinbrenner

“I am tough. Sometimes I’m unreasonable. I have to catch myself every once in a while.” – George Steinbrenner

“It was the class and dignity which he led his life that made him part of all of us. I will forever treasure the close friendship we shared over the years.” – George Steinbrenner

“If you don’t have a hernia yet then you’re not pulling your own weight!” – George Steinbrenner

“The name Derek Jeter is made for stardom. He’s got an infectious smile, and he’s so handsome and well-behaved. He’s just a fine young man who does everything right. He’s like Jack Armstrong and Frank Merriwell, guys I grew up rooting for. Some guys come along who just measure up.” – George Steinbrenner

“I guess heaven needed a shortstop.” – George Steinbrenner

“My best and worst boss was the same man – my father. He never – and I mean never – took ‘I can’t’ for an answer. He taught me the value system that, to this day, I have continued to practice.” – George Steinbrenner