The Boss

Steinbrenner the Big Spender

Before there was Bruce Springsteen, there was another “Boss”, George Steinbrenner owner of the New York Yankees. Steinbrenner bought the Yankees from CBS in 1973 for a bargain price of $10 million. He quickly dismissed his promise of “I’ll stick to baseball” and not get involved with team operations. The ship building millionaire was soon acting as the team’s dictator and, in the new era of free agency, began spending money unparalleled by any other team president. His first purchase was Catfish Hunter from the Oakland A’s in 1975. In 1976 his free spending started paying dividends and the Yanks won their first pennant since 1964. In 1977 he signed Reggie Jackson. It was the start of a wild trip for the Yankees and baseball. There were manager musical chairs, public conflicts with players and media, and two suspensions. One suspension in 1975 followed Steinbrenner’s indictment for making illegal contributions to President Nixon.

The most outrageous suspension occured in 1990 when Commissioner Fay Vincent banished Steinbrenner from baseball operations for life. Steinbrenner and star outfielder Dave Winfield, who he signed in 1981, had a tumultuous relationship. He once criticized Winfield for his poor late season performance as "I let Mr. October ( Reggie Jackson) get away, and I got Mr. May, Dave Winfield.” In 1990, they were suing each other over a claim by Winfield that Steinbrenner had reneged on a contractual agreement that he would contribute a donation to Winfield’s charitable foundation. Steinbrenner hired Howard Spiro, a known gambler, to dig up dirt on Winfield. That was the final straw for the Commissioner Fay Vincent. Since George had been cited for so many activities that violated the law and baseball’s code of ethics, he was permanently banished from baseball operations. Winfield was traded to the California Angels shortly before the banishment. At that point, Steinbrenner was tiring and hinting at retirement. Taking that into account the banishment was lifted after two years. Of course, George being George, he did not retire until ten years later.

It was George’s ambition to do and spend whatever was necessary to win. He died in 2010 having won 11 pennants and changed the face of MLB. His presence is still felt as his character is seen in numerous hilarious scenes in the reruns of the Jerry Seinfeld Show.