Thoughts on Mr. Steinbrenner

I never had the chance to meet the Boss and for me to write an obituary on him would be counterproductive, perhaps he himself would even fire me for it. But what I can do is comment on the thoughts of others, trying in some ways to construct the legacy of a man who changed baseball perhaps more than any other.

When reading the memories of those who knew him what strikes me most is quite simply the one thing that always surrounded George Steinbrenner: controversy.

Few have ever had the unique ability to alienate someone, chastise them for failure and run them out of town the way that Mr. Steinbrenner did. But maybe fewer had the ability to come full circle and make things right again.

As much as seven championships defined the Boss on the baseball diamond, so did his relationships with Dave Winfield, Mel Stottlemyre, Yogi Berra, Billy Martin and of course, the Yankee fans. All of these people admittedly despised Mr. Steinbrenner at one time, but by the time each saw their days with him come to an end, they all loved George.

In a day and age where good and evil are so starkly divided in sports, Mr. Steinbrenner had the rare distinction of being both. Compassionate, caring, charitable; ruthless, demeaning and hot-tempered, the Boss fit them all.

Fans and owners of every team loathed the man who once discouraged free agency in baseball, and then wrote the book on how to use it. While he was blasted for using is vast resources to assemble a baseball dynasty, much to the detriment of other small market teams, not a single person would have complained if he had owned their team.

The man who saved the Yankees also saved the lives of so many through scholarships and donations, the construction of schools and baseball diamonds alike. And yet he helped create an economic situation in baseball so divisive that small market cities throughout the country hated him, but he certainly did not hate them.

Mr. Steinbrenner evolved from a rash abrasive owner, so hell bent on winning that he even ran his Yankees into the ground in the 1980s, only to reemerge from suspension smarter, stronger and more meticulous than ever. A man so determined saw that the best way to improve the team was by changing himself, and it worked.

Mother Theresa will be remembered after her passing for all the good she did. Hitler was remembered for the bad. But, George Steinbrenner will be remembered for both and it is because of that, that he may be the most influential man the game has ever seen.