George Steinbrenner passes away at age 80.

[LordTrychon]

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/news/story?id=5375561


George Steinbrenner died Tuesday morning, a person close to the longtime New York Yankees owner told The Associated Press.

WABC-TV in New York reported that Steinbrenner, the Yankees' owner since 1973, suffered a massive heart attack.



According to reports, Steinbrenner, who celebrated his 80th birthday on July 4, was taken to a Tampa hospital after emergency crews responded to his home Monday night.

Steinbrenner gave his sons, Hal and Hank, day-to-day control of the team in late 2007.

He told The Associated Press last week that he was "feeling good" after spending a couple hours in his office at the Yankees' spring training complex.

Under his ownership, the Yankees have won 11 AL pennants and seven World Series titles.

[GEM]

Sad day for the Yankees franchise and fans. :(

[NightTrainLayne]

Wow. Can't believe it.

"Costanza! Get me a Calzone!"

[Northman]

Hate the Yankees so im indifferent.

[Devilspawn]

Hate the Yankees so im indifferent.
And this really needed to be commented on this thread?

[Devilspawn]

R.i.p.

[CoachChaz]

Ding dong, the witch is dead.

[Northman]

And this really needed to be commented on this thread?

It is a message forum man. Its not like the guy died in his prime or anything. 80 years is a pretty nice life.

[MasterShake]

It is a message forum man. Its not like the guy died in his prime or anything. 80 years is a pretty nice life.

Yes. When Al Davis dies we will all be screaming, "TOO SOON! HE HAD SO MANY BRAINS LEFT TO EAT AND SO MANY SOULS TO HARVEST!"

Seriously though, R.I.P. George. Helluva run! :salute:

[Shazam!]

There are Yankee fans here crying. Crying...

He didnt hit one game-winning HR or pitch a near shut out in a World Series.

He's an owner, not a player. A billionaire who could give two shits about us little peasants except how many tickets we'd buy.

Even if Pat Bowlen died I'd be unhappy but I wouldn't cry.

[atwater27]

Cracks me up when non family members or direct friends get emotional about a billionaire owner who bought his championships every year.

[OrangeHoof]

Face it, folks. You hated him because you really wanted *your* team owner to spend like he did.

[atwater27]

Face it, folks. You hated him because you really wanted *your* team owner to spend like he did.

Major League Baseball is a joke. And he was one of the reasons.

[Devilspawn]

Major League Baseball is a joke. And he was one of the reasons.
If you mean by showing how the lack of a salary cap flaws the sport and makes it top heavy, then yes.

If you mean by not breaking any rules and using all of the resources available to him to buy championships, then you're wrong. It's not his fault.

Funny how the Red Sox and Mets get 1/1000 of the flack because they have less money than the Yanks but tons more than 98% of the league.

[Devilspawn]

It is a message forum man. Its not like the guy died in his prime or anything. 80 years is a pretty nice life.
True.

[Softskull]

I killed him with my mind. Go Dodgers.

[BroncoWave]

There are Yankee fans here crying. Crying...

He didnt hit one game-winning HR or pitch a near shut out in a World Series.

He's an owner, not a player. A billionaire who could give two shits about us little peasants except how many tickets we'd buy.

Even if Pat Bowlen died I'd be unhappy but I wouldn't cry.

Unless everyone who spoke about him on ESPN today was just lying, I just don't think this is true.

Many people said he made so many charitable contributions that the media ever knew about, it's not even funny. They all said that he didn't want publicity for it at all, he just wanted to help people. I remember one person said that on several occasions that he sent anonymous checks to people he heard of who were in hospitals with severe illnesses that they couldn't afford the hospital bills for. Another person said that the city of Tampa would have voted him mayor in a second because of all of the charitable things he has done for that city.

Even Dave Winfield, who Steinbrenner was banned for baseball for 3 years because of what he did to him, had nothing but positive things to say about him today.

Just because he was a billionaire doesn't automatically mean he didn't care about those less fortunate.

Also, it's just shitty in general to speak ill of a man on the day that he died, and it really says more about the person saying those things than anything negative that person could say about him.

BTW, this is coming from a Red Sox fan who hates the Yankees so you can't say I'm biased.

[Northman]

I didnt speak of ill of the man BTB, i just said i was indifferent. I never badmouthed him in any way.

[BroncoWave]

I didnt speak of ill of the man BTB, i just said i was indifferent. I never badmouthed him in any way.

I never said you did? :confused:

[Northman]

I never said you did? :confused:

Ok my bad. I know DS responded to my post in which you high fived him so i figured your comment was covering everybody in the thread. If not, go back to your regularly scheduled programming. :D

[Overtime]

sad day for the city of New York and Yankees fans, George lived a pretty good life, and he had a passion for winning and a passion for baseball and it made him who he was.


Face it, folks. You hated him because you really wanted *your* team owner to spend like he did.


Only thing I really hold against Steinbrenner is the fact that he fought so hard against a Salary Cap. his motivation was winning and pure greed. I can't fault him for wanting to win, everyone wants to win. But to consistently move against a salary cap to level the playing field for all the teams was the worst thing he did for baseball IMO.

it's kept many of the bad teams down in the cellar.

look at the Royals. last time they had a winning season was 03, they still missed the playoffs. previous time was like 1994 or something. been a long long time.

Brewers and Pirates have been atrocious, and without a salary cap they really have no chance of coming out of it.

you occassionally have fluke teams like the Devil Rays and Twins that make the World Series and win it all on a low budget salary, but that's rare.

with Steinbrenner dead, I hope that MLB can implement a salary cap and make baseball truly competitive for all the teams.

[atwater27]

If you mean by showing how the lack of a salary cap flaws the sport and makes it top heavy, then yes.

If you mean by not breaking any rules and using all of the resources available to him to buy championships, then you're wrong. It's not his fault.

Funny how the Red Sox and Mets get 1/1000 of the flack because they have less money than the Yanks but tons more than 98% of the league.

Don't mistake fear of fair competition for the will to win. As Overtime said, the last thing the guy wanted was a level playing field. He was HORRIBLE for the game of baseball.

[OrangeHoof]

with Steinbrenner dead, I hope that MLB can implement a salary cap and make baseball truly competitive for all the teams.

They've instituted a "luxury tax" which the Yankees, alone, pay most years (one year I think the Red Sox paid it too). The Players Association is also against a salary cap because the Yankees keep expanding the envelope on what is "fair" compensation for athletes (although it was the Rangers who blew the doors off with that contract they gave to A-Rod that eventually bankrupted them.

This filters throughout the majors every year at arbitration where average or above average players can argue that they should be paid as much as the Yankees pay their retreads. So everyone is eventually forced to spend more.

If a salary cap for MLB evolves into the joke it is for the NBA, I'm not sure I want it. I doubt the MLBPA would ever approve a salary cap like the NFL has had which is probably too favorable to the owners.

Bottom line, there's more at work here than just Steinbrenner.

[CoachChaz]

You cant have a cap in MLB without a floor as well. Regardless of how much the Yankees spend, there are still teams that would never be able to afford a reasonable floor.

At the end of the day, the TV money paid for the Yankees salaries and the luxury tax and the "bought and paid for" championships built up the revenue from apparel , jersey and hat sales. Let's not pretend that Steinbreener lost any money with the team salary he has had for quite awhile.

The bottom line in NYC, LA, Boston, etc, have an advantage over smaller cities and until something is done...it will always be that way. Sure, there will be teams that can challenge for a title from time to time, but at the end of the day...the star players on those teams will eventually be Yankees.

[Devilspawn]

Don't mistake fear of fair competition for the will to win. As Overtime said, the last thing the guy wanted was a level playing field. He was HORRIBLE for the game of baseball.
He wasn't the commissioner though. There were 5 commissioners during his reign, why is Steinbrenner at fault, because of how he feels about the cap? Someone could've taken control, but not Steinbrenner because his job was to win at all costs, literally. He didn't break any rules when it came to signing these players. He just outbid the competition. He happened to own a team in the #1 market. He also brought a team that sold out opposing stadiums. Horrible for baseball.

Did you know that baseball doesn't permit a team to sign more than 2 top tier free agents. There's no cap, but there is a limit.

The Mets and Red Sox are always #2 and #3 and they have far more than the bottom teams, but no one complains because they don't win as much. Funny how the Red Sox had the #2 payroll both years they won their World Series, but the Yanks get the flack. Winning is the bottom line not spending money. You NEVER hear about the Mets and Red Sox spending. The Yankees brought Hideki Irabu from Japan, and fans cry that he can afford him. Boston OUTBIDS the Yankees for Daisuke Matsuzaka... no uproar.

It's fine though. Baseball can put in a salary cap, most Yankees fans want this anyway. The rank of payroll will look exactly the same.

[Medford Bronco]

George RIP. You changed the way baseball and their players moved around. Not that you created Free Agency but you took advantage of it to a T.

Wouldnt anyone want an owner that wants to win a Championship every year and has the resources to try. I would love that in Denver.

I always think of his character in Seinfeld with George Costanza. Funny stuff there.

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[Poet]

Don't mistake fear of fair competition for the will to win. As Overtime said, the last thing the guy wanted was a level playing field. He was HORRIBLE for the game of baseball.

Hard for me to believe that he was horrible for the game when he subsidized a fourth of the teams in the league. I heard on ESPN radio a few months back that the Yankees aren't even in the fop five for most profitable teams in the MLB.

There are plenty of teams that throw dollars around during free agency. The Dodgers, Mets, Angels, Red Sox and now the Phillies are acquiring all sorts of top dollar players.

I wish that the Reds had an owner lie Steinbrenner.

[atwater27]

Hard for me to believe that he was horrible for the game when he subsidized a fourth of the teams in the league. I heard on ESPN radio a few months back that the Yankees aren't even in the fop five for most profitable teams in the MLB.

There are plenty of teams that throw dollars around during free agency. The Dodgers, Mets, Angels, Red Sox and now the Phillies are acquiring all sorts of top dollar players.

I wish that the Reds had an owner lie Steinbrenner.

Did he subsidize them out of the kindness of his heart, or because the league forced him to?

[Poet]

Did he subsidize them out of the kindness of his heart, or because the league forced him to?

Personally I don't really think it matters if he was forced to or not.

I assumethat he was forced and was unhappy about it. I also kinda view that unhappiness in the same vein as any other super rich person who is spending a ton of money because he's forced to (taxes, subsidizing, divorce ;) ).