The "people you may have heard about but probably didn't" death thread.

[dsjunior1388 81]

George was what every owner should be like. Whether fans will admit it or not, they probably would have rather had GSMIII than their owner.

RIP. I'm going to old timers' day Saturday, it's going to be such a bummer.

Thats true, people hated him for the simple reason that he was better at what he did than the rest of the owners. He was hated because he was winning, and thats one of the best reasons to be hated.

Just Crazy that the Boss and the Voice go in the same week.

Edited July 13, 2010 by dsjunior1388

[TBLfan 25]

Huge blow for the Tampa community. He did soo many things here and didn't do it in the public eye, he didn't do it for press he did it because he cared.

Just one example: In 2004, George bought hundreds of tickets for the Lightning playoffs. It wasn't advertised, he made no mention of it... it was all word of mouth. Anyone with a military id could claim up to 4 tickets on his dime.

[chippa13 1844]

Thats true, people hated him for the simple reason that he was better at what he did than the rest of the owners. He was hated because he was winning, and thats one of the best reasons to be hated.

Just Crazy that the Boss and the Voice go in the same week.

Steinbrenner wasn't hated because he was winning, he was hated because he could easily bankroll a payroll that made parity in MLB impossible and proved just how stupid and useless is the "luxury tax" system. Sidenote: if the NHLPA hires Fehr as their next head, the NHL will go down the same road.

[mik3 1]

Steinbrenner wasn't hated because he was winning, he was hated because he could easily bankroll a payroll that made parity in MLB impossible and proved just how stupid and useless is the "luxury tax" system. Sidenote: if the NHLPA hires Fehr as their next head, the NHL will go down the same road.

There are numerous owners in baseball worth billions who just sit on their revenue, not caring whether they put a winner on the field or not. That's the biggest problem with baseball ownership.

[chippa13 1844]

You mean those crazy owners who try to run their teams in the black without pulling revenue from their other endeavors (read: YES Network). There is trying to put a winning team on the field and there is trying to buy a winner. Which category do you think the Yankees and Red Sox fall into?

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

The Yankees operated well into the black before YES came around. YES was a by-product of the team's success - why criticize him for having the foresight?

He wanted to win, and he spared no expense in trying to achieve that goal. And he didn't go broke doing it.

[chippa13 1844]

MLB's system is broke and with the Yankees deep pockets, they can easily take advantage of it. There is something wrong when some teams aren't paying their whole roster enough to fill the gap between the Sox and Yankees.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/salaries/teams

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

You failed the answer the question.

While it may be a flawed system, any owner can whatever they want with their franchise.

Must I bring up Carl Pohlad? Bigger net worth at his death than Steinbrenner's at his death (3.6B to 1.1B according to Forbes) yet when MLB brings up contraction, is first to raise his hand and willing to kill off the Twins for $150M because "we're a small market team." Doesn't the "Gotta spend money to make money" adage not apply?

There are tons more owners in MLB who do the exact same, yet have no qualms about receiving a handout from MLB luxury tax.

The fact is this - Steinbrenner made it a business. And every move he made, even in the painful 80s for a kid like me, in his mind, thought was going to give him a championship. As a fan of a team, you really couldn't ask for anything more.

[chippa13 1844]

True, an owner can do whatever he wants but that doesn't mean MLB fans outside of his market can't hate him for it. Right, wrong or indifferent, a lot of folks don't care for the way the Yankees, and to a similar extent, the Red Sox go about their business.

Edit: nice avatar adjustment.

Edited July 13, 2010 by chippa13

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

Thanks. I think I did a decent job with it.

[Drewhunz 3]

I want to hear Dave Winfield's statement.

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

Actually, he was on ESPN today. He actually had nice things to say about him. In his HOF Induction speech Winfield said he and George patched things up.

[ponty 0]

As much as I hated him as a life long Red Sox fan and how he took advantage of his limitless money vs MLB's current salary structure I respect him.

I true pioneer with the Yankees fan best interest in mind. In the end its hard to argue with that.

RIP George and thanks for the many good and bad memories for us Red Sox fans.

[dsjunior1388 81]

Actually, he was on ESPN today. He actually had nice things to say about him. In his HOF Induction speech Winfield said he and George patched things up.

JR, is that photo a quick photoshop job or is that what they are actually doing? I had heard they were going to have a microphone based patch for Sheppard, but obviously that was before Steinbrenner passed on.

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

Yep. I made it.

Yeah, I would imagine they would change it all now that George died.

[mik3 1]

Left sleeve patch for Bob Sheppard, chest patch for George.

[Drewhunz 3]

Guessing Billy Crystal or Rudy Giuliani to complete the trifecta.

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

Those patches are HORRID.

They're up on UniWatch.

[TBLfan 25]

It's actually pretty incredible to see people's thoughts on Facebook. There hasn't been one thing bad to say about Steinbrenner, it seems as though everyone from Tampa has had George do something for them... and I haven't read a single story repeated, only confirmed. He donated soo much time and money to local schools that he was able to touch an entire city.

If only he built the Tampa Yankees stadium on another intersection, they built it on Dale Mabry and MLK, neither of which could ever be renamed. I hope they rename the street behind the practice facility after Steinbrenner, I can't find a single person here that doesn't think he deserves to be remembered in more ways than just the memories of our generation.

[Drewhunz 3]

Great goodly moogly.

[TBLfan 25]

He literally did more for my city and the people of the city than anyone ever has, proof exists in Lutz where he has a school named after him.

[dsjunior1388 81]

Those patches are HORRID.

They're up on UniWatch.

I like the Sheppard one but the Steinbrenner one is pretty bad, and will be even worse on the chest.

[TBLfan 25]

It's stuff like this that led me to make the comments about Steinbrenner that I have made in this thread.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/07/15/2010-07-15_woman_reveals_lifelong_secret_that_yankee_owner_george_steinbrenner_donated_13k_.html#ixzz0tkmkjK7N

Steinbrenner's contribution came with a caveat: The family could not discuss the gift.

[Chadd 916]

It's stuff like this that led me to make the comments about Steinbrenner that I have made in this thread.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/07/15/2010-07-15_woman_reveals_lifelong_secret_that_yankee_owner_george_steinbrenner_donated_13k_.html#ixzz0tkmkjK7N

I can still hate what he has done to baseball, even if he did good things for some people.

[TBLfan 25]

I can still hate what he has done to baseball, even if he did good things for some people.

His business and personal life couldn't be further apart. Sadly, for the most part, he'll be remembered for being the being a loose cannon and general asshole in baseball instead of the extremely generous guy he was outside of the front office.

People like to remember the bad, look at what people think of Alex Rodriguez, for example... Many can give 3-4 things off the top of their head to talk trash about him. How many people remember him saving a kid's life? http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/04/15/no_error_on_newbury_st_a_rod_saves_boy_from_truck/