The Yankees are the Evil Empire. They sign the best players, and generally a) finish over 500 and b) play baseball in October. They draw more fans than anyone else in the league. And you know why? George Steinbrenner.Sure, we know that he’s not Jesus. Sure, we know that he’s a human dartboard for the likes for Dave Winfield and Yogi Berra. Sure, the Boston Red Sox think he’s the Devil, and no-one else thinks he’s a saint. He’s been in trouble with government authorities for making illegal contributions to Tricky Dicky and with Major League Baseball, too, who suspended him for 9 months. It took Ronald Reagan to pardon him in 1989.
But you know what? At least George Steinbrenner puts money back into the New York Yankees- more than can be said for Peter Angelos- who’s been known for suing mobile phone companies and Big Tobacco. Angelos paid a lot of money in the 90s, then seemed to forget about the team until 2004. What happened Peter? Did you manage to sue The Vatican?
While Angelos’ team has fired ex-Yankee coach Lee Mazilli and is finding its usual spot near the foot of the AL East (after an excellent start, it must be said), the Yankees are competing….again. Sure, the signings of Randy Johnson, Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright have been massive flops, but at least they are competing.
Over the years, the other players Steinbrenner has brought in could grace any team. Remember Reggie Jackson? Alex Rodriguez? Dave Winfield? Hideki Matsui? Gary Sheffield? Sure, a lot of the free agent signings- particularly during the early 80s, sent the Yankees into a decline for 18 years before the Yankees won the Series again in 1996.
In the next few years, he will be the only owner in baseball to spend $800m on a new stadium that is smaller than the original, hosting 51,000 instead of 55,000 fans. OK, so $200m’s also coming from the public sector, but you know what? It’ll be $1.02bn well spent if Yankee Nation keeps winning pennants and being the AL part of the World Series.
You can be cynical and say “hey, he can afford it”, but at least he’s not screwing over the team.