Comments on: George Steinbrenner: 1930-2010

By: Jimsjam33

Jimsjam33 — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 23:41:00 +0000

Interesting about your ” Baseball Valhalla ” being a conjuring of your imagination . I liken it to folks who believe in a ” Rainbow Bridge ” for their animals . Then there’s re-incarnation and all the talk about ” when I come back I wanna be a …” Sorry , but us human beings rationalize to our liking and comfort zones .
Don’t worry Mr. Calcaterra I won’t preach… just inform . I , for one , can’t comprehend the purpose of life if the only purpose is to accumulate a bigger paycheck or 15 minutes of fame . That doesn’t work for me . I’ll just stick to being a lowly follower of the one who walked on this Earth 2000 years ago and died on the cross ! Have a good one .

By: Craig Calcaterra

Craig Calcaterra — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 11:05:35 +0000

Baseball Valhalla is purely my invention. As such, I can tell you with 100% certainty that they let everyone in. Even the bad ones. It’s kind of chaotic, but it’s totally fair.
I appreciate your concern for my mortal soul, JimJam. Unlike a lot of agnostic types I have a lot of respect for people of faith even if I don’t have it myself.

By: Jimsjam33

Jimsjam33 — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:32:11 +0000

” My spiritual beliefs are, at best, conflicted, but I comfort myself with the idea of a great Baseball Valhalla in which all of those who made their mark on the game — for better and for worse — and have since passed now reside. ”
The more a man studies about the nuances of this insignificant world the more blinded he becomes to the real purpose in life . George Steinbrenner is now aware and his eyes have been opened . He went to court yesterday and if his name was not found in the ” Book of Life ” his eternity will not be spend in a ” great baseball Valhalla . ” Mr. Calcaterra you are still alive and have a chance to pass life’s test .
Define your beliefs and secure your faith because in the end your argument will not hold water . Am I a kook ? Time flys like the dust in the wind . You’re here and then you ain’t ! It’s the part after ” ain’t ” that counts . Then you can’t say ” well nobody told me . “

By: Al

Al — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 09:33:30 +0000

George was the best owner, by far! Every owner has the capability of making a franchise great. George Steinbrenner reinvested his money to make the Yankees great again. What other owner has done that? He created the YES network and reaped more money that he also reinvested in the Yankees. Every stadium that the Yankees visit is sold out and reap big rewards from attendance to concessions. If the San Francisco Giants or Los Angeles Dodgers would invest in their teams they would make them much better and more profitable. Unfortunately they don’t and fans from these and other cities suffer because the teams usually suck. Each franchise can create their own television network also. Look how the Boston Red Sox have grown and Detroit, Tampa Bay, and Minnesota! They are just keeping up with the Yankees. It’s not the payroll, its the thinking. Minnesota has a small payroll, so does Tampa Bay. Reinvest in your team and you too will have a great franchise.
George Steinbrenner is a visionary. If you read his history you will find that he actually wanted to buy the Cleveland Indians, fortunately for Yankee fans that didn’t work out. Thank god for that! Stop blaming free agency or paying to much for ball players. It’s all relative. Success is not always dollars and cents but creative thinking and reinvestment.
You can love George or love to hate him but the bottom line is his passion for his team and putting them in a position to win every year. Wouldn’t you want an owner like George Steinbrenner as the owner of your team?
Your not bad mouthing George Steinbrenner, you showing ignorance to creativity. Greoge Steinbrenner did not create Free agency. He learned how to embrace it and use it to his advantage. He reinvested in his team. No other owner in Baseball did that. Now Boston, Tampa Bay, Minnesota, and Detroit are doing the same.
I will miss him greatly. He has done more for the game of baseball than anyone else in the game. Thanks again George for all the great memories! Say hello to Mickey, Babe, Joe D., Billy, Thurman and all the other great Yankees in Heaven.

By: twentyseventoseven

twentyseventoseven — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 04:17:12 +0000

As a lifelong Yankees fan, i want to thank the Boss from the bottom of my heart with every fiber of my body. This man is one of my heroes. I was allowed to grow up as a winner. I was allowed to grow up knowing that my owner was going everything in his power to put the best possible product on the field, and he did that. The memories i have as a kid, as a young adult and now into middle age are going to be some of the fondest memories i have the rest of my life. Mr Steinbrenner made my childhood a happy one, but fielding winning teams. We won 7 titles under his reign and hopefully his sons can carry on the winning tradition, im sure they will, they’re the bosses sons and i’m confident they’ll do everything in their power to carry on the vision their dad started in the 1970s.
Thank you Boss, you will be deeply missed.

By: Zorro

Zorro — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:21:17 +0000

Dear Baseball First. Now that you have demonstrated that you are good at name calling, please demonstrate that you have even an ounce of sense, i.e. write something that indicates at least a glimmer of intelligence.

By: bigtrav425

bigtrav425 — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:20:36 +0000

bout time this guy died! he was a scumbag and horrible for baseball overall…Good for the Yanks and new york but horrible for baseball

By: Zorro

Zorro — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:52:27 +0000

Good for baseball?? You have got to be kidding. Steinbrenner was a vile, repugnant, convicted felon whose effect on major league baseball is reminiscent of the Black Plague’s march through Europe in the Middle Ages. He took advantage of the corrupt financial structure that is unique to major league baseball. The elements: a free agency system that puts star players up for grabs after a few years, absence of full TV revenue sharing (like what they have in the NFL), and absence of a salary cap (like what they have in the NBA). No other major sport is like this. It was tailor made for Steinbrenner, without any management skills and baseball sense, but obsessed with winning at any cost. Put those together with the TV networks dumping huge gobs of money on the Yankees, and you have Steinbrenner going out on a shopping spree every season to rip off other teams of their star players. He was Robin Hood in reverse, taking from the teams poor in talent in order to further enrich his talent rich Yankees. Good for baseball? Tell that to the fans in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, and other cities whose teams have no realistic chance of winning the World Series and will not in the forseeable future. Major league baseball will eventually die unless the financial structure is changed so that a Steinbrenner can’t simple buy a championship every year. This is a great day for baseball and a great day for the world. Meanwhile we can celebrate the removal of this cancer on the game. Don’t go telling me how evil I am because I am happy he’s gone. I know evil when I see it, and Steinbrenner was evil. The world is a better place without him.

By: Lenegal

Lenegal — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:11:29 +0000

RIP George from a life long Yankees fan.
I bet Billy Martin was there to greet you.

By: S G

S G — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:49:06 +0000

Hmmm…perhaps he was the “Richard Nixon” of the sports owners–brilliant in some ways, yet also flawed at the same time in other ways? A then-walking contradiction…

By: Pisano

Pisano — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:47:47 +0000

Very well said . I am just the opposite of you , but I too would never degrade anyone associated with the Red Sox family , especially on the day of their passing . Is nothing sacred on this earth ?

By: cutty240

cutty240 — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:42:48 +0000

Don’t make George somebody he wasn’t.He hurt baseball alot more than he helped it.He is ONE of the main reasons baseball is in the mess it is.He by himself KILLED SMALL MARKET TEAMS.He helped the Yankees,and himself.He fit with alot of what this country just went through.GREED.Hall of Fame,are you kidding me.Pete Rose should go in before George does.I’m sorry for his Family.But he is what he is.Please don’t make a hero out of him,that he is not.

By: oldesoxfan42

oldesoxfan42 — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:24:25 +0000

I have rooted for the Red Sox since 1949 and George had me sputtering and fuming for
many years. Still, on any honest list of great sport team owners he has to be with the
top echelon. As for “Tails 4″ ‘s comment that he was a despicable man; George gave
a great deal of money to Boston’s Jimmy Fund ( children’s cancer research hospital)
over many years. That counts for a lot of good character in my book.
Saint Peter is going to have his hands full when Billy Martin turns out to
great George at the Pearly Gates, I think. Early Vegas odds favor Martin.

By: Baseball First

Baseball First — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:23:08 +0000

I do not believe there is a difference between A-roid and Manny-roid or Ortiz-roid. Nice try, Jezzo. There are few, if any, teams that have not been tainted by PED’s.

By: Baseball First

Baseball First — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:14:08 +0000

Doug, I am not sure you understood the context of Simon’s post. I think he took the high road in not going into a negative rant about why he is now a Met’s fan. The man just died and Simon saw the wisdom of holding his tongue in this blog. Tomorrow, he may change his mind. My point was that it is too late for Mr. Steinbrenner to ever hear Simon’s displeasure.

By: Jezzo

Jezzo — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:13:32 +0000

As a lifelong Red Sox Fan and self-professed hater of everything YANKEE – especially A-ROID, let me note two specific facts:
(1) Sports is about WINNING and love him or hate him George Steinbrenner was a WINNER!
(2) Steinbrenner is synonymous with the Yankees and the Yankees are synonymous with WINNING!
RIP GEORGE!

By: Baseball First

Baseball First — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:05:53 +0000

Talis4, you are the despicable human being. You have a heart of stone and a brain of foam.

By: Pete leary

Pete leary — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:02:02 +0000

A hideous human being has left baseball in tatters.This greedy bastard ruined the greatest game in all of sport. A pig at the trough, he took competition out of baseball by showering these crybabies with more money that they could spend and left the small market teams in his wake.Good riddance to a truckload of RUBBISH!!!!

By: Florida727

Florida727 — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:53:33 +0000

I’m sure his kids would appreciate reading your idiotic rant, especially less than 24 hours after his passing. Do us all a favor: lose your keyboard. You’ve already proven you’re an @$$. What left for you to accomplish?

By: talis4

talis4 — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:40:56 +0000

Give me a break!!!!! This guy was the biggest phony in sports history. The one good move he made (against the advice of his people) was to bring in Reggie Jackson. Remember, the Yankees made it to the World Series before Jackson got there. This move encouraged the phony to make the following moves: bring in Dave Winfield, Don Gullett, Ken Griffey Sr, etc. He decimated their farm system and doomed them to mediocrity for the next 20 years. The Yankees began to rebuild when steinbrenner was banished from baseball. With him gone the Yankees rebuilt the farm system and the team. They built a new dyasty just in time for the phony to take credit for it. However, once he came back he took the same actions. He brought in Giambi among others. Once again the team didn’t win, until he was too senile to take any more actions, and his sons (more or less) let the baseball people prevail (and bought up as much talent as possible to the tune of $300, 000, 000.00/year).
Outside of baseball he showed the same “intelligence” and “expertise”. Didn’t he bankrupt Tampa Ship?
I know that when someone dies people have a tendency to overrate their achievments. But COME ON!!!!!!!
This guy was a blight to baseball, and something of a despicable human being.

By: jyak

jyak — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:01:38 +0000

Shiny new stadium built with revenue from Yankees….another clueless dumbass who doesn’t know anything about Mr. Steinbrenner’s marketing skills and how he brought this team to a dynasty….don’t think for one minute we, as Yankee fans, don’t appreciate what he has done for this team and their fans….

By: Sportschump

Sportschump — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:06:26 +0000

http://sportschump.net/2009/04/28/a-tribute-to-the-boss/120/ George Steinbrenner's legacy as told by one humble Red Sox fan's perspective

By: Doug

Doug — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:36:35 +0000

Baseball First says”Thank you, Simon,
There are times when saying nothing is the best road to take. Your tale is a moot one at this point. ”
When the MSNBC link to the article is “Why George Steinbrenner was good for all of baseball”, I think it was fair. It’s not like he’s shouting it out at his funeral. He was good for the Yankees.

By: bh0673

bh0673 — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:35:33 +0000

but tamahawk it could have been the Indians instead, George wanted them first. Whatever he did bad and there was a lot he did so much good behind the scene and for baseball, he will be missed.

By: Joker34

Joker34 — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:30:18 +0000

@Ralph
Amen my friend. I am not a Yankees fan by any means, but what this organization has endured this week is pretty heartbreaking. Steinbrenner has impacted all baseball fans in one way or another. He will have a lasting impression on the game and will continue to be remembered by many. Even though I may hate the Yankees, I have a deep respect for Steinbrenner and the legacy that he has left behind. R.I.P. George Steinbrenner.

By: tomahawkmike

tomahawkmike — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:55:19 +0000

Shiny new stadiums…built with someone else’s money…

By: Baseball First

Baseball First — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:21:06 +0000

Simon says, “Holding my tongue, but wondering where and when I can tell my tale of how the best owner in baseball made me a Mets fan by also being the worst.”
Thank you, Simon,
There are times when saying nothing is the best road to take. Your tale is a moot one at this point.

By: Jonny5

Jonny5 — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 11:39:14 +0000

I never knew the man, yet he always gave me something to talk about. Those Damn Yankees, or the Bankees, or yankers. Take your pick. He built a team that roused Anger, disgust, and contempt from fans of around 30 teams, and built a baseball empire with more fans than many teams combined. RIP, George, you added something to the game that it never had and never will have again, George Stienbrenner.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 11:08:59 +0000

His not being there anymore is like looking out a window in Alaska on one of those days when Denali disappears in an ice crystal haze. He wasn’t really a New Yorker but he was as much a feature of New York as the Empire State Building, and gave his adopted town a serious helping of tough love during his reign.Truly one of the most unique and memorable figures ever to own a sports franchise, yet Steinbrenner was so much more: a style that couldn’t be copied, a temper that inspired envy from Vesuvius – and, whatever you thought of the Borg as a corporate culture, his cognizance of and solicitude for his team’s fans was unmistakable. Sad to say, I’ll be mulling this last point repeatedly as July 31 looms because the contrast between King George’s passion for his team and the parasitic, even contemptuous posture of the little bloodsuckers who run my Feesh couldn’t possibly be more stark in a Newtonian universe.

By: Simon DelMonte

Simon DelMonte — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 11:06:30 +0000

Holding my tongue, but wondering where and when I can tell my tale of how the best owner in baseball made me a Mets fan by also being the worst.