Comments on: Bill Lee really, really didn't like George Steinbrenner

By: Outlaw Pete

Outlaw Pete — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 07:41:23 +0000

The Boss won 7 World Championships
Bill Lee, well, didn’t.
George Steinbrenner will go into the Hall of Fame.
Bill Lee will have to pay for a ticket to get into the Hall of Fame…
And Bill Lee should admit at some point that the Boss was at least half right.
He was incompetent. And he proved it again today. And maybe he proved the other half today too.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 01:10:33 +0000

Well now I’m surely no admirer of Tricky Dick, but the “stolen” election had a few decades more to wait. George McGovern and the Democrats ran about as clumsy and off-message an election campaign as any opponent could have wanted. Throw in the Eagleton meltdown and I think Howard the Duck could have beaten McGovern. In fact, the train of bungled Democratic campaigns that included Dukakis, Gore and Kerry began rolling downhill with McGovern. However disastrous the Nixon presidency was, that election wasn’t stolen. It was a gift to Nixon from the Dems. Steinbrenner’s part in it pales to infinitesimality by comparison with all the ammunition the McGovern campaign fired into their own feet.

By: Pisano

Pisano — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 00:43:42 +0000

Gator , you have more insight than most on this blog . Bill Lee is a total jackass , always was , and always will be .

By: Pisano

Pisano — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 00:40:59 +0000

They didn’t call him spaceman for no reason . I say he did way to much LSD . I’m sure that’s why George tried to get him out of the game .(if he really did) For disrespecting the dead like he did , he has to get scumbag of the year award .

By: theHoundDawg

theHoundDawg — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 20:16:02 +0000

Death does not erase the vile deeds committed during life.
The dead steinbrenner should be remembered, not as an icon, but as the man who almost singlehandedly caused sports salaries to rise one hundred fold, pricing the average fan out of stadiums, and, foremost, as a convicted felon (eventually pardoned by his bud, ronald reagan) who used a part of his inherited fortune to finance a portion of the illegal activities of Herbert Kalmbach, Donald Segretti, G. Gordon Liddy, Charles Colson, and the rest of Richard Nixon’s band of crooks who disgraced America and stole the 1972 Presidential election.
This is the dead steinbrenner’s legacy, and it should not be forgotten.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 19:54:21 +0000

Some years back he ran for congress in Vermont on the – I think – Rhinoceros Party (!) ticket. His platform was based on the billions in energy costs that could be saved if Congress voted to lower the boiling point of water by two degrees.
.
The Republicans threatened to block the legislation and the idea was dropped.

By: Omega in Colorado

Omega in Colorado — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 18:10:06 +0000

I wondered whatever happened to old ‘Spaceman’ I guess he was just sitting around waiting for The Boss to do so he give us this classic missive.

By: egypt4

egypt4 — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:32:04 +0000

I know who bill lee is, the question still is, “who is this nobody”?

By: Highlander

Highlander — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:07:09 +0000

These comments are unfortunate. Lee has that hardened, bitter New England attitude. I am not saying he is wrong. I think it lacks class to say this within a week of his death. There is no need to be a hypocrite and say you liked him. Just show some class.
I certainly did not like Steinbrenner in those days. I have been going to Yankee Stadium since 1975 and by the 80′s I wanted him gone. I was happy the day he was banned from baseball. I was disgusted the day Reagan pardoned him. I believe Steinbrenner spend the last 15 years atoning for his actions. This is why we read about a man that did so much good as opposed to focusing on all the bad he did.
As for Yankee Stadium, even in the lean years we had more people in the stands than most of baseball. No one ever said “Let’s Go Mets” at a Yankee game until interleague baseball began. I went to sold out games against the Red Sox, Tigers and Blue Jays all while my team was in 2nd, 3rd and 4th place.
Even Steinbrenner eventually learned in order to win you need to do more than just buy everything. If you don’t believe that check out the Dodgers, Mets, Cubs, Red Sox and Yankees themselves at different parts of the last two decades. You also need a good minor league system, motivating coaches and luck.

By: Florida727

Florida727 — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:32:11 +0000

That’s the problem with ex-athletes… they still can’t figure out when to shut up, even when they not relevant anymore.

By: zippy

zippy — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 13:44:29 +0000

In the end George Steinbrenner will probably remembered more fondly than Bill Lee remembers him.
Lee was a pretty good pitcher who finished 119-90 and even had three consecutive 17 win seasons. he may have had even better numbers but during a brawl with the Yankees Lee was on the outskirts of a typical baseball brawl on the mound when Nettles tackled him from behind, in the ensuing scrum Lee’s shoulder was broken. Lee just didn’t like authority and was pretty much a rebel his whole career.
Nettles was also not always a fan of The Boss. One of my favorite quotes from Nettles to explain a losing streak was “The more we lose, the more he [Steinbrenner] flies in and the more he flies the better chance his plane will crash.”

By: Al

Al — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:54:38 +0000

It’s unfortunate that a guy like Bill Lee would still be bitter. If it wasn’t for George Steinbrenner, Bill Lee would never be remembered. It was guys like George that took care of their former employees and paid the higher price for the talented players. Unfortunately for Bill Lee he was not very talented and his nickname was spacemen. This term we still used today for people with limited ability to think thing through, or someone who is always stoned.
Gee Bill, you only wish when you die that 1% of the people will say something good about you. Now that you put you foot in your mouth you can say that George must of been right about you!

By: Don

Don — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:08:43 +0000

Obviously Steinbrenner was right about Lee all along and after all these years he comes crawling out of the woodwork to prove it all over.

By: reclaimmyplace

reclaimmyplace — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 11:53:35 +0000

27xchamps – Jul. 16, 2010 at 8:59 AM ET
Bill Lee is a Douche… p.s Who is he??? ill have to look him up on wikawhatever … should of just been happy getting his ass beat by George’s team.. sour grapes…
typical ignorant comment. “ps who is he” …………… ignorance is bliss.
i had respect for george for his determination and the way he could build a team into a winner.
he was still an a**hole tho.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 11:39:17 +0000

Bill Lee is Zen. What you just heard was the sound of one mouth crapping.

By: Ditto65

Ditto65 — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 11:10:09 +0000

“I think about the cosmic snowball theory. A few million years from now the sun will burn out and lose its gravitational pull. The earth will turn into a giant snowball and be hurled through space. When that happens it won’t matter if I said Steinbrenner is ice skating in Hell.”
Stay Classy, HBT.

By: bbeer

bbeer — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 11:06:25 +0000

I think you’d have better luck looking in “Truthipedia” Len.

By: egypt4

egypt4 — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 10:43:35 +0000

Who is Bill Lee? A nobody with a big mouth. When his time comes, will anyone even care? The man is gone, let it be. Like everyone, he did some good and some bad. The good will live after him.

By: Glenn

Glenn — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 10:35:55 +0000

Actually, he called out the Red Sox management on a lot of things even though they were signing his checks. One of his more memorable comments at the time was that the Sox could have one a World Series with all of the black and Latin player that they had traded away. If there was one guy in baseball who wasn’t going to be silenced by money, it was Bill Lee.
As for Nettles, Lee said you could always tell if someone got in a fight with Nettles – they would be covered in scratches.

By: Paper Lions

Paper Lions — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:54:19 +0000

NY fans are as fair weather as any. If the Yankees start losing they’ll all become Mets fans all of a sudden….just like they did in the 80s.

By: paul

paul — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:47:37 +0000

Remember when Yankee fans hated George Steinbrenner? The fans and the NY media’s hue and cry was “the only way the yanks will get back is if Steinbrenner sells the team!” I realize most Yankee fans that post only ‘realized’ they were Yankee fans after they won some WS in the mid-late 90′s. I’m sure they were not there in the Mel Hall/ Mike Pagliarulo days when most people who showed up at Yankee stadium were only people who couldn’t get tickets to the Mets. People actually used to chant in the middle of Yankee games “Lets go Mets!” It used to drive Phil Rizzutto nuts. Everybody hates to see somebody’s passing but he was disliked for the same amount and with the same fervor as he was liked by NY’s own fans and media.
But the man is overdue for the Hall of Fame. He changed the face of all 4 major sports. The 3 other sports have caps because they do not want another Steinbrenner to come to fruition.

By: Al

Al — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:46:39 +0000

It would be hard to think of two figures who more represented the opposing poles of 70s baseball than Lee and Steinbrenner. Ultimately and inevitably, the ruthless corporatism represented by Steinbrenner won out and has determined the course of the sport through the ensuing decades, and I think baseball may be a little worse off for it today. We just don’t see ballplayers as free-spirited and frank as Lee anymore. If anyone here hasn’t yet read Dan Epstein’s new book on baseball in the 70s, I strongly suggest you do so.

By: jrh1194

jrh1194 — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:32:05 +0000

What a bitter washed up ex-ballplayer Bill Lee is. I am sure he would be singing George’s praises if he had been receiving a Yankee paycheck. I can only wish that Graig Nettles had kicked Lee’s butt more than just once!!!

By: YankeesfanLen

YankeesfanLen — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:29:52 +0000

Should I look up your “Dickipeda” entry as well?

By: Ace2000

Ace2000 — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:23:36 +0000

Who is Bill “Spaceman” Lee?! Call him a douche if you want, but the dude’s a legend. Seriously, I highly recommend you do read up on him because he’s one of the most entertaining characters to ever play the game. Among his more memorable quotes: “I think about the cosmic snowball theory. A few million years from now the sun will burn out and lose its gravitational pull. The earth will turn into a giant snowball and be hurled through space. When that happens it won’t matter if I get this guy out.” Plus, the guy sprinkled marijuana on his pancakes before ballgames, and that’s got to count for something . . .

By: Paper Lions

Paper Lions — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:21:00 +0000

Also sounds like the truth.
The Yankees were the best when George wrote check and got the hell out of the way…they were at their worst when he meddled. He was banned from MLB; they don’t ban owners on a whim. This is a guy who fired employees, cut hours for others, and threatened to cut their benefits (to save a whopping $100,000) because he was unhappy with the CBA. He didn’t shy away from overpaying for players and the Yankees where never threatened by losing money…and he reacts by firing people that make “normal” salaries and threatening their benefits. The guy has an entry on “Dickipedia” (http://www.dickipedia.org/dick.php?title=George_Steinbrenner), which I didn’t even know existed. There is no evidence that Steinbrenner was a good man. He was an a-hole when he was alive and that doesn’t change just because he died.

By: Evan

Evan — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:16:28 +0000

I dunno. I think this is a bit of the pot calling the kettle black. Bill Lee is no Tim Tebow himself.

By: Jonny5

Jonny5 — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:10:40 +0000

Looks like his first name should be Hill, Bill Lee in that picture. Anyway, i can see why he’d be bitter if indeed old Man George did do what he says he did. I could see George doing it too. Lee was Spaceman, he smoked pot, he threw a wacked out eephus pitch… All things that surely got under old man Georges skin…. 27x champs is bragging about 27 WS wins and doesn’t know who Lee is? Hmm? Yeah.

By: 27xchamps

27xchamps — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 08:59:13 +0000

Bill Lee is a Douche… p.s Who is he??? ill have to look him up on wikawhatever … should of just been happy getting his ass beat by George’s team.. sour grapes…