The Boss

The Boss

Can you name a professional sports owner who can stir people’s emotions more, just from the sound of his name, than George Steinbrenner of the New York Yankees? You would probably have a tough time to name an owner more widely known, not only for his success as an owner, but also for his approach.

George Steinbrenner was born July 4, 1930 and is the son of a Great Lakes shipping family. George made his fortune as the chairman of the American Shipbuilding Company based in Cleveland, OH. Steinbrenner graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts. He went on to coach as an assistant at Northwestern University as well as at Purdue University.

With a group of investors, George bought the Cleveland Pipers of the National Industrial Basketball League in 1960. The group of Investors paid $25,000 for the team. The next year the Pipers joined the newly formed American Basketball League, and won the League Championship that year. Steinbrenner gained approval to make the Pipers and NBA team, but he, however, could not raise the money to pay the league entry fee. The team went bankrupt after the next season.

His first venture into sports owning ended on a low note. Steinbrenner returned to shipping, filling the role his father once had, and eventually bought the American Shipbuilding Company. This was not to be his last purchase, not by a long shot.

Steinbrenner offered $9 million for the Cleveland Indians baseball team in the early 1970’s, but his offer was refused. The idea of owning a baseball team still fascinated Mr. Steinbrenner, and on January 3, 1973, he was part of a group that purchased the Yankees from CBS for $10 million. Upon purchasing the “Bronx Bombers,” as they are affectionately called, George stated, “I won’t be active in the day-to-day operations of the club at all. I can’t spread myself so thin. I’ve got enough headaches with my shipping company.” This is a statement that Steinbrenner proves to be false again and again.

In George’s long tenure as Owner of the New York Yankees, the team has won six World Series titles as well as ten Pennants. The Yankees have been very successful, and there is a reason for that. Steinbrenner is not afraid to make managerial changes when he feels they are necessary. He is known as “The Boss” to most of the sports world for his choices to fire managers at the drop of a hat. During his first twenty-three seasons as owner of the Yankees, the managers were changed twenty times. Steinbrenner changed mangers an amazing seventeen times in seventeen seasons. Obviously, Mr. Steinbrenner is not opposed to changing the leadership of his organization if he deems it necessary.

“The Boss” has also not been afraid of change, as he made apparent with the introduction of Free Agency in Major League Baseball. George was among the first owners in MLB to utilize the Free Agent market. Steinbrenner signed Catfish Hunter and Reggie Jackson to very large contracts in the 1970’s, and is blamed widely in baseball circles for starting the salary explosion which continues to this day.

If only Mr. Steinbrenner could keep his eyes on baseball instead of politics. On April 5, 1974 George was indicted on fourteen criminal counts for allegedly making illegal contributions to Richard Nixon’s Presidential Campaign. Steinbrenner plead guilty to two of those counts; illegal contributions and obstruction, for which he was fined $20 thousand. The baseball Commissioner, Bowie Kuhn, subsequently suspended George for two years from baseball. The suspension was later reduced by the Commissioner by nine months, allowing Steinbrenner to resume his role before the 1976 season.

On December 15, 1980, George made another leap into the free agent market when he signed outfielder Dave Winfield to a ten year contract worth $23 million. This would be