George Steinbrenner touched many lives. Some good, some not so good. Yet, everyone has to admit that Steinbrenner changed the game forever, and changed the way owners should carry themselves with their respective teams.
He brought a football mentality to a 162 game season. When the Yankees lost the 1976 World Series, Steinbrenner stated that it wasn't good enough. He went out and signed Reggie Jackson from the Oakland A's, and watched his Bronx Bombers win his first two World Series rings in 1977 and 1978. The rest is history.
With Steinbrenner, signing big name free agents became vogue for all GM's and owners. His aggressive nature in bringing in top talent helped make the Yankees the only franchise to exceed a salary cap with a payroll of over $200 million.
Derek Jeter said that Steinbrenner was a friend and father figure for him. Jeter added that he was planning on visiting Steinbernner in his Tampa home during the break, but that will not happen. Here is a link to the ESPN page on Steinbrenner, that has some great video tributes to the Boss, including a interview with Derek Jeter and Joe Torre. Listen to Darryl Strawberry's reaction to the passing of Steinbrenner.
Mike Francesa's reaction. LISTEN.
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