I approach the passing of Geroge Steinbrenner from a somewhat unique perspective. I was born and raised in New York and have called Tampa home for some years now.
Like many Tampa residents I can't help but applaud the many good deeds and uncounted dollars charitably spent for this city and its people.
And like many native New Yorkers who followed the Yankees in the '80s, I will remember his tenure as "The Boss" as a mixed bag.
If the George Steinbrenner Yankees of the 1970's were the Bronx Zoo, the '80s teams were the Great Soap Opera. A different manager every year (with Billy Martin on a rotating plan), endless bickering, elevator brawls and passive-aggressive notes sent from the owner's box — it was all par for the course. As a young baseball fan growing up watching Don Mattingly (my childhood hero) get more attention from Steinbrenner for the length his mustache than for his bat I learned to take The Boss with a grain of salt.
Or how about the Dave Winfield saga? Winfield hits poorly in the '81 World Series — Steinbrenner dubs him "Mr. May." That would have been enough, but the rest of the tale seems near implausible. When the player refused a trade out of New York, Steinbrenner leaked insulting (and untrue) stories about him to the press and hired a private detective to dig up dirt on him.
And let's not forget Steinbrenner being suspended from Major League Baseball, not one, but twice.
This article appears in Jul 8-14, 2010.