Breaking News: George Steinbrenner Has Died

Cleveland native and longtime Yankee majority owner, George Steinbrenner has died. As an Indians' fan and lifelong Yankee hater it is tempting to recap the negatives of Steinbrenner's tenure as Yankee boss. However, I'll resist that temptation and instead wish his family well as they mourn and just bemoan the fact that he was unable to buy the Indians instead of the Yankees. Many people are unaware, but Steinbrenner tried to buy the Indians years before purchasing the Yankees but was slightly out bid by Nick Mileti. A years or so later CBS was strapped for cash and wanted to get out of ownership of the Yankees and sold the team to Steinbrenner for around ten million dollars. The value of that team today is probably close to a billion dollars.

I'm not jealous of the money he has made, but rather the championships his teams have won. While I'd of course prefer that the Indians had won I have to admire his single minded drive to acquire the best players and field the best team over the years. Others can debate whether the Yankee dominance is good for baseball. The National Football League is in stronger shape as an overall entity because all teams have a relatively even playing field. Baseball clearly gives an edge to teams with stronger financial bases. That wasn't Steinbrenner's concern. His concern was winning and his teams won more than they lost.

George Steinbrenner - RIP

Damn Yankees! (Hey, I had to include it)