Reply #3: Vintage Steinbrenner [View All]

[Jack Rabbit]

There are several moments that define George Steinbrenner for me. Among them:

• Any team would be happy to get the break the Yankees got in a post season game against the Baltimore Orioles several years ago when a young fan reached out into the field and pulled a fly ball into the stands; although it was clearly fan interference, the umpire blew the call and ruled the play a home run. Steinbrenner treated the youngster like a hero, making sure he had good seats for the remainder of post season play. Not to sound like a nanny, but what kind of message does that send to America's youth?
• There was also a playoff game agains the Kansas City Royals in 1980 in which, with two out in the late innings, the third base coach sent a runner home from first on an extra-base hit; the runner was out at the plate. Up in the owner's box, Steinbrenner blew his stack and the coach was fired during the off season. While sending the runner was a gamble, it was a good one. Getting the runner at the plate required a perfect throw from the outfield and a perfect relay from short; incredibly, that is exactly what the Royals did. It was really a marvelous play. Steinbrenner, in effect, was blaming his third base coach because the Royals simply played superior baseball.
• And then there is the time he fired his manager, Yogi Berra, after the Yankees lost what Steinbrenner called a "cricial three-game series." It was April. A crucial three-game series in April, George? I hope history is not about to repeat itself with Joe Torre.