George Steinbrenner: Hate him or love him

-- L. Maurice Draine

To most, George Steinbrenner is bad for baseball; some say he’s even ruining baseball. Steinbrenner, best known for having “bottomless pockets,” is the owner of the New York Yankees. He wants to win at any and all costs, even if it means having a $220 million payroll, the largest in pro baseball—even if it means over paying over-aged players and even if it means using his own money to sign big-name players.

Over the last two-and-a-half decades, Steinbrenner has earned a negative reputation among other owners around the league. When talking with the media, other owners call him names like “the evil empire,” “arrogant,” “sneaky,” and “cheater.” All of these insults have absolutely no effect on ol’ George. He just laughs it off and goes out there and writes more checks. His peers say if Steinbrenner has a problem with his team and they’re not winning, he throws money at it; and if that doesn’t work, he throws more money at it; and if that doesn’t work he just throws even more money at it until it’s fixed.

You know the saying “Everyone hates you when you’re on top”? Well, Steinbrenner is almost always on top and everyone does seem to hate him. His team is the most valuable American sports franchise ever, and the most storied franchise in pro sports history. They have been in 39 World Series and have won 26 of them. Whoa!

People think that since Steinbrenner has resources some other owners may not have, it’s not fair to the other teams. But Steinbrenner is not the only filthy rich owner out there. The smaller market teams like the Minnesota Twins, the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays have owners with just as much money—but those owners would rather fatten their own pockets than put a champion on the field. With payrolls of only $27 to $53 million, these teams are not really in the same league as Steinbrenner or his payroll.

Steinbrenner makes it hard for our beloved Twins and other small-market teams to compete because he raises the bar so high. I used to hate him for that. It seems that all he is trying to do is win. Yet everything he’s doing is within the parameters of accepted rules. Twins fans all over the world wish that Twins owner Carl Pollad were that dedicated to winning and excellence. Every year the Yankees knock us out of the playoffs, and every year it hurts. But when a team with a $53 million payroll takes on a team with a $220 million payroll, the team with the smaller payroll won’t win often.

The Yankees have players that we could only dream of having on the Twins’ roster. Their starting lineup really could be an All-Star team all by themselves: Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams, Randy Johnson, Jorge Posada, Kevin Brown, Mike Mussina. That line up just goes to show that you have to spend a little money if you want to play with the big boys.

Even with that great lineup, Steinbrenner and his Yankees haven’t won it all since 2000, but every year they’re right there in the running. And that beats getting knocked out in the first round any day of the week.

If you have comments about the sports column or sports in general, send them to drainele@go.metrostate.edu.

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