George Steinbrenner, 1930-2010, the Winner

George Steinbrenner, 1930-2010, was far more than a major baseball team owner.  As owner of the New York Yankees, he captured the public's attention with his larger than life deal making and voluble speech.   More than any other person in baseball in the past half century, Steinbrenner epitomized the love of winning - it was not enough just to be in the game, his team had to win, and when it didn't, the managers and players felt his disapproval.  He hired and fired Billy Martin almost on a yearly basis - because, however much Billy and his hot temper irritated him, Steinbrenner valued Billy's ability to make the Yankees winners.   He pulled the notion of hands-on manager to new heights, commenting on a plays, pitches, hits, and strikes to the press as much as an announcer.   It was all about winning - for the Yankees, for New York, for the ages.   When his players won, they could expect praise to the hilt.   When they lost, they might well see a sarcastic appraisal from Steinbrenner about their performance - in the press and the media.   And it worked - the Yanks won seven World Series titles and eleven pennants since 1973.

George Steinbrenner will be remembered as one of the great sportsman in history, who changed not only the playing of baseball but our popular culture.

Shoutout for Joe Torre

So, the Yanks lost tonight - the third straight year they didn't go on to the World Series after making it into the playoffs, and everyone's disappointed, and George said the other day that if the Yankees didn't progress then Joe Torre might be finished as Yankee skipper...

But let me say the obvious: Third straight year that the Yankees didn't make it to the series after getting into the playoffs? For any other manager, that would be cause for the owner offering a hefty long term contract. How many other teams make it in the playoffs year after year - in the case of the Yankees and Joe Torre, 12 years, to be exact, with World Series wins and all.

But that's not the most important reason that Joe Torre deserves credit and continuation, in my book.

In the end, baseball is just a game. What lasting value it has comes from the humanity and lessons its players give to the world.

And when it comes to that, no one holds a candle to Joe Torre. He has brought to baseball a whole new level of decency, rationality, and humanity. I'm old enough to remember Casey and of course Billy, and they had their moments, but they were a different species of manager compared to Joe.

He has taught the world not only how to win - but how to lose, if it happens, with dignity. Since no one, no team, can possibly win all the time, that's a crucially important lesson.

I hope George Steinbrenner thinks a moment about this, before he announces the future for the Yankees.