George Steinbrenner

Posted on by Charlie Ricker

Today marks ten years since New York Yankees owner George M. Steinbrenner III passed away at the age of 80.

“The Boss” bought the team in 1973 from CBS for 10 million dollars. From Day 1 until the day he passed, he invested in his team, his city and the fans. The Yankees were an also-ran organization, it’s glory days of the 1950’s/early 1960’s were long gone. He made it a mission to make the Yankees winners within three years. He spent freely to add Catfish Hunter and Reggie Jackson as free agents.

It took exactly three years to make the Yankees winners. In 1976, the Bronx Bombers made it to the World Series, only to be swept by Pete Rose’s Cincinnati Reds and their “Big Red Machine”. Undeterred, the Yankees went back to the World Series in 1977 and ’78, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers both times. They faced them yet again in 1981, losing in six games.

Lean years followed, as the Yankees showed signs of aging. Steinbrenner worked to keep his team winning, however some free agent signings and trades weren’t panning out. He re-hired Billy Martin for 1983, brought him back early in 1985 and again in ’88. Martin was only a band-aid over a bigger problem. A rebuild of the organization was badly needed to replenish the farm system.

In 1990, Steinbrenner was suspended by then-Major League Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent from day-to-day management for paying a gambler to dig up dirt on star outfielder Dave Winfield. This brought opportunity for GM Gene “Stick” Michaels to begin the rebuild. He responded, drafting the core of players who would eventually make the Yankees winners for more than a decade.

Although Steinbrenner’s suspension was to be permanent, “The Boss” was reinstated in 1993. Seeing the work Micheals put in to re-stock the farm system, he was less inclined to rule with the iron-fist he was accustomed to. The Yankees became winners again, winning titles in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009. The ’09 series win was especially meaningful, as it was the final World Series of Mr. Steinbrenner’s life. His son Hal, by then George’s successor, dedicated the title to his father, saying “This one’s for you!”

Hal Steinbrenner is less willing to spend freely the way his father did, but I’m guessing George was smiling down from the heavens last December when the Yankees signed Gerrit Cole to a 324 million dollar deal.

George Steinbrenner’s 37 years of Yankees ownership put the team back on the map and took it into the stratosphere. His family’s ownership is the gold-standard of the way sports owners should run their teams.

I hope you are resting comfortably, Boss. I can’t believe you’ve been gone ten years.

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Baseball: Is There a Better Game?

Posted on by Charlie Ricker

The question in the title is one of rhetoric, and subjective to the person reading it. To me, and hopefully many of you, there really isn’t a better game on Earth.

My love of baseball began young, watching games on TV with my grandpa. It didn’t matter who was playing. My grandfather would watch any game. I remember seeing Pete Rose in the later parts of his career. I remember the late, great Thurman Munson  and Reggie Jackson with the Yankees, Gary Carter with the then-Montreal Expos (now Washington Nationals) and many other players. Grandpa, who passed in 1995, was notorious for mispronouncing players’ names. For one, ex-Pirates reliever Kent Tekulve was “tea-kettle”.

My Mom was also a baseball fan, and grew up as a fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers in the late 1940’s and 50’s. Of course, the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958 and have been in L.A. ever since. My step-father was a Yankees fan, and watching games with him got me turned onto the Bronx Bombers.

Baseball became a needed distraction for me as I grew into adolescence. For as much as my family enjoyed and passed on the love of the game to me, there was also much turmoil in my immediate family. Watching baseball was a welcome escape from the madness going on around me. Strat-O-Matic baseball helped chew up a lot of time when I wasn’t actually watching a game on TV. It was a source of comfort and it was reliable. It’s still my go-to when things get tough today!

As I grew into my high school years and beyond, I discovered friends (and women), graduated and got a job. Between working and having a young family, baseball took a back seat for a while. As life went on, I began to have problems with my degenerating spine. Resulting surgeries, pain and depression took hold, and I rediscovered baseball. It was a welcome distraction that once again helped me escape. Just as before, this wonderful game helped me find comfort as it did more than two decades before. The players are all different, but the game remains the same.

My son Jacob and I visited Yankee Stadium for the first time on April 19. I captured his first look at a Major League Baseball diamond.

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I’m trying to instill the love of baseball into my son, hopefully I can pass on my love of this great game to him. I won’t force it, because I’m proud of him for who he is now and for who he will be in the future.

Before I close, I want to give heartfelt thanks to everyone on Twitter who voiced their support over this past week. I was feeling particularly vulnerable, questioning if my own writing was good enough to have any kind of future. Your words mean a lot to me, and I look forward to getting back on the saddle. Thank you so much.

Charlie