The death of George Steinbrenner at 80 marks the passing of an era and an avatar. He was George Patton the philanthropist. Bill Gates with personality. Steve Jobs with a vision that was pathological in its pursuit of success.
The long-time Tampa resident was ahead of his time in perceiving baseball as a show business hybrid rife with entrepreneurial opportunity. One where teams in mega markets could have their own cable channels. He knew instinctively he could hype the game, the Yankee brand and the Steinbrenner persona by doing a “Tastes great/Less filling” TV commercial with someone he had fired. More than once.
His fame transcended baseball. He became a pop-culture icon. And a billionaire. His near-universal recognition allowed for a reoccurring parody character on “Seinfeld.” He hosted “Saturday Night Live.” He made the cover of Sports Illustrated.
The Ohio native was prescient enough to recognize that baseball’s no-salary-cap rules were right in the Yankee wheelhouse. His 1975 signing of Catfish Hunter–for a then-unheard of $3.75 million for five years–ushered in the free-agency period that the Yankees would benefit from the most. Recall whom Catfish Hunter and Reggie Jackson, not just Alex Rodriguez, signed with.
In the baseball world, George Steinbrenner will have his own pantheon niche. He was one of a kind. The insatiable appetite to win. The perfectionist. The uber Yankee. “The Boss.” The organization’s father figure. The sign on his desk spoke volumes: “Lead, follow or get the hell out of the way.” He was also known to say: “If you can’t poke some fun at yourself, you’re not much of a man.”
He was a shrewd, confrontational businessman as well as a savvy, bombastic showman. He turned around the family business at American Shipbuilding before taking over the train wreck that was the Yankee franchise in 1973. The deal with CBS was worth less than $10 million. He brought back Yankee pride and glory–along with seven World Series titles, including last year’s. Today the Yankee brand is global, and the team is worth an estimated $1.6 billion.
And while he personally gloried in Yankee lore, he also cared that cab drivers and iron workers were some of the team’s biggest fans.
To most people Steinbrenner was this larger-than-life caricature, synonymous with all that was New York Yankee clout and cachet. In Tampa he was considered a natural resource–much more than reflected pinstripe glory.
His checkbook was always open to charities, and he could be a demanding benefactor–from the Florida Orchestra to the pediatric emergency center at St. Joseph’s Hospital.
Steinbrenner was often the “anonymous donor” helping out the stranded or the struggling. He became a financial patron saint to USF athletics as well as youth sports. He will forever be revered for his establishment of the Gold Shield Foundation that benefits the families of fallen firefighters and police officers.
He was also a man who personally intervened when Hurricane Andrew hit Miami in 1992. He showed up at the Salvation Army in Tampa and drove a truck with bottled water overnight to the ravaged area.
“He leaves a lasting legacy in sports, business and philanthropy,” said Mayor Pam Iorio. “Many times he worked behind the scenes to help individuals and institutions–all to make Tampa a better place to live. He was a true community leader. By making Tampa the home for his family and the spring training home for the New York Yankees, he forever changed our community for the better.
“Our community has lost a grand and generous person,” added Iorio. “One who made a difference in ways large and small.”
One who was actually given two keys to the city.
Steinbrenner meant a lot to Tampa, and the feeling was reciprocated. What he said at a Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce luncheon in 1997 said it all. It was his standard response to those who wondered how a man who so embodied all that was quintessential New York could have any another civic allegiance. “I tell them until they’re tired of hearing it,” he underscored. “I don’t live in New York. I live in Tampa, Florida.”
Born on the Fourth of July, the fiercely patriotic George Steinbrenner lived his own, highly personalized, high-profile, often controversial American Dream. One where he competed relentlessly and typically won. But one where being a humanitarian and giving back to the community mattered no less.