Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball
by Bill Madden
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Book Summary Information
Author: Bill MaddenEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2010-05-11
ISBN: 0061690317
Number of pages: 480
Publisher: Harper
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780061690310
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball
Book Review: The Boss: A Sports Giant, but not a Saint
Summary: 5 Stars
"Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball", by Bill Madden, is the unauthorized biography of George M. Steinbrenner III, the late (and controversial) principal owner and managing partner of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees. The book reveals how George Steinbrenner (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, American Shipbuilding Co.), et al, purchased a struggling New York Yankees franchise from CBS for $10 million (of which Steinbrenner, himself, contributed a mere $168,000) in 1973; and how Steinbrenner and Gabe Paul (a veteran baseball executive) restored this franchise to `championship form', consistent with its storied history. Madden provides deep insight into Steinbrenner's outsized/larger-than-life personality and his autocratic/tempestuous leadership style (he was a hands-on baseball executive who would meddle and interfere with baseball operations) which, fittingly, earned him the nickname, `The Boss'. Interestingly, although Steinbrenner was generally known as a `professional baseball owner', he actually became a `professional basketball owner' first --- i.e., he purchased the Cleveland Pipers of the National Industrial Basketball League in 1960, some 13 years before buying the Yankees.
During Steinbrenner's reign (1973 - 2010) at the helm of the New York Yankees, the team won seven World Series Championships. Steinbrenner was the first owner of a professional sports team to make widespread use of `free agency' as a method for building a championship team (e.g., he signed Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Don Gullet, Goose Gossage, et al). Subsequently, `free agency' has been widely adopted throughout baseball, as well as other professional sports (e.g., basketball). Steinbrenner was also mainly responsible for creating the YES Network. As Madden points out, according to Forbes, as of 2009 Steinbrenner's total New York Yankees assets were worth between $2 and $3 billion, which would represent an astounding return on his original outlay of $168,000 in 1973!
One of the themes that resonate throughout this book is Steinbrenner's abusive manner towards his employees, et al., which further bolstered his public image as `The Boss'. Madden states, "The fact that George was so dismissive of and often even abusive towards his employees can probably be directly attributed to his failure ever to win his father's approval." According to Madden, the antithesis of Steinbrenner's public image as a `bully and a tyrant' was his far less publicized acts of charity and philanthropy towards various groups. For example, Steinbrenner paid for the college education of hundreds of anonymous kids. He was also the driving force behind a program that provided guidance counseling and scholarships to impoverished high school students. Via his Silver Shield Foundation, Steinbrenner raised millions of dollars for the widows and families of New York City firefighters and police officers killed in the line of duty. He paid for a dinner honoring young black athletes of Cleveland. Steinbrenner performed many other acts of charity and philanthropy. Rounding out Steinbrenner's `soft side' was the little-publicized fact that he was a gifted musician, excelling in voice, piano and organ.
Madden explores Steinbrenner's propensity to hire/fire managers. As Madden points out, after firing a manager Steinbrenner would feel `guilt pangs' which would sometimes lead him to rehire the manager. One of the most notable cases involved the troubled Billy Martin whom Steinbrenner hired and fired a total of five times. Steinbrenner also fired Yogi Berra just 16 days into the 1985 season and offended Yogi for the cold/callous manner in which he carried out the firing. For 14 years, despite his love for the Yankees, Yogi refused to return to Yankee Stadium for Old Timers Day. Eventually, with the intervention of sports commentator Suzan Waldman, Steinbrenner apologized (on the radio), not for the firing itself, but for enlisting the general Manager (Clyde King) to do the `dirty deed' instead of having the guts to do it himself. Yogi subsequently rejoined the official Yankees family.
Bill Madden explores some of the `self-inflicted' struggles that Steinbrenner endured while restoring the New York Yankees to `glory'. Specifically, Steinbrenner was caught up in the Watergate scandal, convicted of making illegal contributions to President Nixon's campaign and obstruction of justice (he was eventually pardoned of this felony by President Reagan), and suspended from baseball by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn for two years (11/27/1974 - 03/01/1976). Moreover, on 07/30/1990 Steinbrenner received a `lifetime ban' from baseball by Commissioner Fay Vincent for hiring a two-bit gambler to `dig up dirt' on the Dave Winfield Foundation; this was in retaliation for Winfield's suit against the Yankees for failing to live up to their contractual obligations. Steinbrenner's exile from baseball lasted 29 months (07/30/1990 - 03/01/1993), after which time he was reinstated. Madden points out that although Steinbrenner deserves most of the credit for resurrecting the Yankees, Gabe Paul deserves a lot of credit for making innovative baseball deals (some against Steinbrenner's wishes) during Steinbrenner's exile.
In 2005 Steinbrenner's health and mental well-being began to decline and he became increasingly reclusive, and less involved with the operations of the Yankees, as his sons Hank and Hal took over. In 2008 his only appearances at the old Yankee stadium were on Opening Day and during the All-star game. In 2009 George Steinbrenner, who by now was wheelchair bound, made only three appearances at the new Yankee Stadium.
I thoroughly enjoyed this fascinating and well-written book. Some of the anecdotes described by Madden are humorous and hilarious; I often found myself laughing out loud. This insightful book makes it is clear that Steinbrenner was a `giant' who impacted the game of baseball (and other sports) in a major way---perhaps, like no other owner. At the same time, Madden makes it clear that Steinbrenner was not a `saint'; he had his flaws and made his share of mistakes. Overall, I would recommend this book to any sports fan or `student' of human nature.
Summary of Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball
No owner has changed the landscape of sports more than New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. From the moment he bought the team in 1973 for $10 million, Steinbrenner's monomaniacal pursuit was to restore the most fabled franchise in baseball history to its former glory. Today the New York Yankees are worth more than $1 billion and are once again world champions.
Award-winning sportswriter Bill Madden traces Steinbrenner from his early days in Cleveland through his years as a shipping magnate, a Nixon fund-raiser, and a champion horse breeder to the fateful moment when he bought the Yankees, even though his father disparaged George's desire to own a professional sports team as a "hobby." Over the next four decades, Steinbrenner's tumultuous reign included his epic battles with Billy Martin, Reggie Jackson, Dave Winfield, even beloved Yankee captain Derek Jeter. His ruthless and free-spending tactics made him a lightning rod for controversy but they also paid off: Steinbrenner's Yankees have won seven championships and remain the gold standard in all sports. In the last few years, with his health declining, the Boss ceded control of the team to his sons, but not before lording over the team's historic transition from the House That Ruth Built to the House That George Built.
Throughout his three decades of covering the Yankees, Bill Madden has cultivated hundreds of sources at every level in the organization, from the many managers and front-office personnel Steinbrenner has fired to the bat boys who are ever present in the locker room. All of them have colorful stories about the man with whom they have enjoyed a love-hate relationship, but it is the Boss himself whose voice rises above the rest. And when Steinbrenner decided to give his final print interview, he spoke to Madden to set the record straight on his extraordinary life and career.
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