Benny Jay: George Steinbrenner

Two hundred years ago, when I was a kid, I loved baseball even more than basketball, as hard as that may be to believe.

Back then, I lived in Rhode Island — somewhere between New York City and Boston — so my favorite team could have been the Yankees or the Red Sox.

I went with the Yankees. Mickey Mantle won me over – thought he was nothing short of the greatest man alive. What did I know? — I was only ten.Made me a Yankee fan….

At the time, Mickey was at the end of his glorious career, a broken-down shell of the superstar he’d once been. Saw him play exactly once. Waited patiently through seven innings before he limped to the plate to pinch-hit. Promptly struck out.

Like Mantle, the Yankees were also past their prime, a bottom-division team that lost way more than they won. But I loyally followed them day after day, cracking open the paper to see how Mantle had done and whether my Yankees had won.

Mantle retired after the 1968 season, but I kept rooting for the Yankees until 1973. That’s when George Steinbrenner bought the team.

I didn’t like George Steinbrenner from the start.  As I saw it, he was a bully. Picked on people weaker than himself. Fired secretaries. Yelled at elevator operators. That sort of thing.

Plus, he got nailed for making illegal campaign donations to Richard Nixon’s presidential campaign. Then, as the New York Times obit put it, he tried to “`influence and intimidate employees’” of his shipbuilding company to lie to a grand jury about the matter.”

When he got caught he said he had no choice – Nixon’s boys put the squeeze on him.

Guess old George wasn’t so tough after all….

Because of George,  I did a flip-flop. Started rooting against the Yankees almost as fervently as I’d been rooting for them.

Unmade me a Yankee fan….

Couldn’t have changed my allegiances at a worse time. With Steinbrenner in charge, the Yankees went on a tear.  Wound up winning the World Series in 1977 and 1978. As hard as this is for me to admit, the man knew a thing or two about building a winning team.

Think about this, people. I stayed with the Yankees when they were losing and ditched them when they went on top. I’d like to think that George would respect that. But, let’s be real, he wouldn’t give a shit about a weird loser like me.

The good news is that after 1978 they didn’t win a World Series for eighteen years. Ah, yes – eighteen glorious years….

And then….1996. Playing Baltimore in the playoffs. Derek Jeter hits a long fly ball.  Gonna be an out. When this kid – this mother-bleeping kid – reaches out into play and bats the ball into the stands.

Baltimore’s right fielder’s looking around like – what the fuck happened to the ball? The umpires calls it a home run. I’m howling: “Interference!” You know, like the ump will reverse his call if he hears me.

The TV flashes to Steinbrenner, sitting like Napoleon in his box, a big smile on his face. “You bastard,” I’m screaming. “You lucky piece of shit!”

The home run ties the game. The Yanks win in extra innings. They go on to win that playoff series. Then the World Series. Then three more World Series. After each triumph, I gotta watch Steinbrenner — champagne-drenched and jubilant — hoist the trophy. Ah, the misery….

Sometime in the 2000s, Steinbrenner drifted away. Dementia, the papers said. His sons took over the team.  And just like that I didn’t really care about the Yankees anymore. Without George around, it wasn’t the same.

Well, anyway, you must have heard by now — George Steinbrenner died the other day. A massive heart attack. He was 80-years-old.

I know, I know – if you can’t say something nice about a man after he dies, you shouldn’t say anything at all.

But, c’mon, the guy was too much a part of my life for me to remain silent.

So as a tribute to one of the biggest bullies to ever own a baseball team – I’m gonna do what I haven’t done in years.

Gonna pick up the paper and look at the box score and hope that whoever or wherever the Yankees are playing they’ve lost the game. Hopefully, after blowing the lead in the 9th inning thanks to a controversial call by the ump.

I figure it’s the least I can do for George Steinbrenner, the man I loved to hate….

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