George: The Poor Little Rich Boy Who Built the Yankee Empire

George Steinbrenner may be the most famous hideous boss in the history of sports.

Guys who managed the Yankees and lost couldn’t get along with him. Neither could guys who managed the Yankees and won.

Players who fell short of his expectations and predictions earned Steinbrenner’s ire. So did players who broke records, made all-star teams, and helped Yankees teams win the World Series.

According to Peter Golenbock, the author of George: The Poor Little Rich Boy Who Built the Yankee Empire, Steinbrenner’s greatest contribution to the success of the Yankees was getting suspended twice. When he was prohibited from meddling in the affairs of the team, he couldn’t trade away players with great potential for old men. During the lulls after he’d broken the law and embarrassed baseball enough so that two commissioners had to sit Steinbrenner down, the Yankees were rebuilt into champions by men Steinbrenner probably would have fired if he’d had the opportunity. But for reasons that remain mysterious, at least to me, Golenbock feels George Steinbrenner should be in the Hall of Fame.

To be fair, as Golenbock points out, George Steinbrenner has also been spectacularly generous. He’s funded scholarships and given money to universities, charities, and various other worthy causes, earning the gratitude of a great many people who never had the misfortune of being his employees.