Bye George

I'm 95% Mr. Rodgers, only 5% Oscar the Grouch.--George Steinbrenner

This really seems to be the truth judging by the overwhelming display of love and gratitude to a man that always played the villain. Even Yankee fans cheered for 90 seconds upon hearing that he was banned from baseball in 1990. He was very critical of his employees and strained the relationships with Yankee greats, such as Billy Martin, Dave Winfield, and Yogi Berra.

After returning to baseball two years later, Steinbrenner was a changed man, no longer berating his managers, firing after only a couple losses. The Boss still had the drive to bring the Yankees championships though. This time around he was more level headed than he was in the 1970's as he worked to rebuild the relationships with Winfield and specifically Berra instead of breaking more down.

As a fan of any team, Steinbrenner was the owner you wish you had. He may have been erratic and made some bad signings. (That'll happen when 2.5 billion is spent on free agents). When he overpaid for players, he hoped that, by being a Yankee, they would play better to earn that paycheck. He turned the Yankees from a team into a business. Their business is winning, and under The Boss, business was good.

Some of the stories that characterize Steinbrenner as "Mr. Rodgers," are quite interesting. He kept former executives on Yankee payroll under the title of "scout," even though they no longer worked in any capacity for the team. He anonymously donated to hospitals to give children surgeries that they could not afford. Steinbrenner even paid for his former head football coach's medical and nursing bills when he was dying because he could not afford it himself.

The stories seem to be endless since he kept them hidden. How would he have any credibility as a "Grouch" if the media found out he was an "Elmo"?

George Steinbrenner was a man who claimed all he cared about was winning but, in truth, was more of a charitable family man who expected the best out of everybody. The Yankees lost two legendary men this week, the Voice of God, and the Boss, but they both went out as champions.

RIP George Steinbrenner (1930-2010)