Report: Steinbrenner Stepping Down (1 Viewer)

[Aaron Rudnicki]

REPORT: Steinbrenner Stepping Down

10/14/2007 11:50:53 AM

New York, NY (Sports Network) - New York Yankees legendary owner George Steinbrenner is reportedly stepping down and will hand control of the team off to his sons, according to a report in the New York Post.

Members of the Yankees brass told the newspaper that Hank and Hal Steinbrenner will share leadership in an arrangement to be further ironed out in Tampa, Florida later this week.

"George has taken on a role like the chairman of a major corporation," Yankees president Randy Levine told the Post. "He's been saying for years he's wanted to get his sons involved in the family business. Both of them have stepped up and are taking on the day-to-day duties of what's required to run the Yankees."

Both brothers are expected to have final say on baseball decisions, the running of the YES Network and the construction of the new Yankee Stadium.

"There's always been a succession - and that's myself and my brother," Hank told the newspaper. "I'll pay more attention to the baseball part. The stadium, that's more Hal. But basically everything will be decided jointly."

The brothers have already been heavily involved is George Steinbrenner's business dealings.

Hank, 50, runs the family's 850-acre Kinsman Stable, a horse farm for thoroughbreds in Ocala, Florida.

Hal, 38, oversees five hotels in Florida and one in Ohio and is in charge of various real-estate, transportation and marketing companies. He was also recently named chairman of the board of Yankee Global Enterprises.

Hank has already made one key baseball decision and will move rookie sensation Joba Chamberlain from the bullpen to the starting rotation in 2008. Chamberlain excelled in the Yankees' minor league system as a starter before being called up by the big club as a setup man for Mariano Rivera.

Larger decisions loom on the horizon for the new Yankees caretakers, most notably the future of manager Joe Torre.

It was thought that Torre managed his last game in a New York Yankees uniform when they were beaten by the Cleveland Indians, 6-4, in Game 4 of their American League Division Series.

It was the third straight year that the Yankees were unceremoniously dumped from the playoffs in the first round and the elder Steinbrenner had already put Torre on notice.

"His job is on the line," George Steinbrenner told the Bergen Record before Game 3 of the series. "I think we're paying him a lot of money. He's the highest-paid manager in baseball, so I don't think we'd take him back if we don't win this series."

Torre was in the final year of a contract worth over $7 million per year and has led the Yankees to four World Series titles and 12 consecutive playoff appearances.

Torre's 12 appearances in postseason play with the Yankees (1996-2007) are the most by any manager in American League history and he's won more postseason games than any skipper in major league history.

The 67-year-old mentor is 1,173-767 during the regular season in his tenure with the Yankees, winning the World Series four years in a five-season span (1996, 1998-2000).

http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/news_story/?ID=220602&hubname=

 

[Green94]

 

[shadyridr]

This doesnt surprise me as reports are hes getting senile. It wouldnt surprise me if his Torre rant last week was a senile outburst as it was probably the worst thing he couldve done if he wanted to fire Torre.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Not unexpected. A sad day though. I love George and everything he has done for this team. It will be a different feel knowing he isn't in charge anymore. It's been a fun ride.

Don't know what to make of the sons. Hopefully, they listen to baseball people and not their own egos in running the team.

 

[Workhorse]

I wish Steinbrenner well. For all of my hate towards mostly everything Yankee related, Steinbrenner was extremely generous to many, many good causes, including the Jimmy Fund. George should be remembered first and foremost for that.

 

[MrPhoenix]

It was probably time, but it's still a shock.

 

[Tom Servo]

Not unexpected. A sad day though. I love George and everything he has done for this team. It will be a different feel knowing he isn't in charge anymore. It's been a fun ride.Don't know what to make of the sons. Hopefully, they listen to baseball people and not their own egos in running the team.

IIRC, there's "New York" and "Tampa" factions within the org, aren't there? If so, which side are the sons on?

 

[NY/NJMFDIVER]

The fashionable thing will be to "remember the good with the bad" of Steinbrenner, that of which indisputably came in remarkable ways. And I don't mean this as an obituary, because if he's stepping aside, it's due to a diminished capacity, which I find to be worthy of no-comment at worst, or sympathy at best. If you've never been part of this decline, its easy to make jokes, but if you've lived through turning into a stranger in the eyes of someone you love, I don't see how you could mock the situation, which there's been a bit too much of for my taste.

But it is a situation that deserves discussion, and this is a multi-billion dollar operation, and the fans deserve to know who's driving. Hopefully this will come forth and the business of the team can move forward.

I will most certainly miss George. Net-Net, there's no owner I would have rather had. He did some nutty stuff, fostered a climate of dumping all stars, MVP's, and Cy Young winner rookies in the 80's but I'm proud that he was a guy who wouldn't let money stand in the way of victory. The Yanks spent a lot, because they had it and because they could, but it certainly took money out of Steinbrenner's pocket. He was a gambler in the sense that it took money to make money, and a fan in the sense that dollars didn't matter when he had the chance to compete and win. His energy and enthusiasm had to be redirected and harnessed, and we went through a down 80's to an immortal 90's and first round exits and all, its still pretty great to be a fan now.

As this team joins the realm of sports outfits that are more about a corporate climate and less about an owner's individuality and personality manifested on the field, he's among a dying breed that brought some color to the game and made it fun to be a fan. I never had to worry about the Yankees being too cheap with a guy, which is an advantage but one I appreciate and I'm glad George owned this team. If he's stepping aside, which he already seems to have in so many ways, I wish him the best health, some racehorses that can go and one more title for the old man. For a guy born out of town, he embodied the best and worst of what this town can be and he was the right man at the right time for the right team.

We'll miss you George, it won't be the same without you.

Signed,

A guy who still has his "George Must Go" flyer from the 1990. All is forgiven my man!

 

[Doctor Detroit]

So which one of the sons are going to be in charge here? The loud one or the other one? I know nothing about either but I wondered if there would be fighting for control or if they are just going to split it.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

So which one of the sons are going to be in charge here? The loud one or the other one? I know nothing about either but I wondered if there would be fighting for control or if they are just going to split it.

Hank has been the one being quoted the most. I doth dub them "Hanky's Yankees"

 

[Alias]

So which one of the sons are going to be in charge here? The loud one or the other one? I know nothing about either but I wondered if there would be fighting for control or if they are just going to split it.

Hank has been the one being quoted the most. I doth dub them "Hanky's Yankees"

I think I read one will be in charge of the facility the other in charge of personnel.