Baseball legend George Steinbrenner dies aged 80

George Steinbrenner known for being a larger than life leader, a tough boss that who fired staff at will and threw tantrums has died at the age of 80. As well as leaving behind him one of the most successful sport franchises in the world, he also set the model of a harsh boss who always wants more, that everybody loved to hate and at the same time still admired. 

He managed to leap into the world of popular culture, a regular figure in Seinfeld and a host on Saturday Night Live. He fired and hired the same man, Billy Martin, five times as Yankees manager, the sheer volume of sackings inspired a beer advert on television during the 1970s in which he informs Marin “You’re fired!”

Twice he was suspended from baseball, once after admitting to giving illegal contributions to Richard Nixon’s election campaign. He returned from the other suspension by posing on the cover of Sports Illustrated dressed as Napoleon. 

Back in 1973 Steinbrenner contributed $168,000 to a group of investors in order to buy the Yankees for less than $10 million. By 2009 Forbes had placed the club value at $1.5 billion. Former New York governor Mario Cuomo said, “Everyone knows George Steinbrenner went from loser to legend by taking a second-division team with a struggling franchise in 1973 and turning it into a champion again. But he was much more than a winner and a celebrity. There was no falseness in him. He did everything with his heart: his family, his friends, his team, his nation and his community. I’m not surprised that in the end he died by wearing it out.”

However, despite being known as hard going he did live by his own standards. He once said “Work as hard as you ask others to. Strive for what you believe is right, no matter the odds, and learn that mistakes can be the best teacher.”