photo by THOMAS E. FRANKLIN 1995
Yankees iconic owner George Steinbrenner died this week at the age of 80, leaving behind an unrivaled legacy. here is a staff produced video I edited on "Remembering King George."
photo by THOMAS E. FRANKLIN 2000
I was never a Steinbrenner fan (except on Seinfeld) and he drove me away from being a Yankee fan was I was young. He ruined as many Yankee teams as he helped and he drove me nuts with the endless pursuit of big name guys either past their prime, unable to perform in NY, or simply overrated. Not to mention the firing of solid managers, like Dick Howser, Lou Pinella, Buck Showalter.
He created an atmosphere of paranoia at Yankee Stadium too, that reined fear and meanness upon those who had to work there. And although I have heard countless stories of his kindness and hidden generosity, in my eyes he was a bully SOB.
Here are two of my favorite photos of him, one during the Spring Training scab-era down in Ft. Lauderdale in 1995 -surrounded by reporters. This photo was taken shortly before a NY Post reporter and someone else in the media got into a testy shoving match on the field, to George's delight.
The other was of him sitting alone in the seats behind home plate at Shea Stadium before game 5 of the 2000 Subway Series -trying to look cool and tough.
Steinbrenner Remembered
