WHY I MISS GEORGE STEINBRENNER

Remember those days after a big loss in the playoffs? Yankee fans would be pissed off, talk radio would be buzzing and slamming the Yankees for having a $200 million payroll, yet we couldn’t win it all. We Yankee fans would all wonder at that point... What would George do next? Then George would find a microphone and say those 4 words that almost made us feel good again… “There will be changes.”

No disrespect to Hal and Hank, but it’s a different time in Yankeeland these days, is it not? I laugh because it’s clear that Hal and Hank has split George’s traits down the middle and they never seem to be on the same page... at least publicly.

Hal is clearly the guy who knows the money, works closely with Brian Cashman and is not trigger happy. Instead, he’s thoughtful with his decision making, he clearly trusts Cashman, something I never really thought George did and Hal works well with others, but he has George’s business mind, I kind of like it.

Hank on the other hand is the part of George that knee-jerked his way into bad free agent signings and lunacy. Nothing against Uncle Hank, but some of the things he says are silly, although, it reminds me a lot like his father, who spoke his mind and did what he said he was going to do...always.

In this new Era of the "World of Wait", the Yankees will now sit on a pile of money for the next big free agent market to open up and do their best George impersonation, but not now... No.

Now is the time to just go through the motions and cross our fingers as Yankee fans. And sure, if Uncle Hank is allowed out of his cage on occasion to distract us all, Cashman will bank on it, because he’ll hope we don’t notice that it’s taking way to long to “form” a championship.

One thing I miss about George Steinbrenner was his toughness. He never cared what anyone thought of him, he just did it, because he believed in his team and he trusted his decisions. Some of those decisions were ridiculous, but he did it anyway, because in the end, he just wanted to win. George had a great run, and I’m wondering if 2009 was the beginning of a good run for the Steinbrenner kids. Sure they have the Bosses traits, but will they utilize them wisely? Let’s not forget, 2009 was won by a Steinbrenner shopping spree. Damn… I’m dying to see it again, because it’s clear, George is screaming “you’re fired” at Cash right now… no doubt about it, but the difference this time is, Cash doesn't hear him.

By the way, we have a terrific piece about George called THE BOSS, PR & SECOND ACTS. You need to check it out. It was written by a guest writer and friend of mine, Donna McSorley. Thanks again for that.

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