Merrick Reacts to George Steinbrenner's Death

The death of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner Tuesday morning has brought out a flood of support for "The Boss,"  including from some seemingly unlikely places.

Merokean Seth Meyerowitz, a Mets fan, created a "RIP George Steinbrenner" Facebook group just hours after Steinbrenner died of a massive heart attack at the age of 80. 

"As a life long Mets fan, my respect for George Steinbrenner stems more from the effect that he has had on New York baseball and less from his success with winning championships," Meyerowitz wrote on Facebook.  "Obviously I would prefer to have had those championships for my team but oh well."

A half-hour after Meyerowitz created the Facebook, a reporter from the New York Post e-mailed him for a Steinbrenner story that appeared on the Post website Tuesday afternoon.

"It's pretty incredible," Meyerowitz said of the response to his group.

Steinbrenner was well-known for his outspokenness and controversial actions, some of which got him in plenty of trouble.

In 1990, Steinbrenner was banned from baseball for life after he paid an admitted gambler $40,000 to dig up damaging information about star outfielder Dave Winfield. 

Steinbrenner was later reinstated, but even during his suspension, the power of his iron-fist rule was felt throughout the Yankee clubhouse.  In one instance–later lampooned on The Simpsons–the Yankees management benched fan favorite Don Mattingly after the first baseman refused to get a haircut. 

For all the drama, though, it can be tough to argue with the results: the Yankees won seven World Series titles and 11 American League pennants during Steinbrenner's reign from 1973 to his death. 

"He was a very tough man, a good businessman," said Merokean Vinny DiPalo while sporting a Bronx Bombers T-shirt Tuesday afternoon, of Steinbrenner. "He was hard on a lot of his players, but because of that, that's why the Yankees were as successful as they were."