Locals Remember Yankees Legendary Owner George Steinbrenner, 'The Boss'

When New York Yankees legendary owner George M. Steinbrenner III passed away Tuesday, July 13, at the age of 80 of a massive heart attack at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, Florida, his death affected Yankees fans across the world.

Steinbrenner had owned the Yankees for more than three decades and during that time no owner in baseball had enjoyed more success than he had. During that time, the Yankees won seven World Series championships, 11 American League pennants and 16 American League Eastern Division titles.

The Yankees .566 winning percentage during Steinbrenner's ownership was the best in all of baseball.

"He was and always will be as much of a New York Yankee as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and all of the other Yankee legends," Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said in a press release.

One of those millions of Bronx Bomber fans is Lakeland baseball coach Dennis Robinson, who said he was shook up when he heard that Steinbrenner had passed away.

Robinson enjoyed the thrill of a lifetime when he got to pitch in a collegiate all-star game at Yankee Stadium in 1969, as he rubbed elbows with Yankee legends Phil Rizzuto, Tom Tresh and Thurman Munson, he said.

"When I heard that George passed away, it was emotional, it was sad," Robinson said. "I'm a Yankee fan so when long-time public address announcer Bob Sheppard passed away just on Sunday and now with George passing away, it's tough. I just hope that his sons keep the team's image the way it is."

'The Boss''s  sons are Hal and Hank Steinbrenner. The duo officially took over the day-to-day operations of the team in 2008.

Lakeland pitcher and 2010 New York State Gatorade Player of the Year Jonathan de Marte feels Steinbrenner's sons will carry on the Yankees' winning tradition.

"It's sad that George died but he taught his sons well, so I think the winning is going to continue," de Marte said.

Steinbrenner had a reputation for being tough on his players, managers, front office personnel and everyone else in the organization. He was most notorious for hiring and firing manager Billy Martin five times during the '70s and '80s.

"There was an aura about the Yankees and George just added to it," Robinson said. "It's an organization whose goal is to win all the time. Some people thought that he was too rough or whatever but baseball is a business. He had the ability to bring in big names, Catfish Hunter was one of the first [in 1975.]"

Besides the winning on the field, Robinson appreciated the way Steinbrenner ran the team in other areas.

"Yankee Stadium is the Mecca," Robinson said. "They are always class. There are no names on the back of the jersey and everyone has to shave, there is no facial hair allowed."

Even non-Yankee fans, like Yorktown baseball coach Sean Kennedy who roots for the Detroit Tigers, acknowledged Steinbrenner's success.

"He was a baseball icon for almost 40 years," Kennedy said. "If you are a Yankee fan I imagine it's a pretty sad day."

While Steinbrenner's reign with the Yankees was highly successful, there were bad times as well. The Yankees went 14 seasons without making the World Series before winning it in 1996. That started a stretch where the Yankees won four World Series in five years.

"In the '80s, when I used to go to Yankee Stadium for games, when there were maybe 17,000 people at the games and you could have your pick of seats, people hated Steinbrenner," Kennedy said. "People back then said that Steinbrenner needed to keep his hands off the team."

That was a period when the Yankees traded a lot of young talent for washed up veterans.

"It's funny how that George is someone that Yankee fans now love," Kennedy said. "They made that deal to get Ken Phelps [in 1988], they were killing Steinbrenner. It's kind of ironic that as time went on in the '90s, he became less involved and he allowed his baseball people to make more decisions. The guy just wanted to be a winner."