Here's the most telling comment from the New York Times coverage of Torre Watch: "George Steinbrenner, the Yankees’ principal owner, is seeking a consensus on whether to replace Torre, whose contract expires at the end of the month, and he does not have it yet."
Huh? Steinbrenner wants a CONSENSUS before acting? Any lingering doubts as to whether we've entered a new era are over. The Steinbrenner who uglified the Yankees in the Seventies and Eighties and who made money but turned this glorious team into blustering bullies never needed a CONSENSUS to do anything. I'll give you a consensus, he would have shouted, a consensus of ONE. The only opinion that mattered was his own and his opinion usually meant trading away future talent so he could overpay for aging, over the hill veterans who never delivered. I wish the ailing owner well, but he never did a single thing to build up this team as a franchise, as winners. That only happened when he was legally forced to stay far away from baseball for several years and Gene Michaels and Buck Showalter reasserted baseball smarts, long-term planning and decency into the lineup. If Steinbrenner wants consensus, the likelihood of Torre staying for two more years to welcome the new Stadium has just increased exponentially. Consensus is easiest to get by leaving things the way they are.
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"He never did a single thing to build up this team as a franchise, as winners."
Huh?!? What about the late 70s when he brought in Reggie and they lost to the Big Red Machine in '76 before winning it all in '77 & '78? And the wacky '81 strike season when they made the ALCS?
That was all Steinbrenner and I have no doubt that his micro-management of the 70s and 80s would result in playoff teams now when twice as many teams get in each year. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather watch kids from the system develop and stay with the team, but to say that he did nothing and compare reaching the postseason as a barometer for success in two starkly different eras (pre- and post-Wild Card) is crazy.
Once again, I love the kids and I'm glad George is not a tyrant anymore, I'm just saying.
I'm not comparing Post-season to post-season from diff eras. I'm comparing World Series wins and a team you can be proud of rather than the Bronx Zoo. Steinbrenner was a lunatic and an embarrassment, a man who drove you nuts and took even what pleasure to be had from a World Series and spoiled it with his childish, idiotic bluster and behavior and ill-treatment of Reggie and the coaches and the other players and the fans. ust because he threw around a bunch of money and bought a ring or two, his overall record is piss poor on the team side. Our 90s dynasty was built because Steinbrenner was banned from baseball by the courts and the massive growth in value of the team is due to that dynasty and Torre's continued reign, which has turned the team from a bunch of crazies to a corporate, family friendly, positive image that prints money. Our decline in the 200s was due to Steinbrenner regaining control for one last gasp before declining into old age. You think the Steinbrenner of the 70s and 80s did a great job? No way. He bought a ring just like the Marlins did and spent the next 12 years acting like he'd stormed Normandy single-handed. He's the biggest sort of bully and bum and proved it again and again. He deserves no credit for anything other than being a jerk.
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