By Justin Worsley
One of the most iconic figures in Major League Baseball, New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, has died on Tuesday after suffering a massive heart attack nine days after his 80th birthday.
Steinbrenner was the longest tenured owner in Yankee history after purchasing the team in 1973. Since then, New York has won 11 pennants and seven World Series titles. His purchase of New York came only a year after he failed to acquire the Cleveland Indians.
"The Boss" as many called him was famous in baseball for a majority of things, and not all of them are necessarily good. While New York fans loved the fact that Steinbrenner was more than willing to open his checkbook and pursue big name free agents, fans of other teams saw him as a monster who took away their home-grown heroes. Steinbrenner also infamously went through 20 different managers in his first 23 seasons, including hiring Billy Martin on five separate occasions.
Steinbrenner is also noted for holding a strict dress-code policy in the organization, a reflection of his roots in the Air Force.
In 2006, Steinbrenner stepped down as the principal executive of New York, leaving the job to his sons, Hank and Hal Steinbrenner. Since then, Steinbrenner has lived in recluse, staying out of the media spotlight and giving no interviews and only seldom making appearances in New York.
In Steinbrenner's tenure, he has not only been successful in fielding a team in the baseball diamond, but also outside of it. The New York Yankees have their own television network, YES, and it is reported that the Yankees are worth an estimated $1.2 billion, much higher than the $10 million Steinbrenner purchased the team for from CBS.
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