Wednesday, May 05, 2004
The Boss Speaks Out
George Steinbrenner talks to Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated. He's not shy about expressing his opinions:
"On Red Sox president/CEO Larry Lucchino: 'I have nothing against him except I wouldn't want him in my foxhole. Look at Lucchino's history. In San Diego, he ruined that guy out there [owner John Moores]. He ruined Eli Jacobs [in Baltimore]. He's not my kind of guy. Not a good man.'"
"On former Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley: 'He was the smartest man I knew in baseball. He was a graduate of the same school I am, Culver Academy [a prep school in Indiana]. In those days the AL [owners] sat on one side of the table, the NL on the other. It was like a declaration of war. And I remember him saying, 'Mr. Steinbrenner is going to wonder why he ever got into baseball after sitting here listening to us.' Well, what Walter O'Malley wanted, he got done.'"
"On the Hall of Fame: 'I don't want to be in the Hall of Fame. I don't think owners should be. Maybe Connie Mack. But not George Steinbrenner. No way. It's for players. If they have an owners Hall of Fame, I'll consider it, but believe me, I don't want to be in the Hall of Fame. I don't belong there.'"
"On what makes him happy: 'Winning. Performing well for the fans who spend their money. This is what has to be understood: a lot of Yankees fans have spent big money supporting the Yankees, buying Yankee goods, and we don't get all that money. When people buy a Yankee cap we only get 1/30th [of the revenue]! That seems crazy, but that's revenue sharing. We support [other major league teams] in so many ways. We don't share our tickets, but when we go to their towns we don't complain when the Chicago Cubs [charge] an inordinate amount of money for a ticket to a Yankees game as compared to some other game. They don't complain to me and I don't complain to them.'"
|
George Steinbrenner talks to Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated. He's not shy about expressing his opinions:
"On Red Sox president/CEO Larry Lucchino: 'I have nothing against him except I wouldn't want him in my foxhole. Look at Lucchino's history. In San Diego, he ruined that guy out there [owner John Moores]. He ruined Eli Jacobs [in Baltimore]. He's not my kind of guy. Not a good man.'"
"On former Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley: 'He was the smartest man I knew in baseball. He was a graduate of the same school I am, Culver Academy [a prep school in Indiana]. In those days the AL [owners] sat on one side of the table, the NL on the other. It was like a declaration of war. And I remember him saying, 'Mr. Steinbrenner is going to wonder why he ever got into baseball after sitting here listening to us.' Well, what Walter O'Malley wanted, he got done.'"
"On the Hall of Fame: 'I don't want to be in the Hall of Fame. I don't think owners should be. Maybe Connie Mack. But not George Steinbrenner. No way. It's for players. If they have an owners Hall of Fame, I'll consider it, but believe me, I don't want to be in the Hall of Fame. I don't belong there.'"
"On what makes him happy: 'Winning. Performing well for the fans who spend their money. This is what has to be understood: a lot of Yankees fans have spent big money supporting the Yankees, buying Yankee goods, and we don't get all that money. When people buy a Yankee cap we only get 1/30th [of the revenue]! That seems crazy, but that's revenue sharing. We support [other major league teams] in so many ways. We don't share our tickets, but when we go to their towns we don't complain when the Chicago Cubs [charge] an inordinate amount of money for a ticket to a Yankees game as compared to some other game. They don't complain to me and I don't complain to them.'"
|
