The Bronx is Mourning.
The two Georges are responsible for the rise, then the renaissance, of the Yankee Empire.
The Babe and The Boss.
George Herman Ruth’s arrival in New York City in 1920 would launch the most dynamic dynasty in sports history. The Yankees won 20 World Series from 1923-62.
George Michael Steinbrenner’s arrival in The Bronx borough in 1973 would relaunch the Yankees as the most loved, loathed, colorful, controversial, rich and successful franchise in all of professional sports. The Yankees won seven World Series from 1977-2009.
The first Yankee Stadium at East 161st Street and River Avenue was the House That Ruth Built. The new Yankee Stadium a block north is the House That Steinbrenner Built.
Both Georges had an incredible impact on our national pastime. Ruth defined baseball as a player; Steinbrenner redefined it as an owner.
Ruth was the greatest player of all time, Steinbrenner the game’s greatest owner.
Somewhere today they are talkin’ baseball, and Bob Sheppard is announcing their presence.
Attention, ladies and gentlemen. Now batting, No. 3 Babe Ruth . . . No. 3. Now screaming, signing, spending, firing, fuming, flourishing, George Steinbrenner . . . Steinbrenner.
In just three days, New York, the Yankees, baseball and the country lost two iconic figures — Sheppard, who was the “Voice of God,” and Steinbrenner, who was never the “Voice of Reason.”
In their honor, every man should wear pinstriped suits at the funerals.
Ruth was a larger-than-life figure, the first nationally idolized athlete in team sports in American history. In his unique manner, Steinbrenner, born on the Fourth of July in 1930, was bigger than his own being.
Ruth made more money with the Yankees than the president. Steinbrenner made more money off the Yankees than all the presidents ever earned.
The ballplayer was traded by the Red Sox to the Yankees because he wanted his $10,000 salary doubled. The shipbuilder bought the Yankees with 14 other investors for $8 million in 1973. Now the team is worth more than $1.5 billion.
During the years before Ruth arrived in New York City, the ragamuffin Yankees had finished as many as 28, 30, 32, 38 and even 55 games out of first place. In 1927, they won 110 games and Ruth hit an amazing 60 home runs. During the years before Steinbrenner arrived in New York, the once-proud Yankees had become shameful, finishing 20 (twice), 15, 26 1/2 and 28 1/2 games behind. By 1977, when “The Bronx is Burning,” the Yankees would win 100 games — and 100 more the next year.
The Babe and The Boss both turned around the franchise.
The game was never the same after Ruth’s powerful home run swing, his bombastic personality on and off the field, his escapades, his hullabaloos, the sadness at the end in 1948 when he was a frail man, soon to die of cancer, during “Babe Ruth Day” at the stadium built because of him.
But he was still The Babe.
The game never will be quite the same because of Steinbrenner’s powerful splurging spree. He spent whatever it took to sign free agents. Some fueled the Yankees’ return. Others were major-league flops. He created the first team-owned cable station. He fired manager Billy Martin five times. He fired manager Yogi Berra, a Hall of Fame catcher, 16 games into one season. He refused to re-sign manager Joe Torre. He would hate, then hug, his players (Reggie Jackson, for instance).
Steinbrenner demanded that his players be clean-cut, respectful of him and the fans, and victorious in every game. Yet, he was suspended from baseball twice and fined more than a dozen times.
However, under Steinbrenner, the Yankees won two championships in the 1970s, had a drought in the 1980s, rebounded for three World Series rings in the 1990s and got another in 2000, then went dry again. Even though he had turned over the daily operations to his two sons, the 2009 World Series was his final triumph.
At the 2006 groundbreaking ceremony in the Bronx, Steinbrenner was a frail, sad man who spoke haltingly and for only a few moments on the spot of the new Yankee Stadium built for him (as a result of the city surrendering to his ultimatums).
But he was still The Boss.
My longest conversation with George was in his office at Yankee Stadium in 1981, after he hired Lou Saban, the former Broncos coach, as Yankees president. “What I really always wanted to be was a coach and Lou gave me my first paying college job (as a Northwestern assistant in 1955). This is payback, but Lou can help us win and that’s all that matters.”
Steinbrenner would leave coaching to return to his hometown, Cleveland, to take over his father’s shipbuilding business.
“My father always has been a Yankees fan,” Steinbrenner said softly, showing a side rarely revealed publicly. “I hope he’s pleased with me.”
George Ruth and George Steinbrenner made Yankees fans everywhere pleased, Red Sox fans displeased.
The two Georges made baseball a different game and, yes, a better game.
Woody Paige: 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com
