Legendary Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner Dies At Age 80

George Steinbrenner, who led the Yankees to seven World Series championships, died in his home in FL at 80-years-old.
Legendary Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner Dies At Age 80
New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner who led the Yankees to seven World Series championships, died from a heart attack in his home in Tampa, Florida at the age of 80. (Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images)
Annie Wu
7/13/2010
Updated:
10/8/2018
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/56981523.jpg" alt="New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner who led the Yankees to seven World Series championships, died from a heart attack in his home in Tampa, Florida at the age of 80.  (Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images)" title="New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner who led the Yankees to seven World Series championships, died from a heart attack in his home in Tampa, Florida at the age of 80.  (Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1817452"/></a>
New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner who led the Yankees to seven World Series championships, died from a heart attack in his home in Tampa, Florida at the age of 80.  (Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images)
George Steinbrenner signed on with the then-beleaguered New York Yankees in 1973, and established one of the most successful teams in professional sports history. With a big personality, he was often criticized for being demanding and using harsh business tactics to make his team win. No one can deny his influential position in modern baseball.

Steinbrenner, who led the Yankees to seven World Series championships, died in his home in Tampa, Florida on Tuesday morning after suffering from a heart attack. He celebrated his eightieth birthday on July 4.

“He was a visionary and a giant in the world of sports. He took a great but struggling franchise and turned it into a champion again,” his family said in a released statement.

His death follows the Yankees’ latest championship win at the 2009 World Series, when the team dedicated their trophy to The Boss, as he is called. It was the Yankees’ 27th championship title, reported MajorLeagueBaseball.com.

Steinbrenner made history when he signed pitcher Catfish Hunter for a $3.75 million five-year contract, a then unheard-of sum, reported Associated Content in 2009. Steinbrenner and his large payrolls have since dominated the world of baseball.

New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced that the flags at City Hall Plaza will be lowered in honor of Steinbrenner’s death. “This is a sad day not only for Yankee fans, but for our entire City, as few people have had a bigger impact on New York over the past four decades than George Steinbrenner … George invested his heart and soul into the Yankees, and his competitive fire helped usher in new eras of Yankee greatness, reclaiming the team’s long tradition of excellence and its position as the most successful franchise in the history of American sports … George was a larger than life New York figure whose passion and drive to succeed will forever be missed,” said Bloomberg in a statement.

Former Yankees player and Baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra reflected on his passing. He said, “George was ‘The Boss,’ make no mistake. He built the Yankees into champions and that’s something nobody can ever deny. He was a very generous, caring, passionate man. George and I had our differences, but who didn’t? We became great friends over the last decade and I will miss him very much,” reported Sports Illustrated.

Steinbrenner’s family announced that his funeral will be a private ceremony, but an additional public service will take place at a later date.
Annie Wu joined the full-time staff at the Epoch Times in July 2014. That year, she won a first-place award from the New York Press Association for best spot news coverage. She is a graduate of Barnard College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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