The Man You Loved to Hate

By Nick Aliffi

There aren’t many people who could polarize a crowd like George Steinbrenner. The man who had to win at any cost was an easy man to hate.

You couldn’t outspend him

You couldn’t outperform him

You would never, EVER, let you have one little inch.

But at the end of the day, baseball needed a George Steinbrenner. Baseball was better WITH George Steinbrenner.  Think about it for a second…

All of you Red Sox poseurs needed Steinbrenner to exist. What would the Red Sox Nation be without the Evil Empire? For all of the complaining spewed forth by the  Boston faithful, they all seem to forget that Steinbrenner pioneered the 200 million dollar payroll. What was the Red Sox payroll? Oh right, a measly 187 million… my bad.

Are you a Royals fan? Still mad that the Yankees buy every free agent on the market? You should be praising George Steinbrenner for even keeping your team relevant. It was the luxury tax he paid every year that helped buoy all of you small-market teams. So please, before you trash the man, reflect on how he actually HELPED baseball.

The bottom line is that Major League Baseball was better with Steinbrenner. You needed the “villain” to root against. Steinbrenner and his all-star dynasty teams made the MLB more exciting, profitable, and worth watching.  Mark my words, you will miss the “win at all costs” attitude he brought to the Bronx…