Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball

by Bill Madden

If you love the New York Yankees, arguably the most storied franchise in all of sports—or even if you’re just a fan of baseball history, or big business bios—this biography of the larger-than-life team owner for the past four decades is a must for your bookshelf. For more than 30 years Bill Madden has covered the Yankees and Major League Baseball for the New York Daily News, and he brings all his insights and inside connections to Steinbrenner: the definitive biography of one of New York’s most intriguing and long-standing sports figures, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Biography, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Ebooks, New York

457 pages, Hardcover

First published May 11, 2010

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This impressive biography by Bill Madden was published just a few weeks before Steinbrenner’s death in 2010. I am not a Yankees fan and most definitely not a Steinbrenner fan. Despite my lack of affection I can say this is one of the best biographies I’ve read in my ‘Best 100 Baseball Books’ project. Steinbrenner owned the Yankees from 1973 to 2010 and Bill Madden was a sportswriter for the UPI and New York Daily News and covered the Yankees from 1978 until 2015.

We learn that George was born in 1930 in Bay Village, a wealthy enclave near Cleveland Ohio. He was born into a multi-generational Great Lakes shipping family. George excelled at some sports like track (hurdles) and football in high school and college but ironically he didn’t play baseball. He was an intelligent kid who played the piano and he graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts in 1952. After graduating he enlisted for a stint in the Air Force and was stationed near his home in Ohio. Upon his release, he served as an assistant on Woody Hayes’s staff at Ohio State and Lou Saban at Northwestern. With his family’s money he started to invest in different minor league sports franchises.

While in his thirties George took over operations of the family’s multi-million dollar shipping empire in Cleveland which was already quite profitable became more profitable and allowed him to purchase the Yankees in 1973 when CBS was willing to sell a failing franchise.

After moving to New York, he hired Roy Cohn as his attorney and began to really play “hardball” in the business and legal sense. His success with the Yankees was partly because of his desire to win but mostly because of his deep pockets and a savvy realization that while free agency (introduced in 1974) was driving up player salaries he could work this to his advantage because he was one of the richest owners. After all who wouldn’t want to play in New York and make a lot of money. Over the next thirty-seven years, the Yankees would win seven World Series for Steinbrenner.

Now the egomaniacal Steinbrenner certainly had significant character flaws and treated his GM’s, managers, and even some of his players atrociously. He fired Billy Martin, one of the most successful and impossibly pugnacious managers of all time, no less than five times. As far as GMs, Steinbrenner on several occasions would employ two GMs and wait to see which one could last amidst the chaos. Steinbrenner, who did not grow up a Yankees fan, often used past Yankees in various PR, GM and manager roles because he knew they would put up with a lot of abuse because they felt so strongly about the Yankee dynasty. Another one of Steinbrenner’s favorite tricks was to ask an underperforming star player what he thought of signing a potential player. If the star player said it was a good idea, he signed the new player and traded the underperforming star away just so they could think about the conversation after they were traded away.

There were some nice things he did as an owner too. When old (and young) Yankees passed away, including Martin and Munson, Steinbrenner made sure that they had large tributes and funerals. In his later years, he was also able to soften his image when it was clear he would be handing the reigns to his children at some point.

4.5 stars. Highly recommended. I docked .5 stars because I think the material on the Joe Torre-Yankee years was a little thin. During much of that latter Torre period Steinbrenner was in poor health and did not make as many public appearances.

[La Crosse County Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review originally published July 2010

It’s almost unnatural at this time of year to find an empty baseball or softball field in the area. From my own 10-year-old and under circuit of games and tournaments this summer, I’m convinced that there isn’t any community in the area who doesn’t take great pride in their diamonds, and despite any impact of the economy, businesses of all shapes and sizes seem to have their names emblazoned on a jersey or shirt of some sort.

Often times it’s hard to get the players to keep up the chatter on the field or in the dugout, but I don’t know that parents and spectators ever seem to be at a loss for something to shout or cheer about.

Baseball still seems to rank as the all-American sport and the t-ball programs prepping upcoming all-stars don’t seem to indicate any downturn on the horizon for participation. In the midst of yet another exciting season of baseball, many breaths were taken away with the loss of one of the all-time greatest characters of baseball.

New York Yankees owner, George Steinbrenner, passed away July 13th and go figure, his last headline dominated every sports page in the country. Ironically, just a few short months ago, Bill Madden’s Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball was released with advanced praise.

Whether a ball fan or not, the unmistakable crossed NY of the Yankees is recognized the world over and the first, and sadly, last, definitive biography of Steinbrenner takes you behind the scenes of the last four decades of an extraordinary career.

George’s final public print interview began at the request of his family. They were the ones who approached award-winning sports journalist and author, Bill Madden, to chronicle a fascinating life and to set the record straight from Steinbrenner’s purchase of the Yankees in 1973 for $10 million dollars, through his suspension from baseball, and of course, revisiting many of the firings he so famously dictated.

Madden even manages to show the soft-hearted side of Steinbrenner, and recounts last year’s World Series when George, teary-eyed, at home in Tampa, confined to a wheel chair, watched the Yankees win their 27th World Championship.

Bill Madden’s latest book, Steinbrenner, along with his previous publications, are available through the La Crosse County Library with locations in Bangor, Campbell, Holmen, Onalaska, or West Salem.

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[Lisa K · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it at first but I think I picked the wrong time to read a book that is mostly a lunatic billionaire yelling a lot.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's funny: I'm 28 and started following the Yankees seriously around 1994, the strike year, so all I've known is unthinkable success and stability. Certainly that's how the Yankee brass wants you to remember the Steinbrenner era -- just look at the YES Network's love-fest for the man on their Yankeeography show; all the guests tripped over themselves to out-praise Steinbrenner.

Sometimes you have to be reminded that immediately preceding the 15+ years of winning since the strike ended was a period of mediocrity that lasted almost as long -- and could be sourced back to the same man. No club that goes through 17 managers in 17 years and fields players at the whim of a man with the impulses of a 7-year-old (and the management technique of your average schoolyard bully) could have won the way the Yankees of yesteryear did. Is it purely coincidence that the two greatest periods of success since Steinbrenner took over the team, the late 1970s and the 1996-2001 run (the vestiges of which remain still), are due in large part to personnel decisions made because Steinbrenner was banned from the everyday baseball operations of the team?

Bill Madden's book is a nice run-through for relatively young fans like me about the Steinbrenner era as seen by someone who was in the trenches every day, a wake-up call that the same man we can credit for turning the Yankees into a global empire is also responsible for some truly grievous decisions as well. George Steinbrenner is the definition of a complex character, a benevolent dictator, a petulant crank whose teams have won (way) more World Series than any other team since 1974, a ruthless entrepreneur who saw the potential in free agency and changed the game forever. A novelist couldn't make him up, but Madden does a good job at trying to portray him, warts and all.

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whenever I contemplate reading a biography, I always consider the author, and if they had a relationship with the person being written of. I prefer not to read what Lester Bangs classified as “puff pieces”, instead, opting for an author that owed no allegiance to the subject. Bill Madden covered the Yankees as beat writer for New York’s Daily News, spanning thirty years. Given the controversial nature of Steinbrenner, the only realistic way Madden could write this book was to do so, head-on. In my view, he succeeded, as not to take a direct approach, would have set himself up for criticism from both his peers, and baseball fans at large.

George Steinbrenner was an adult version of the very annoying kid many of us met in our adolescence - born on third base because of the happenstance of his birthright, he nevertheless reminded you frequently and unconvincingly, that it was rather his athletic prowess in hitting a triple into the gap, that initially placed him on third. Steinbrenner’s watershed moment was not his birthright, but instead, his purchase of the Yankees in 1973 from CBS for a mere $10 Million. In spite of his constant intermeddling, the Yankees won, and often.

Today in 2013, the Yankees franchise was valued by Forbes at $2.3 Billion, in no small measure the result of Steinbrenner’s alacrity and shrewd, innovative business practices. Arguably, “The Boss” was one of the most successful sports business executives and owners, not just among his peers, but perhaps of all-time.

Madden provides a balanced view of Steinbrenner’s life, among which are the private details of his personal and family life which for me, was a mystery until I read this book. Additionally, I was unaware of his very caring, charitable nature to virtual strangers, much of which was done anonymously. Beneath the coarse, rude exterior of an aggressive, provocative, bombastic man, are glimpses of a decent human being.

Some of the funniest parts of this book pertain to Steinbrenner’s interaction with his staff, his general and field managers, and most amusing of all, his always awkward interaction with his players. Graig Nettles, a very clutch hitter with a Hall of Fame glove, routinely laughed at Steinbrenner. Lou Piniella, as both a player and manager, openly argued with George. Three time American League MVP, Yankee manager, and Hall of Famer, Yogi Berra, literally boycotted Yankee Stadium for fourteen years, given his disdain for both The Boss’ intermeddling and the manner in which he was dismissed as field manager. Perhaps the funniest anecdote is that of Rick Cerone, the journeyman catcher, who had the unenviable position of replacing the late-Thurman Munson. Following a playoff loss to Milwaukee, George was “blistering his players” to which Cerone interrupted the tirade with “Feck you George! You don’t know what you are talking about. You don’t know a fecking thing about baseball.”

The most memorable player is Hall of Fame Pitcher, Rich “Goose” Gossage, hands-down, the best multiple innings closer in the history of the game. His dominating figure invoked the same fear that Hall of Fame Pitchers, Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale did when a batter stepped in to face them. He affectionately referred to Steinbrenner as “the fat man”, responding to Steinbrenner’s continuous, public criticism of his players. After his six-year contract was up, Gossage unceremoniously stated: “I’ve just had enough of the bullshitte that goes on there.”

If you are a Yankees fan, a New York baseball fan like me, or just a baseball fan that lived through Steinbrenner’s more than thirty years of active ownership of the Yankees, this is a historical, sometimes sad, and oftentimes funny book about a very polarizing, yet memorable man.

[Luke Koran · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a lengthy biography befitting his nearly four-decade-long tenure as owner of the New York Yankees, sportswriter Bill Madden paints a near-complete portrait of who George Steinbrenner III was in "Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball." Numerous interviews, new primary sources, and the author's own experiences shed much light on the Yankees outspoken, overly-involved owner, most notably from 1973 to 1992. Unfortunately, this book greatly tapers off following Steinbrenner's reinstatement in 1993, especially after his first health crisis in 2003. Sure, this may be due to a lack of Steinbrenner intervention in the Yankees championship teams (go figure, Steinbrenner doesn't intervene and the Yankees become a winning machine). Still, I feel that Madden could have dug deeper to find interesting anecdotes to share with his captivated readership. Though this book could have waited until Steinbrenner's death (or at least have an afterward published in a second edition), I am thankful to have learned so much about George Steinbrenner and the true stories that contributed to his legendary persona.

[Tim Timberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Madden makes the case that, for almost all of his time as owner, Steinbrenner WAS the Yankees. He did this more completely than King Louis XIV (L'etat c'est moi!) ever was able to do with France. I liked the stories Madden included in the book, and the interviews from people who knew first-hand how fickle Steinbrenner could be.

I think that Madden left a two important questions left unanswered. First, Madden made it clear that Steinbrenner helped usher in a new era of baseball through free agency, spending millions of dollars to build championship teams in the 1970s. Yet how did this fall apart in the 1980s? Was Steinbrenner unlucky with free agents, or did his problems with his shipping company spill over to the ballclub? He hinted to both, but no clear answer was ever given. And then, in the 1990s and 2000s, when the Yankees again succeeded, what changed with Steinbrenner? For one, he left Torre as manager and Cashman as GM for a long time, especially given how quickly he went through administrators before them. What changed that brought stability?

[Jay French · Rating 3 out of 5]

I approached this as a baseball fan and as a fan of business books. It's interesting to see how organizations operate and are managed. This story was the story of the bully as boss. Did he have redeeming traits? Some, but they sure didn't overwhelm the bullying of his employees in the narrative of this book. If this were a novel, the antagonist would have had second thoughts prior to the end. It doesn't seem to have happened here. That left the end a bit unsatisfying, no send off, just a fading away to an abrupt ending. I tried to put myself into his shoes in various places in the narrative, and I just couldn't imagine coming up with the responses he did - he seems a very unique individual.

[Jeni Enjaian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. I wanted to enjoy this book. I really did. As an avid baseball fan, I could not help but know about Steinbrenner and his tremendous influence not only on the Yankees but also on baseball itself.
I picked up the book thinking that I would discover a biography about the man. Instead, I found a dense narrative that felt like a compilation of newspaper articles that hinged around Steinbrenner, only a few times drifting off into non-baseball related aspects of the man's life. This is not a good biography, at all. It's way too dense and does not live up to the subtitle the author gave. I do not recommend it.

[Tacitus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is good on the baseball part of Steinbrenner's life, and seemed fair for the most part. Most of this was already written, in a way, by Steinbrenner's own rants to reporters. Madden's book is often a book on the media coverage of the Yankees. Steinbrenner's was always good for zany headlines and stories, especially in the NY tabloids.

Madden adds to that with interviews and others' memoirs. Whether Madden was too close to his subject, or whether his friendship with the Boss influenced his choice of anecdotes, is an open question.

However, this is not a full biography. We get no insights on George's relationship with his 4 kids, for example. Another big hole is there is no corresponding coverage of how he acted with his employees at his shipping company (which went bankrupt), or his horse farm. Both aspects could have provided a fuller picture of the man, and could have shed some light on whether he always behaved the way he did, or whether it was confined to baseball for some reason.

As a result, it's still a bit of a mystery to me why Steinbrenner was such a bully, although Madden comes out and says plainly that it was probably because his father treated him that way. Or that he emulated Patton (missing the criticism of the movie, it seems) and Atilla the Hun.

It's debatable whether that style worked, and it's hard to assess Steinbrenner's overall impact. I was left with the impression that the Yankees succeeded in spite of him and his chaos. There were many years under his reign when the Yankees didn't even make the playoffs, and he alienated Yogi Berra for 14 years.

The book doesn't give a complete picture of the Yankees as a business. Perhaps the one thing that George did on that front was establish YES. The book also doesn't really get into the Yankees farm system, even though they habitually traded away young prospects for aging (if proven) free agents. Surprisingly, there's little discussion of the Core Four or Cashman's influence.

Even so, I found Madden's prose lucid and his portrait of Steinbrenner as cringe-inducing as I expected it to be, maybe even more so.

[AndrewMillerTheSecond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for what I was looking for as a Yankees fan who has only known the era of Hal Steinbrenner and not George (and skeptical that George was any better). The book is a very straightforward biography filled to the brim with amusing anecdotes about Steinbrenner's life. Maybe I'm expecting too much from a sports bio to get some underlying psychology behind why "the Boss" was a larger-than-life figure. One thing I think could've realistically been expounded on was why Steinbrenner accepted a lifetime ban in 1990 over the Dave Winfield/Howie Spira affair--over the Olympics? If the ban actually ended up being for life (he was reinstated in 1993) I'm sure there would've been more elaboration, although in that instance maybe nobody is writing a bio on Steinbrenner. There's only a few paragraphs of explanation for what's the most flummoxing decision of the subject's life.

I'm also glad Madden was a journalist during the Steinbrenner years because it helps to dispel some of the revisionist history that I get mad about re: Steinbrenner's genius. Don't want to rant too much, but when Steinbrenner had a free hand from 1973-1990 the Yankees won 2 titles and had some real stinker years at the end of that stretch. Madden emphasizes that Gene Michael built much of the core of the late '90s dynasty. One area where you can credit Steinbrenner was his obsession with getting the highest-paid free agents, where the Yankees have been so-so lately. He'd often piss away any advantage from that by recklessly shopping players around, however. Overall, the book is quite readable which is why I'll give a 4/5.

[Aaron Jerviss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recently, I finished Madden's biography of Tom Seaver and decided to give this book a whirl. Even though I'm not a Yankees fan, I found the book hard to put down and especially enjoyed the descriptions of the late '70s Yankees (How in the world did this team win two World Series given the constant internal turmoil?). My one critique is that I wanted Madden to probe "the inner Steinbrenner" a little more. Was his domineering style only because he had a jerk for a father or is there more to it? If Steinbrenner's style never really changed, how do we explain why the Yankees of the '80s and early '90s so awful? Overall, how do we assess Steinbrenner's tenure of ownership? Highly successful because of the 7 world championships or were the Yankees only successful when actual baseball minds like Gabe Paul and Gene Michael were in charge of things? A little more analysis from a writer who knew Steinbrenner and knew what made him tick would have enhanced an already excellent read.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an avid sports fan, whether you love him or detest him, this book is a great summary of The Boss’s days with the Yankees. While there were some glaring mistakes (Mets didn’t beat the Braves in the 2000 NLCS to face Yanks in World Series, nor did game 2 go to extra innings of that World Series) but it gives a detailed view of what The Boss was like during his tumultuous years of owning the Yanks. I would say that the easily researched mistakes about the 2000 postseason make me wonder how many mistakes were made from eras I’m not as familiar, which is why I took away a star.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

Obviously written by an employee of a daily newspaper. Lots of facts, no coherent narrative. The previously reported quotes from Steinbrenner were easily the best part of this book. Funny guy. Very little discussion of Steinbrenner's life before owning the Yankees. Nearly every aspect of his life is explained by saying that Steinbrenner was forever seeking the approval of an emotionally closed father.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this biography mostly because its time period (1973-2008) roughly covers my growing up as a baseball fan and Yankee fan. I remember most of the major events that Madden describes, which made it so fun to have his insider's perspective on all of them.

Steinbrenner is not exactly portrayed as a sympathetic character, but it was enjoyable to read about his many foibles and compare him to other egotists I know or have read about.

[Tom Sparrenberger · Rating 4 out of 5]

George Steinbrenner is a complicated character and Bill Madden's book illustrates this very well. From all the flip flopping, and control issues, Steinbrenner certainly has a certain style. The early years of his time as the Yankees owner is interesting all the way through his last days. For any baseball fan, this is worth the time.

[SWC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Knowing that I am an avid baseball fan, one of my daughters picked this book up for me at a second hand book sale at our local library. I especially found interesting being reminded how George Steinbrenner became the owner of the Yankees.

[Daniel Suhajda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved learning about the history of the boss. I grew up in the 80s so I knew who he was but was too young to follow all his doings. Fascinating. And I am not a Yankee fan per se. just a baseball fan who enjoys its history.

[Jackchristopherhill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book

I am surprised at how much is forgotten about George Steinbrenner, both good and bad. He was a jerk, who seemed to to be known as a great caring man when others fell on hard times or had death in the family.

[Tom Garland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up in New York in the 70s and 80s this was like a walk down memory lane but from a different perspective. The parallels between the narcissistic behavior of George Steinbrenner and Donald Trump....contemporaries in NYC are astounding

[Peter Sannizzaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a longtime Yankees fan I really liked the history and behind the scenes stories regarding so many of the players I loved as a kid (Gossage, Munson, Jackson, Randolph, Pinella, Guidry, Winfield) as well as the making of the greatest team ever to win a three-peat.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Detailed account of Steinbrenner and his relationships with managers, players, former players, fellow owners.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

George Steinbrenner was quite the character. A very interesting read.

[Aidan Tailor · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has quite a few cuss words, but dramatic and very intriguing. 5/5 stars

[Lawrence Grey · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting about hated Yankees

[Dan R · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

[Rob Lentini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitive biography of The Boss, must read for Yankee fans.

[Noreen Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

History of the Yankees and how he shaped the team.

[Brian Depaola · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's only a matter of time until he's in the HOF.

[T.J. Millar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bulldog in the bullpen