A New Boss for New York? : Yankees: Steinbrenner wants to turn daily operation of the team over to his son, Frank

Will the new Boss be the son of the old Boss?

If George Steinbrenner turns over day-to-day operations of the New York Yankees to his 33-year-old son Hank, more than the names may remain the same.

Hank Steinbrenner started in baseball as a 13-year-old recommending trades and second-guessing Yankee management--including his father--on player moves and manager selection.

Sound familiar?

“I was a statistical freak,” he once said. “Like most kids I studied the boxscores and the averages every day. And every so often, I’d make suggestions to George.”

He has been credited for the Yankees’ 1976 acquisition of pitcher Doyle Alexander from Baltimore. In 1986, when the Yankees hired Lou Piniella as manager, Hank was also involved.

And current Yankee manager Stump Merrill shouldn’t feel a sudden surge of job security just because George was forced by baseball to give up day-to-day control of the team.

Though father Steinbrenner made 18 managerial changes in 18 years, little Steinbrenner spoke up in 1985 when dad was debating whether to fire Billy Martin after a barroom brawl.

“If you want to fire Billy, don’t use the Baltimore fights as an excuse,” Hank said at the time, according to a New York Times story. “Use the way he messed up the pitching staff and the moves he made late in the season.”

Harvey Greene, who was a team spokesman at the time, said that although the younger Steinbrenner never held an official capacity with the team, “he was involved in minor league operations.”

If nothing else is known about him, Hank Steinbrenner has already shown a capacity for honesty. When he was asked a few years ago how to improve the team, he said: “Get rid of my father.”