Theatrical New Boss for Yankees : Baseball: Robert Nederlander, a longtime Steinbrenner associate, is chosen to become the club’s new general partner, but he needs approval of other major league owners.

Owners of the New York Yankees raised the curtain on a potential new era Wednesday by unanimously approving George Steinbrenner’s recommendation that Robert Nederlander replace him as general partner.

Nederlander, 57, is a lawyer and president of the Nederlander Organization, a firm long associated with the entertainment industry through the ownership and management of theaters and the production of concerts and shows. Nederlander and his brothers, Harry and James, reportedly own about 4% to 6% of the Yankees and have been associated with Steinbrenner--as friends and occasional business partners--for 25 years.

The process by which Steinbrenner is to relinquish control of the Yankees--as a result of Commissioner Fay Vincent’s July 30 decision that he violated the best interests of baseball by giving $40,000 to Howard Spira-- becomes the responsibility of baseball’s ownership committee, which is chaired by Jerry Reinsdorf of the Chicago White Sox and includes Peter O’Malley of the Dodgers.

Nederlander will serve as acting general partner while being investigated by the ownership committee, which is expected to present a recommendation at an owners’ meeting Sept. 12-13 in Pittsburgh. Nederlander must receive approval of three-fourths of the 14 American League owners and majority approval of 12 of the National League owners.

“The ownership committee will treat this as if the Yankees were sold,” Reinsdorf said in a prepared statement. “We’ll go through the normal procedure and try to find out if this is a guy who can run a club, who has the integrity and ability to be a good partner in baseball.”

In St. Louis, where he was attending a game between the Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds, Vincent said: “It’s over. On Monday, there will be no more involvement by Mr. Steinbrenner with the operations of the Yankees. Everything else is talk.”

Vincent had given Steinbrenner until Aug. 20 to select a successor. Steinbrenner, under the ruling, must reduce his 55% holdings to less than 50% and can participate in club dealings only to help negotiate television contracts and the lease with the city.

Of Nederlander, Vincent said: “I assume everything will be fine, but I don’t know anything about him. I’ll have to wait and learn more before I have a comment, but I think basically it’s a good development.”

Fifteen of the Yankees’ 18 limited partners met with Steinbrenner Wednesday in Cleveland. Lester Crown, the largest shareholder among the limited partners, and his sons, Daniel and James, were not present because of the death Tuesday night of Crown’s father.

Said Nederlander, at the conclusion of the meeting: “The Nederlander family and the Steinbrenner family have been friends for many years. We continue and will value that kind of friendship. The New York Yankees are the greatest franchise in all of sports. We want to continue that kind of tradition.”

Said Steinbrenner: “I have great confidence in Robert. He was my selection. He comes from a family that has been associated with mine for 25 years in the show-business end. I have been a partner in many of his productions. As far as I’m concerned, I couldn’t have gotten a better man.”

Nederlander, however, was Steinbrenner’s third choice.

Steinbrenner admittedly wanted to hand the reins to his 33-year-old son, Hank, who declined, his father said, because of a general disinterest in baseball and, it is believed, a reluctance to risk rejection by the limited partners or ownership committee. There is some speculation that Nederlander will serve as general partner only until Steinbrenner’s youngest son, Harold, is ready. Harold is a senior in college.

The second choice was Leonard L. Kleinman, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Yankees. Kleinman, however, is to appear at a Sept. 6 hearing in the commissioner’s office regarding his involvement in the dealings with Spira. According to deputy commissioner Steve Greenberg, Vincent recommended to Steinbrenner’s attorneys that Kleinman’s name “not be put forward as general partner until the pending procedure is completed.”

Kleinman said Wednesday that he is considering a lawsuit against Vincent.

“The institution of charges against me is solely because I have been a close associate of George Steinbrenner and is part of an effort to destroy George’s relationship with the Yankees,” he said. “These charges are utterly false, improper and made in bad faith. The commissioner has destroyed that unique business opportunity to hold a most prestigious job in baseball. I feel he has acted maliciously pursuant to an agenda which will in the coming weeks be fully revealed to the American people.”

Nederlander holds degrees in economics and law from the University of Michigan, where he was a member of the tennis team and later served on the Board of Regents. He is chief executive officer of Allis-Chalmers, a Milwaukee-based manufacturing firm, but is best known through his family’s 78-year involvement in the theater.

The Nederlanders operate 11 Broadway theaters and 30 worldwide. Their Southern California holdings include the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa, the Wilshire Theatre in Beverly Hills and the Pantages and Henry Fonda theaters in Hollywood. They also manage the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles and, under an agreement with the city of Anaheim, will book entertainment acts at the proposed Anaheim Arena.

Anaheim is attempting to attract an existing or expansion hockey and/or basketball franchise to play in the arena when it opens in 1992, but the Nederlanders are not expected to have an ownership interest in an Anaheim-based team.

James Nederlander, Robert’s brother, is a member of the Board of Directors of the Hollywood Park Realty Co. and owns one-third of 1% of the Inglewood track’s stock.

Among the successful productions that the Nederlanders have brought to Broadway are “Annie,” “Nicholas Nickleby” and “La Cage Aux Folles.” They reportedly lost $5.3 million in the recent production of “Legs Diamond,” in which Steinbrenner was an investor.

CHRONOLOGY New York Yankee owners

* Jan. 9, 1903--Frank Farrell and Bill Devery purchase the Baltimore franchise of the American League for $18,000 and move the team to New York.

* Jan. 11, 1915--Col. Jacob Ruppert and Col. Tillinghast L’Hommedieu Huston purchase the Yankees for $460,000.

* May 21, 1922--Ruppert buys out Huston for $1.5 million.

* Jan. 25, 1945--Dan Topping, Del Webb and Larry MacPhail purchase the Yankees for $2.8 million.

* Nov. 2, 1964--CBS purchases 80% of the club for $11.2 million and later purchases the remaining 20%.

* Jan. 3, 1973--A limited partnership, headed by George Steinbrenner as managing general partner, purchases the Yankees from CBS for $10 million.

* Aug. 15, 1990--Robert Nederlander elected to succeed George Steinbrenner as managing general partner.