It’s George’s Show : These Yankees Are a Tribute to the Boss

It has always been fashionable around New York to trash George Steinbrenner, the often blustery, never shy boss of the New York Yankees. And certainly, Steinbrenner brought a lot of the criticism on himself with a bull-in-the-china-shop management style that made him an easy target.

But give the man credit. When his Yankees charged into the World Series, much of the accomplishment was a tribute to the owner. The Boss has always preached an old axiom: “Lead, follow or get out of the way!” This time, he led, then followed and finally got out of the way.

This was a low-profile season for the Yankee with the highest profile. It was typical of his new, mellow style that Steinbrenner sat back and watched a team largely assembled according to his specifications win the American League pennant. The architect even let them celebrate by themselves, toasting the accomplishment from a distance, choosing not to intrude on an event he laid the foundation for.

That was not exactly his previous style. In a quintessential pose, Steinbrenner celebrated his return after a two-year exile from baseball by donning a Napoleon outfit, complete with horse, for the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Reggie Jackson once talked of his personal impact on the Yankees as “the magnitude of me.” George understood that perfectly. It was just that he believed the magnitude was misplaced.

The Yankees were the owner’s showcase, and he was the biggest show. In previous celebrations, Steinbrenner was always in the middle of parties that took place as much in spite of him as they did because of him. And when in 1981, the last time the Yankees played in the World Series, his team lost, Steinbrenner felt obliged to issue an apology to New York. It was embarrassing.

Steinbrenner’s Yankees are back in the World Series due in no small part to the owner, who took the rubber band off his wallet and put together the best team money could buy--with a pricetag of $60 million.

He has tried this tactic before, of course, but it hadn’t worked for 15 years, since the glory days of Goose and Guidry, Reggie and Sparky, when the Yankees won four pennants in six years and the Stadium’s clubhouse was a place of intrigue.

This current edition of the Yankees is a more artless group, a collection of players who actually seem to care for one another. Many of them were assembled strictly because Steinbrenner wanted them. And what the Boss wants, the Boss gets.

It was Steinbrenner who remade the front office. He hired general manager Bob Watson and manager Joe Torre and, except for an occasional lapse, let them do their jobs. Torre’s relaxed personality--a dramatic contrast to the sometimes high-octane, sometimes no-octane temperament of previous occupants of the manager’s office--contributed mightily to Steinbrenner’s comfort zone.

The Boss blustered occasionally at Watson--hey, he’s still Steinbrenner--but by and large stayed in control of himself.

There were important players added to the roster only because Steinbrenner wanted them. He insisted on signing a couple of reclamation projects in Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry, who were stranded on baseball’s scrap heap, wanted by nobody. And he imported 37-year-old Tim Raines. All three contributed on this magical trip to the postseason.

Steinbrenner also signed off on trades for expensive acquisitions like Tino Martinez and Cecil Fielder and stayed away from the temptation to deal away young players like Bernie Williams and Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera, allowing homegrown talent to ripen on the Yankees’ vine instead of someone else’s.

It all paid off handsomely, and Steinbrenner is back in the World Series, thanks largely to his own good work. Now he just has to remember one thing. If the Yankees happen to lose in the World Series, he doesn’t need to apologize.