As many of you know, I covered the Yankees home games for a number of years as a locker room reporter for a few radio outlets. While I got to know Bob Sheppard pretty well when I was there “on the beat,” George Steinbrenner and I never really got to know each other. I had only one or two interactions with him and they were both positive ones.
I was listening to Jim Rome yesterday in the car (you always wondered, now you know what I do when I drive) on local WGR here and he had the great sportswriter, Bill Madden on who wrote a great new book on George Steinbrenner, The Last Lion of Baseball.
They discussed the fact that George was never satisfied. George’s father had the same attitude. If George won 3 track heats (hurdling) at Williams College his father would wonder why he didn’t win the fourth?
In 1996 when the Yankee dynasty began, they had lost the first two games of the series to Atlanta. My friend worked for the Yankees at the time and she said to me, “Well, we’re all getting fired if they lose, so please root for a comeback.” George wouldn’t stand for even a second place finish and while brilliant, I wonder if he ever really felt free?
It’s this kind of self dissatisfaction that I fear eats away at our souls. Are we always looking for the next thing without taking time for gratitude? Do we push ourselves beyond reasonable limits without being satisfied with the small victories along the way?
I hope that George finds peace now with God. He was an incredibly charitable man and from my brief dealings with him, actually a nice man who I think did care about people and how he was perceived.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him. May George’ soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.