Baseball loses a couple legends

As a Yankees fan and fan of all of baseball, I must mention briefly the passing of two American icons this week: George Steinbrenner, The Boss, and Bob Sheppard, The Voice. Steinbrenner is one of the most controversial figures in sports over the last 30 years, but he also did more for his team than any other owner in sports. He bought the Yankees in 1973 for around 10 million dollars, 37 years later that organization is worth billions. There is no substitute for winning, and love him or hate him, nobody put their team in a better position to win than King George. What other team in sports are fans/ownership/players more disappointed in a second place finish than the Yankees? No owner is more demanding than Steinbrenner and appropriately no team wins more than his.

In main message in Field of Dreams is "if you build it, they will come." George Steinbrenner built great teams and wins came. Win lots of games and fans will come. His example of ownership is something most teams should note: if your team has a weakness, go fix it. Result: 7 championships during his time. You may say that The Boss was bad for baseball, but then remember that almost every stadium that the Yankees play in (on the road) sells out.

I've been a Yankees fan for 15 years so I missed most of the crazy Steinbrenner years. But there's a reason that last season's World Series championship was dedicated to The Boss.

The other person was no less memorable than Mr Stenbrenner. Who can forget that great voice declaring, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Yankees Stadium." "May I have your attention. Now batting for the New York Yankees, num-ba two, Derek Jee-tah, num-ba two." Elegance, eloquence, gentleness, dignity, and precision best describe Bob Sheppard, the long time public announcer for Yankees Stadium. Has anyone had such a beautiful command of the English language? I really miss hearing his voice coming through the radio during games, but I'm glad that we get a little taste with Derek Jeter's name continuing to be used by recording of Sheppard's voice. Not only was he an amazing speaker, but he was an incredible human being who was loved by all who ever came across him. While unfortunately I never had the opportunity to meet him, I'm grateful that I was able to visit Yankees Stadium, where hearing his voice was itself as great an experience as seeing the game.

A couple links:
Announcing his last game
a tribute