Boss of the Bronx: the turbulent reign of George Steinbrenner, baseball’s ultimate showman
A new book looks at how an eccentric shipping magnate ushered in a long run of success for the New York Yankees
George Steinbrenner pours champagne over the head of his manager Yankees Billy Martin after securing the AL pennant in 1977. Photograph: Bettmann/Bettmann Archive George Steinbrenner could be quite the pitchman – whether selling New York to free agents or starring in Pepto-Bismol TV ads alongside Billy Martin. And now a new book remembers the late Yankees owner and the dynasty he founded.
The Bosses of the Bronx: The Endless Drama of the Yankees Under the House of Steinbrenner flows from the pen of sports journalist and author Mike Vaccaro. As the New York Post’s lead sports columnist for more than two decades, Vaccaro has witnessed the Steinbrenner dynasty from a rarefied perspective – the journalistic equivalent of a seat along the third-base line. Vaccaro remembers the first one-on-one phone call he got from Steinbrenner.
It came at 3. 30am when he was covering the 2003 Super Bowl in San Diego for the Post. Steinbrenner was on the other side of the US, driving to the Yankees’ spring training facility in Tampa.
Related: Unhittable: are the modern era’s weightlifting, analytics-fueled pitchers too good? Despite the three-hour time difference, “he was terrific,” Vaccaro says, “a fun interview. I had [previously] been around him in group settings, but that was my first one-on-one with him.
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