Steinbrenner Quotes

“For years, I advised George Steinbrenner to get out of town because he dishonored my hometown with his bullying and bombast.”

— George Vecsey

“My relationship with George Steinbrenner was great. He was the boss, and I accepted that.”

— Joe Torre

“The owner of the New York Yankees, Mr. George Steinbrenner who I had the greatest respect for, I want to thank him for giving me the opportunity to win that special ring in 1996.”

— Wade Boggs

“In the 1970s, professional sports found a different breed of team owner in George Steinbrenner of the New York Yankees.”

— Don Yaeger

“I never minded George Steinbrenner spending obscene amounts of money to put the best product on the field.”

— Jay Mohr

“I think of the New York City Ballet as the Yankees without George Steinbrenner.”

— John Guare

“You know George M. Steinbrenner III is the center of all evil in the universe.”

— Ben Affleck

“I met the real George Steinbrenner on only one occasion when he actually came and played himself on an episode of 'Seinfeld.' He seemed to really enjoy himself. I did not get to know him, but the fact that he allowed himself and his beloved team to be satirized on our show is an indication to me of his true character.”

— Jason Alexander

“I have a lot of regrets about what I've done. If I had to do it over again, I never would have left the Mets. I'm very thankful for all that Mr. (George) Steinbrenner did for me when I was with the Yankees, but I wish I had stayed in New York with the Mets.”

— Darryl Strawberry

“The reason I'm a Yankee is that George Steinbrenner out hustled everybody else.”

— Reggie Jackson

“George [Steinbrenner] is a great guy, unless you have to work for him.”

— Lou Piniella

“Baseball will miss Steinbrenner. He did a lot of great things-and some not so great-but it's a sad day for baseball, no doubt about it. He was a winner, and he made the Yankees a winner.”

— Don Zimmer

“To be manager of the Yankees under the malevolent dictatorship of George Steinbrenner is like being married to Zsa Zsa Gabor - the union is short and sweet.”

— Robert Rubin

“He's (George Steinbrenner) the one who gave me a chance to get to the World Series. This is where I wanted to be all along. We had a couple of nice offers from other teams, but I tied my agents' hands. I told them I wanted to be a Yankee.”

— Roger Clemens

“If I were sitting down with George Steinbrenner (to discuss a salary) and based on what Dave Winfield got for his statistics, I'd have to say, 'George, you and I are about to become partners.'”

— Joe DiMaggio

“I squirm when I see athletes praying before a game. Don't they realize that if God took sports seriously he never would have created George Steinbrenner.”

— Mark Russell

“People don't own teams to lose money. If you ask any owner whether they would rather make $20 million and come in last place or lose $20 million and win a World Series, there's only one guy who honestly would take that championship: George Steinbrenner. Nobody else.”

— Bronson Arroyo

“New York City revived around the team. I don't think you can look at the recovery of New York from the 1970s without, on some level, talking about Steinbrenner. Even if you're just talking about the feel of the city, he was part of a creation of a new sense of optimism.”

— Jonathan Mahler

“If I were playing today I'd do what Joe DiMaggio said. I'd go knock on the door at Yankee Stadium and when George Steinbrenner answered I'd say, 'Howdy, pardner.'”

— Mickey Mantle