BB: Requiem in pace (R.I.P.)

[Ralph Turner]

'Boss' George Steinbrenner (1930 - 2010)
The greatest owner in sports history

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2010/07/13/VI2010071302109.html

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5375859

No, the greatest owner in sports history was George Halas. He not only started a team, he started a league that has been the most popular professional sports league in the United States for the past two generations.

Steinbrenner was a phenomenally successful owner in terms of elevating the value of his franchise and winning on the field, but a very strong argument can be made that his buy-a-pennant strategy has damaged major league baseball overall.

Branch Rickey has always been a favorite of mine.  He was part owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, but his contributions were so much more impactful.

Mr Rickey has ties to D-III (as a student athlete at Ohio Wesleyan and as baseball and football coach at Allegheny).

IMHO, the D-III baseball championship series should be named the Branch Rickey Series, if the Rickey family approves.

[Gregory Sager]

Branch Rickey has always been a favorite of mine.  He was part owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, but his contributions were so much more impactful.

Mr Rickey has ties to D-III (as a student athlete at Ohio Wesleyan and as baseball and football coach at Allegheny).

IMHO, the D-III baseball championship series should be named the Branch Rickey Series, if the Rickey family approves.

I think that's a great idea, and I'd endorse it, FWIW.

Rickey integrated major-league baseball, and thus professional team sports, and that in and of itself puts him in the all-time top tier of sports executives. He's also more or less the inventor of the farm system, one of the most important cornerstones of professional baseball. But these and his other considerable achievements were accomplished as a general manager, rather than as a majority or controlling owner of a franchise (he was a minority owner of the Dodgers; his clashes with majority owner Walter O'Malley over the distribution of shares were instrumental in his leaving the Dodgers and becoming GM of the Pirates in 1950).

Rickey also came up with one of my all-time favorite quotes: "Luck is the residue of design."

[Jim Dixon]

'Boss' George Steinbrenner (1930 - 2010)
The greatest owner in sports history

I always like Charlie Finley. 

Steinbrenner had the money to be successful.  Look at the teams that compete today and you will see that money is a major factor.  That withstanding, Steinbrenner did come through with more than his share of Championships.

[CrashDavisD3]

'Boss' George Steinbrenner (1930 - 2010)
The greatest owner in sports history

I always like Charlie Finley. 

Steinbrenner had the money to be successful.  Look at the teams that compete today and you will see that money is a major factor.  That withstanding, Steinbrenner did come through with more than his share of Championships.

Steinbrenner
  7 World Series Championships
  1 American Basketball League Championship (Cleveland Pipers 1960)

Also Steinbrenner served as a graduate assistant coach to legendary Buckeye football coach Woody Hayes. The Buckeyes were undefeated national champions during that time.

George Halas
6 NFL Championships

Branch Rickey
 4 World Series Championships
 
Charlie Finley
 3 World Series Championships

The A's were a mediocre draw during the 20 years of his ownership, in Kansas City and in Oakland, despite winning five divisional championships and three World Series. Average yearly attendance for Finley-owned teams was just under 743,000 per year 

[Gregory Sager]

'Boss' George Steinbrenner (1930 - 2010)
The greatest owner in sports history

I always like Charlie Finley.  

Steinbrenner had the money to be successful.  Look at the teams that compete today and you will see that money is a major factor.  That withstanding, Steinbrenner did come through with more than his share of Championships.

Steinbrenner
  7 World Series Championships
  1 American Basketball League Championship (Cleveland Pipers 1960)

Also Steinbrenner served as a graduate assistant coach to legendary Buckeye football coach Woody Hayes. The Buckeyes were undefeated national champions during that time.

George Halas
6 NFL Championships

Wrong. The Bears won eight NFL titles during Halas's tenure as owner: 1921, 1932, 1933, 1940, 1941, 1943, 1946, and 1963. He was also the head coach for six of those eight titles, 1932 and 1943 excepted. As if that wasn't enough, he also played wide receiver and defensive end as player/coach/owner of the 1921 NFL champions. He even sold tickets that year as the team's ticket manager.

Halas also played outfield for the New York Yankees in 1919 and played football and basketball for the University of Illinois. He was, by all accounts, a very good football player; he was named MVP of the 1919 Rose Bowl, and during his playing days with the Bears he once returned a fumble 98 yards (after stripping the ball from Jim Thorpe!) for a touchdown, an NFL record that would stand for 49 years.

Papa Bear was the only person that ESPN named to the top ten in two of its Sports Century lists: Top 100 Most Influential People in 20th Century Sports (Branch Rickey was #1, incidentally; Steinbrenner didn't make the top ten) and Top 100 Greatest Coaches of the 20th Century. Halas was named ninth and seventh, respectively.

To the best of my knowledge, Papa Bear is the only owner in the history of American professional sports whose name is permanently commemorated as part of the uniform of his team. The jerseys of the Bears have his initials, GSH, on the left sleeve.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio is located on George Halas Drive. You can be damned sure that nobody in Cooperstown, New York is ever going to name a street after George Steinbrenner.

George Halas
1 professional sports league founded

George Steinbrenner
0 professional sports leagues founded

Sorry, Crash, but George S. Halas is the greatest owner in the history of American professional sports.

"There's only one man that I call 'Coach': George Halas."
     --Vince Lombardi

[CrashDavisD3]

I stand corrected. George Halas is the greatest Owner/Coach/League founder ever lived.

Steinbrenner is no doubt the greatest baseball owner...

It wont be the last time I am wrong on information but I did enjoy the information I learned about Halas, Rickey and Steinbrenner. All men who made a difference with what they did with their lives. Their sports were made better by what they did do their lives.

[Ralph Turner]

I stand corrected. George Halas is the greatest Owner/Coach/League founder ever lived.

Steinbrenner is no doubt the greatest baseball owner...
It wont be the last time I am wrong on information but I did enjoy the information I learned about Halas, Rickey and Steinbrenner. All men who made a difference with what they did with their lives. Their sports were made better by what they did do their lives.

I tend to think that Colonel Jacob Ruppert is the finest baseball owner in the history of the sport.  In whole or part from 1915 until his death in 1939, he built the Yankee franchise.  Babe Ruth, Yankee Stadium, Lou Gehrig.

Yankee ownership

8 WS championships and 11 AL Championships

[Ralph Turner]

The greatest owner of a professional team of all time?

IMHO, Lamar Hunt.

AFL, NASL, MLS, Chicago Bulls, Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs, Columbus Crew, FC Dallas, World Championship Tennis.

Pro Football Hall of Fame, National Soccer Hall of Fame, International Tennis Hall of Fame.

[badgerwarhawk]

I believe it was Lamar Hunt who came up with the name Super Bowl.  He got the inspiration from watching his grandson play with a super ball. 

[Ralph Turner]

I believe it was Lamar Hunt who came up with the name Super Bowl.  He got the inspiration from watching his grandson play with a super ball.  

Yes, he renamed the NFL-AFL Championship Game.  Super Bowl III was the first one.

[CrashDavisD3]

I stand corrected. George Halas is the greatest Owner/Coach/League founder ever lived.

Steinbrenner is no doubt the greatest baseball owner...
It wont be the last time I am wrong on information but I did enjoy the information I learned about Halas, Rickey and Steinbrenner. All men who made a difference with what they did with their lives. Their sports were made better by what they did do their lives.

I tend to think that Colonel Jacob Ruppert is the finest baseball owner in the history of the sport.  In whole or part from 1915 until his death in 1939, he built the Yankee franchise.  Babe Ruth, Yankee Stadium, Lou Gehrig.

Yankee ownership

8 WS championships and 11 AL Championships

I guess I am no match for you guys. Ok let say Steinbrenner was the NOT best owner in sports or baseball as I have now learned. Thanks for educating me......I have learned alot and have a appreciation for others and their contributions

BUT

No doubt Steinbrenner was a major influence in baseball during his ownership. He shaped free agency as we know today. He increased the value of his team, the team won on the field with the best players money could buy, he took care of many of his ex players, coaches, and employees. He was generous to numerous causes and many times to complete strangers. He was man many loved to hate or love or both...Almost of all his ex players and coaches talk very highly of him. A complex personality that could be so different at different times. But he was a true personality unlike some owners who dont do what is best for their fans, and players.

He made baseball better for players, coaches and fans though many may disagree.  He spend money to put the best on field for the NY fans. 

I want to thank others for all the information they shared on this.

[Gregory Sager]

I stand corrected. George Halas is the greatest Owner/Coach/League founder ever lived.

Steinbrenner is no doubt the greatest baseball owner...
It wont be the last time I am wrong on information but I did enjoy the information I learned about Halas, Rickey and Steinbrenner. All men who made a difference with what they did with their lives. Their sports were made better by what they did do their lives.

I tend to think that Colonel Jacob Ruppert is the finest baseball owner in the history of the sport.  In whole or part from 1915 until his death in 1939, he built the Yankee franchise.

Quite true. The Yankees (ne Highlanders) were a perennial doormat before Ruppert bought them. Their biggest claim to fame was the fact that their star player, first baseman Hal Chase, was a notorious gambler who threw ballgames.

  Babe Ruth, Yankee Stadium, Lou Gehrig.

Don't forget Bill Dickey and Joe DiMaggio.

Yankee ownership

8 WS championships and 11 AL Championships

Plus, the 1927 Yankees are generally considered to be the greatest baseball team of all time.

The greatest owner of a professional team of all time?

IMHO, Lamar Hunt.

AFL, NASL, MLS, Chicago Bulls, Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs, Columbus Crew, FC Dallas, World Championship Tennis.

Pro Football Hall of Fame, National Soccer Hall of Fame, International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Lamar Hunt is a prime candidate as well. I'd throw Paul Brown in there on the short list, too. Like Halas and Rickey, he was an innovator who helped shape and modernize his sport.

I stand corrected. George Halas is the greatest Owner/Coach/League founder ever lived.

Steinbrenner is no doubt the greatest baseball owner...
It wont be the last time I am wrong on information but I did enjoy the information I learned about Halas, Rickey and Steinbrenner. All men who made a difference with what they did with their lives. Their sports were made better by what they did do their lives.

I tend to think that Colonel Jacob Ruppert is the finest baseball owner in the history of the sport.  In whole or part from 1915 until his death in 1939, he built the Yankee franchise.  Babe Ruth, Yankee Stadium, Lou Gehrig.

Yankee ownership

8 WS championships and 11 AL Championships

I guess I am no match for you guys. Ok let say Steinbrenner was the NOT best owner in sports or baseball as I have now learned. Thanks for educating me......I have learned alot and have a appreciation for others and their contributions

BUT

No doubt Steinbrenner was a major influence in baseball during his ownership. He shaped free agency as we know today. He increased the value of his team, the team won on the field with the best players money could buy, he took care of many of his ex players, coaches, and employees. He was generous to numerous causes and many times to complete strangers. He was man many loved to hate or love or both...Almost of all his ex players and coaches talk very highly of him. A complex personality that could be so different at different times. But he was a true personality unlike some owners who dont do what is best for their fans, and players.

He made baseball better for players, coaches and fans though many may disagree.  He spend money to put the best on field for the NY fans. 

I want to thank others for all the information they shared on this.

I didn't like Steinbrenner, and I think that his philosophy of spending two or three times as much on payroll as any other team in baseball damaged the game, but there's no disagreeing with the fact that he was the most important baseball owner of his era. The greatest? That's more of a judgment call, and the judgment usually seems to hinge upon whether a person is a Yankees fan or not.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Ralph Houk.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/baseball/mlb/07/21/obit.houk.ap/index.html?eref=sihp

He was either Steinbrenner's first casualty, or the first to say NO to the Boss, as he quit after one year of Steinbrenner ownership.

He'll probably be best remembered as manager of the 1961 Yankees (his first season), one of the teams always in the discussion of 'best ever'.

[DIIIBASEBALLFAN]

Ralph Houk.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/baseball/mlb/07/21/obit.houk.ap/index.html?eref=sihp

He was either Steinbrenner's first casualty, or the first to say NO to the Boss, as he quit after one year of Steinbrenner ownership.

He'll probably be best remembered as manager of the 1961 Yankees (his first season), one of the teams always in the discussion of 'best ever'.

Another great Yankee now joins the others....

[Mr. Ypsi]

Bobby Thomson. 

While a three-time all-star, he was no where near a Hall of Famer, and peaked well before my time.  Virtually all I (or probably most people) remember about him is arguably the most famous home run in baseball history.  About the only serious other contenders I can think of would be Mazeroski's walk-off homer to beat the mighty Yankees in 1960 (in run differential, the most total domination by a losing team in Series history), or Babe Ruth's 'called-shot'  (which is still debated as to whether it even happened).  (Of course, there is always the home run that Roy Hobbs hit in the climactic scene of The Natural or that "Mighty Casey" did NOT hit! )