Steinbrenner

The Last Lion of Baseball

De: Bill Madden

Narrado por: Kerin McCue

No owner has changed the landscape of sports more than New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. From the moment he bought the team in 1973 for $10 million, Steinbrenner's monomaniacal pursuit was to restore the most fabled franchise in baseball history to its former glory. Today the New York Yankees are worth more than $1 billion and are once again world champions.

Award-winning sportswriter Bill Madden traces Steinbrenner from his early days in Cleveland through his years as a shipping magnate, a Nixon fund-raiser, and a champion horse breeder to the fateful moment when he bought the Yankees, even though his father disparaged George's desire to own a professional sports team as a ""hobby."" Over the next four decades, Steinbrenner's tumultuous reign included his epic battles with Billy Martin, Reggie Jackson, Dave Winfield, even beloved Yankee captain Derek Jeter. His ruthless and free-spending tactics made him a lightning rod for controversy but they also paid off: Steinbrenner's Yankees have won seven championships and remain the gold standard in all sports. In the last few years, with his health declining, the Boss ceded control of the team to his sons, but not before lording over the team's historic transition from the House That Ruth Built to the House That George Built.

Throughout his three decades of covering the Yankees, Bill Madden has cultivated hundreds of sources at every level in the organization, from the many managers and front-office personnel Steinbrenner has fired to the bat boys who are ever present in the locker room. All of them have colorful stories about the man with whom they have enjoyed a love-hate relationship, but it is the Boss himself whose voice rises above the rest. And when Steinbrenner decided to give his final print interview, he spoke to Madden to set the record straight on his extraordinary life and career.

George Steinbrenner was indeed the Last Loin

So misunderstood other teams would begged him to be their owner He was also Generous

Great insight into how The Boss kept hiring Billy!

The book was solid and in-depth. a must read for Lou Pinella and Billy Martin fans.

Very Entertaining Book For ALL Fans of Baseball

Any additional comments?

Extremely well-written and narrated, I was especially impressed with its objectivity. Steinbrenner was a complicated person, and this book treats him as such. Well done Madden and McCue!

George is humble towards the end of his life.

George Steinbrenner was once one of the most powerful and polarizing figures in professional sports. As owner of the New York Yankees, he didn’t just run a baseball team — he ran an empire, and he ran it with an iron fist. He was known as The Boss, and he earned that title by demanding results, making bold moves, and refusing to back down from anyone.

In his first 17 years as owner, Steinbrenner hired and fired 17 different managers — a staggering number that reflected just how high his standards were and how little patience he had for failure. He believed in winning, and he believed in doing whatever it took to get there. His presence was larger than life, and under his leadership, the Yankees became a symbol of success, pressure, and prestige.

But as time passed, something began to shift. Though he remained a tough and determined leader, glimpses of his softer side began to show. The once unrelenting boss slowly began to reveal the human being underneath the headlines — a man who cared deeply about his team, his family, and his legacy.

In his later years, Steinbrenner was no longer the same fiery figure constantly making front-page news. Instead, there was a sense of reflection. The intensity was still there, but it was tempered with wisdom, humility, and even compassion. He supported players through personal struggles, made quiet charitable donations, and began to step back from the spotlight he once dominated.

George Steinbrenner will always be remembered as The Boss — a man who shaped the Yankees into a dynasty and defined an era of sports ownership. But perhaps the most powerful part of his story is how even the toughest of leaders can grow, change, and reveal their humanity in the end.

Interesting, yet Polarizing, Personality

This is a 3.5-3.75 rating for me. I read this in print and listened to it on audio concurrently, due to the book's length.

This was an interesting and comprehensive (sometimes a little too comprehensive in the amount of minute detail) look at Steinbrenner's life. There were some parts that seemed to skip around, or jump ahead in time without explaining how someone arrived at the Yankees, and some parts were a bit repetitive. Overall, though, Steinbrenner was an interesting personality and I enjoyed his story. He was quite polarizing, quick to anger and ridicule, yet generous with others. I also learned a few things about baseball that I didn't know before, such as how free agency started.