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- Joined: Fri Sep 26, 2014 7:43 am
The real culprits for Yankee futility were CBS.
Though, I often felt he was a villain like many others, it wasn't until the very, very capable George Steinbrenner bought the team that the Yankees returned to being a successful franchise. George had lots of faults. But, he was top notch as a businessman with super skills in every facet of ownership.
From Wikipedia
"Steinbrenner quickly became famous for his rapid turnover of management personnel. In his first 23 seasons, he changed managers 20 times; Billy Martin alone was fired and rehired five times. During his first 26 years with the club, he went through 13 publicity directors. "The first time George fires you, it's very traumatic," oft-fired Yankees flack Harvey Greene said. "The three or four times after that, it's like, Great! I've got the rest of the day off."[25] He also employed 11 general managers over 30 years. He was equally famous for pursuing high-priced free agents and then feuding with them. In July 1978, Billy Martin famously said of Steinbrenner and his $3 million outfielder Reggie Jackson, "The two were meant for each other. One's a born liar, and the other's convicted." The comment resulted in Martin's first departure, though officially he resigned (tearfully), before Yankees President Al Rosen could carry out Steinbrenner's dictum to fire him."
"When the team was on the road, you'd come back to your hotel late at night, and if your phone light was on, you knew that either there had been a death in the family or George was looking for you. After a while, you started to hope that there had been a death in the family." -Harvey Greene