Is George Steinbrenner good for baseball?

[Serge]

I took a poll on ESPN.com (http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sports...?event_id=1093) about the acquisition of Randy Johnson. One of the questions was, 'Is George Steinbrenner good for baseball?' Public opinion was split right down the middle with 51.5% saying Yes and 48.5% No.

I am curious as to what a community with a majority of Yankee fans has for an answer.

[NYYLady41]

I think so.

[Hitman23]

he's good for the Yankees.... usually.

I'm undecided otherwise.

[nahzo]

He's good for VISA.

[Socrates]

I think he can be a mixed bag. On one hand, he has this undying dedication towards making his team as great as it can be. With the pressure of New York, and the lucrative deals he's made for cable networks and stuff, it's his responsibility to get a winning product on the field every year. I think he has tried exceptionally hard in recent years to make sure the team can fiscally do that. He puts so much of money that COULD be his own into his team. He sets an example for all the other owners on how they should want to win.

Then again, he is a little obsessed with winning-- win at all costs and win now. That's not directly a bad thing, but it does contribute to his spending; many people find his spending to be a bad thing for baseball.

I think George is good. I hope his heirs are as good!

[SoCal Pinstriper]

By resurrecting the most storied franchise in the game, George did an incredible service to baseball.

[Mattpat11]

At the very least, George provides the face of the team that everyone wants to beat

[Hitman23]

By resurrecting the most storied franchise in the game, George did an incredible service to baseball.

At the very least, George provides the face of the team that everyone wants to beat

I wish I hadn't voted. These two posts sum it up perfectly.

[Nick Day]

I think he is good and bad.
He is good, because if you beat a team with a close to/200 million payrole, Georgie helps the team with with a much lower payrole (i am talking about teams like tampa, or something like that) boost their confedence.
he is bad because i feel there should be a cap on the teams pay role. i am a sox fan, but i think no matter the team, yankees, red sox, brewers, d-backs anyone, should not be aloud to pass AT LEAST a 140-150 million pay role. I am sorry, but teams (as of now its the yankees, but soon itll be boston, oaklad, anehime, and la) with a 150 or higher payrole is compleatly wrong. though I feel teams should be able to make who they want, and it is kind of (making it more simple) but it's kinda first come-first-serve in the case of the free agent market. i feel a team shouldnt have the best players. there are so many teams with good young players who need mentors. Or, wait. well i feel that one team shouldnt have the right to all of the all stars.
if that last point is hard to understand, it's understandable, i cant really explain what i am getting at.

[Serge]

Oaklands' payroll will never, ever get that high.

[S2]

Good for the Yankees. Bad for the rest of baseball.

[Guimonster7545]

He's not good for it, he's not bad for it. I respect that he wants to do everything possible to win. He is spending a ridiculous amount of money to win, but he has the resources so why not. He's doing everything he can within the rules to win and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

[Nick Day]

Oaklands' payroll will never, ever get that high.

if run by different people it sure will. especialy, well look at how this offseason, the market was high for ot-as-good people, well it will be worst in years to come.

[ACPS]

Bad for the Yankees and bad for baseball.

[PippyPinstripes]

He makes a lot of money for baseball, and he provides a charisma rarely seen in the business aspect of the game. I think he's good for baseball, but kind of in the way Tonya Harding was good for ice skating.

[Rich]

To paraphrase Churchill:

He is the worst owner in baseball except for all the others.

[Yanknut023]

He not only is good for baseball but he is a great businessman. He could teach many of the "rich" owners in baseball today a lot.

[cubhater]

I voted 'undecided'.

One part of me wishes my White Sox would have an owner like Geoge who wants to win at all costs and puts the best team money can buy on the field year after year instead of our cheap-ass ownership. I'm sure most fans of all teams wish for this too.

OTOH, where will the spending end? Smaller market teams don't have the luxury of sweetheart local media deals. Every year there's a handful of teams that have no chance of winning due to financial constraints.

My worse case scenario if the spending continues....look for a nasty owner's lockout like the NHL with possible contraction when the CBA expires. MLB should take a lesson from the most successful league, the NFL, and impose a team salary cap with a better revenue sharing plan. Yeah, I know baseball has the so-called luxury tax but it's a joke.

[Casey37]

Based solely on the fact that George has put together a traveling All Star team that pretty much sells out stadiums on the road that would otherwise be attracting 15,000 fans to games, I’d say that, yes, he is good for baseball.

[1961]

George Steinbrenner is the jackhammer that stirs the drink. Sure, maybe the glass breaks once in a while but at least you know the damn thing is shaken.

[YankeePride1967]

I wonder how the rest of the owners feel when the luxury/revenue sharing money is distributed?

I wonder how the rest of the owners feel everytime the Yankees come to town and the stadium is full?

I wonder how the rest of the owners feel everytime the merchandise money is distributed evenly and the report showing how much of the merchandise sold was Yankee gear?

I wonder how FOX/ESPN and even Bud Selig feels everytime the Yanks play Boston.

And if you don't think George Steinbrenner has helped in a significant way to all of the above, you are mistaken.

[Nome]

Sure there may be up to six (out of 30) weak franchises, but that is not George's fault. Their problem is a combination of location and ownership.

Baseball continues to set record attendances every year. Yankee stadium has set attendance records and all around the league both Yankee fans and Yankee haters are drawn to the park.

Maybe the owners don't like Steinbrenners grabbing up all the stars but they go to the bank with a smile on their face

Andy

[Zzyzx]

Based solely on the fact that George has put together a traveling All Star team that pretty much sells out stadiums on the road that would otherwise be attracting 15,000 fans to games, I’d say that, yes, he is good for baseball.

Ask yourself though how many fans would some of those stadiums be selling if the team had just won the pennant? The only teams that really get enough Yankees games to make a difference are the other AL East teams, and I don't think that makes up for the fact that the Blue Jays, Orioles, and Devil Rays will most likely not be able to make the playoffs anytime in the near future due to the Yankees/Red Sox war.

[Dabize]

I think he's good for baseball, but kind of in the way Tonya Harding was good for ice skating.

That summarizes my view of things pretty well

Lots of unintended consequences for baseball, some of the bad for both the Yankees AND baseball.

But he's also forcing baseball to face issues such as equity between clubs (revenue sharing/LTs vs salary caps and floors) which might not have been faced without him.

[deranged2005]

I agree. George is good for baseball. Not his fault the owners of losers don't want to spend their money.