Hank Steinbrenner, Blowhard

[Valadius]

As we all know, Hank Steinbrenner has clearly inherited the blowhard gene from his father. SI's John Rolfe explores the similarities between the two:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/john_rolfe/10/30/hank.george/index.html

]Hammerin' Hank Kid Steinbrenner already sounds like his old man "I'm fed up with his attitude. He ought to realize that his lack of hitting lately has killed us." Hank Steinbrenner talking about the going-going Alex Rodriguez, right? Try vintage George, June 1985. The target of his blustery wrath: Don Mattingly, who had dared carp about off-day workouts. But you gotta hand it to Hank. Since the curtain started coming down on the Joe Torre/A-Rod era, he's found himself in the spotlight and is already well on his way to succeeding his storied pop in the blunt public pronouncement department. Along with that trademark steely Steinbrenner gaze and eagerness to seek out the nearest microphone, Hank has got his dad's verbal dart deal down pat. Consider his question to Tyler Kepner of The New York Times concerning Mr. Rodriguez leaving the team: "Does he want to go into the Hall of Fame as a Yankee or a Toledo Mud Hen?" That's classic Boss, by George: "Anybody seen Reggie Jackson? I need a Mr. October and all I've got is a Mr. May -- Dave Winfield." And how about Hank's take on Torre's so-called greatness: "Where was Joe's career in '95 when my dad hired him?" Sounds like dad's take on departed GM Gabe Paul in October 1977, after the Yankees had won their second successive pennant and first World Series since 1962: "You think he made all those moves with this team himself? A brilliant baseball man, yes, but he was getting old. Look, let him have his image if he wants it. I won't say anything bad about Gabe." Hank clearly shares his dad's pride and "our way or the highway" attitude: "If you don't want to be a Yankee and paid what you're being paid, we don't want you, that's the bottom line. If you don't understand the magnitude of being a Yankee and understand what that means, and being the highest-paid player in baseball, I think it's pretty obvious." George (Oct. '77): "I have nothing against long hair, but wearing a Yankee uniform represents tradition. After all, I'm paying the bills and issuing the paychecks around here and I feel a certain way about Yankee tradition." The goal remains the same: Hank: "The point is, the objective of the Yankees since the '20s has been to win a championship every year, just like the objective of Lombardi with the Packers or Belichick with the Patriots. Our goal is to win it every single year, even though we know, obviously, you can't win it every single year. But nothing less than a championship is considered really acceptable." George ('77): "My employees know I'm tough on them, and I am. I demand more of them than they think they're capable of. I don't know of any other way to lead. I'm not here to run a country club." And the expectation of excellent play for excellent pay: Hank: "I don't understand Alex's point of view. But being paid what he would have been paid, you would think at the same time there would be pride in being a Yankee. I mean, come on. Every ex-Yankee I've ever talked to says the same thing: 'Are you kidding me? Everybody wants to be a Yankee.' And it's not the cheap Yankees, either. It's the Yankees who will pay whatever we have to pay. But when he opts out, that is telling us he doesn't want to be a Yankee. If we're going to make you rich and we're going to give you the privilege of being a Yankee, you've got to show us you want to be here." George ('85): "If they're not happy, let them get jobs as cabdrivers, firemen or policemen in New York City. Then they'll see what it's like to work for a living." George's famous pronouncement upon assuming control of the Yankees in 1973 -- "I won't be active in the day to day operations of the club at all. I can't spread myself so thin." -- was weirdly echoed by Hank's clarification of his role in the team's emerging hydra-headed command structure that includes his brother Hal, team president Randy Levine, and GM Brian Cashman: "I'll pay more attention to the baseball part. The stadium, that's more Hal. But basically everything will be decided jointly." George (Oct. '85): "I'm not going to have any input on who the next manager will be. It's up to Clyde King and Woody Woodward. You can hold me to that." Of course, months earlier, George had said that Lou Piniella would manage the team in '86, and that's who got the job. But Hank has assured all that he's not flying solo: "The baseball people we have are the smartest guys in the game. I'm not stupid. It's not like I'm not going to pay attention to what they say." I feel pretty sure that Hank will indeed be more willing to rely on the sage counsel of trusted advisers than his dad did in his impetuous '70s and '80s heyday. To those who fear otherwise, Hank hath prescribed a chill pill: "This is not Iran. Everybody needs to relax. We will have another fine manager. We've got a lot of top prospects, and that's going to bode well for the Yankees for the next 10 years, hopefully. Everybody needs to relax and enjoy what's to come." It sure looks like anyone who ever loved The Boss at his blustery best may be in for another golden age of verbiage courtesy of Hammerin' Hank, what with the Red Sox in great shape for future dominance and the Yankees retooling with a passionate new manager who will be trying to top Torre in a pressure-cooker. But the kid upstairs still has a way to go to top these classics from his old man: "I will never have a heart attack. I give them." (A favorite line.) "I'll be a sonofabitch if I'm going to sit here and sign these paychecks and watch us get our ass kicked." (1975) "The next time you push me to the wall, I'll throw you over it." (To manager Billy Martin in 1977.) "I'm afraid some of my players will get hurt playing defense behind him." (About pitcher Doyle Alexander, who was getting shelled in 1982.) "We were a terrifically boring team last year. I've had heartburn since October thinking about it." (While speaking at Syracuse in Feb. '83) "If my players don't start producing, there will be more fireworks around here by the Fourth of July than anyone can imagine." (April '82) "I guess I am a sonofabitch to work for. I don't know if I'd want to work for me." (March 1981)

[Guest Kid Carsey]

I think the forum should make a statement and have a two week
moratorium on discussion of Yankees, ex-Yankees, anything Yan-
kee. It's sickening how they've hogged the news and haven't won
shit.

Just sayin' - now in two threads. I'm done.

[metirish]

As someone who posts on yankee shit I will stop doing it, I agree it's a bit much lately.

[Guest Kid Carsey]

It was a hollow plea, you and everyone should post what you want and the
direction of the discussions will as always dictate what's acceptable. I didn't
mean anything about here, I haven't been around that much.

But good golly, the Yankees have stolen the post post season. It's really only
like day two or three of a long hot stove league.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Well, they're a mess.

[metirish]

metirish wrote: As someone who posts on yankee shit I will stop doing it, I agree it's a bit much lately.

Yeah but this is good.

] NEWSDAY STAFF Hammerin' Hank Steinbrenner is at it again. He says it's time for Joba Chamberlain to join the starting rotation. With only two-fifths of the rotation pitching well - Phil Hughes (0-3), Ian Kennedy (0-2) and Mike Mussina (1-3) are struggling - Steinbrenner has seen enough. New rules for Joba! And now! In a story posted on The New York Times' Web site last night, Steinbrenner said: "I want him as a starter and so does everyone else, including him, and that is what we are working toward and we need him there now ... You don't have a guy with a 100-mile-per-hour fastball and keep him as a setup guy. ... You have to be an idiot to do that ... The mistake was already made last year switching him to the bullpen out of panic or whatever. I had no say in it last year and I wouldn't have allowed it ... The starting rotation is not what I would have chosen at the beginning of the year, but that is not a big news flash to anyone." Chamberlain, who missed five games to be with his ailing father in Nebraska, has pitched only 6 1/3 innings this season as the setup man.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

This is gonna be a good era for us MFY haters.

[soupcan]

] You don't have a guy with a 100-mile-per-hour fastball and keep him as a setup guy. ... You have to be an idiot to do that

The owner just called the manager and the GM idiots. How great is that?

[Guest AG/DC]

Brand new manager

• with a hot temper


• who snubbed other teams for this job


• who lost another job, despite being the manager of the year, for telling an owner to get lost

[Frayed Knot]

FWIW, Girardi and Cashman have both been on record as saying that the long-term plan has always been to move Chamberlain to the rotation.
Now whether they actually believe that or were just saying what their boss wanted to hear is up for debate I suppose.

The difference here is that Hank-enstein is suddenly demanding he moved NOW!!!!
Gonna be fun to see how this all works out.





P.S. I find it funny that someone went looking for, and then found, a 5 month old thread that they revived just to post this story.

[metirish]

it will be fun , right now JC is about unhittable coming from the pen, what will happen if he's moved to the rotation and he starts getting hammered , and it's not like they can just move him just because Wank says so , would he not need to get some stars in the minors first?

[nymr83]

i guess they could stretch him out in long relief or just accept that his first few starts will be 3-4 innings, but who do they demote? do they tell mussina he sucks and send him to the pen? probably not, they probably send Kennedy to AAA for more seasoning.

[Guest AG/DC]

Hank Steinbrenner, Blowhard would make a good topic for a blog.

[Guest AG/DC]

="Hankee the Yankee"]"You don't have a guy with a 100-mile-per-hour fastball and keep him as a setup guy. ... You have to be an idiot to do that ...

Noted by Jason Stark: Hold on. Doesn't just about every team take those guys who throw 100 miles an hour and point them toward the bullpen? Sure seems like it.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Hank was actually talking about Kyle Farnsworth...

[metirish]

STFU about he Mets you prick.

] Steaming Hank Steinbrenner lights fire while threatening to burn some bridges Thursday, May 15th 2008, 9:21 AM You have to understand, it's not easy being Hank Steinbrenner, entrusted with restoring his dad's Yankees to their past glory, looking at the standings and seeing them wallowing around .500 while, of all people, those longstanding baseball doormats, his hometown Tampa Bay Rays, are in first place. It's embarrassing. It's frustrating, and, well, it's downright annoying. And, so, the Son of Boss is lashing out all over the place these days, much the way his bombastic father used to do, but while the brunt of his anger is vented at his underperforming moneyed players, his veiled criticism appears directly aimed at the general manager, Brian Cashman. This is what the new "Hammerin' Hank" had to say to me Wednesday when I reached him in Tampa with the greeting: "How 'bout those Rays!": "They're a great story down here right now," he said, "although it's terrible that they're only drawing only 16,000 a game. They're playing a lot better than us, that's for sure. I know we're gonna come on at some point in this season, but right now, other than (Chien-Ming) Wang, (Mariano) Rivera, (Derek) Jeter, (Hideki) Matsui, (Johnny) Damon and (Mike) Mussina, after I got on him a little, we're not doing jack (bleep). "What bothers me is that these guys are all working for me and my brother and they're all making more money than we are. That's what makes me mad. But while I'm confident they'll come around, we'll just have to wait and see what happens this year. And if they don't come around then changes will have to be made. I've just got to clean up the mistakes of the last five years and make us what we should be." He didn't say anything more about having reluctantly deferred to Cashman on walking away from the Johan Santana deal last winter because of the GM's faith in the young kids, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy. Or about wanting Joba Chamberlain in the starting rotation. I think, by now, everyone pretty much knows how he feels about those issues. But with Santana slated to pitch at Yankee Stadium tomorrow night - in a Mets uniform - in the opener of the first Subway Series of the season, does that figure to rekindle his lingering frustration? "No," insisted Hank. "The Mets aren't doing that well, either, although I believe they, too, will get it going. I don't look at this series as critical for either team, other than to say we need to start winning games, period, not just against the Mets. Right now, we're not 100%. We're missing A-Rod and we're missing Posada and those are two big bats, but at the same time, these other guys need to start picking us up. Our bullpen has been excellent. Heck, Rivera's having the best year of his life so far and the starting pitching's been okay, with Wang being outstanding. But it's no good if you're scoring 1-2 runs a game." Somehow, I got the feeling that Andy Pettitte's inability to get past the fourth inning of late has got Hank particularly concerned and that, if it continues, this could be his next boiling-over point. Remember, it was Pettitte declaring he wanted to come back on the eve of the winter meetings in Nashville last December that was used by Cashman as the impetus for not pursuing the Santana deal. Although unstated, the inference was clear: At $16 million, Pettitte would serve as the Yankees' ace and there wasn't room in the payroll for another starter earning even more. "I don't know what's wrong with Pettitte," Hank said. "I think he still has his confidence - he's even talked about coming back next year. Right now, I'm really concerned about the whole team." I tried to tell him that it's still very early and that the Yankees were in a lot worse shape this time last year. That seemed to assuage him somewhat. "It is a topsy-turvy American League right now, with the exception of the Red Sox and the Angels," he said. "The Rays? They're for real. They've got a lot of good young kids. There always seems to be teams coming out of nowhere every year. I don't think they're ready to win it all, though and it's been terrific for Tampa Bay, although they built that ballpark (Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg) on the wrong side of the bay. It's a pain in the butt going over there." Which is probably why, until Wednesday night, Hank Steinbrenner hadn't been attending the Yankees-Rays series. What other reason could there be ?

[seawolf17]

Hank wrote: "(Mike) Mussina, after I got on him a little"

Yeah. That was all you, douchebag. Had nothing to do with your on-field staff, or the fact that Mussina's a professional pitcher. I'm sure your words inspired him. Dick.

Hank wrote: "What bothers me is that these guys are all working for me and my brother and they're all making more money than we are."

coughcoughbullshitcoughcough

[Guest themetfairy]

I kind of like the fact that the MFYs won after Hank's tirade. He'll consider it a cause and effect kind of thing, and we'll have a summer's worth of temper tantrums to entertain us.

[Willets Point]

themetfairy wrote: I kind of like the fact that the MFYs won after Hank's tirade. He'll consider it a cause and effect kind of thing, and we'll have a summer's worth of temper tantrums to entertain us.

As long as they are not similarly followed by wins.

[Guest themetfairy]

That goes without saying.

[Fman99]

Hank's a big dumb ****.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Fman99 wrote: Hank's a big dumb ****.

I'd like to subscibe to your newsletter.

[metirish]

Fman99 wrote: Hank's a big dumb ****.

] Hank Steinbrenner has some issues with playoff system I thought I was done blogging for today. Then I read the excerpts from Hank Steinbrenner's latest column in the new Sporting News magazine. Yikes! � On revenue sharing: �That�s a system I don�t particularly like. It�s a socialist system, and I don�t agree with it. Does it work? It depends on your point of view. But is it right? Is it even American? I�d argue no on both of those points.� � On the divisional setup: �� If you want to talk about things that infuriate me about the game today, revenue sharing doesn�t top the list. The biggest problem is the divisional setup in major league baseball. I didn�t like it in the 1970s, and I hate it now. Baseball went to a multidivision setup to create more races, rivalries and excitement. But it isn�t fair. You see it this season, with plenty of people in the media pointing out that Joe Torre and the Dodgers are going to the playoffs while we�re not. This is by no means a knock on Torre � let me make that clear�but look at the division they�re in. If L.A. were in the A.L. East, it wouldn�t be in the playoff discussion. The A.L. East is never weak.� � On Joe Torre: �I�m happy for Joe, but you have to compare the divisions and the competition. What if the Yankees finish the season with more wins than the Dodgers but the Dodgers make the playoffs? Does that make the Dodgers a better team? No.� � On his case for the divisional setup not being good for the game: �Go back to the 2006 season. St. Louis winning the World Series � that was ridiculous. The Cardinals won their division with 83 wins � two fewer than the Phillies, who missed the postseason. People will say the Cardinals were the best team because they won the World Series. Well, no, they weren�t. They just got hot at the right time. They didn�t even belong in the playoffs. And neither does a team from the N.L. West this season.� � On the media: �The divisional setup is not right by any definition of logic. But the sports media rarely deals with logic �s o you never read about this.�

Posted by Neil Best on September 23, 2008 2:02 PM

[HahnSolo]

Memo to Hank, among other things I won't even bother to address: The "ridiculous" Cardinals beat the team you couldn't in the World Series.

[Guest AG/DC]

I agree that revenue sharing is un-American, but not nearly as un-American as a dozen other cozy things going on.

Hanky's Yankees wouldn't make any post-season in the one-division league system either, so I don't know what he's getting at. Or I do. It's not the division system he hates, but his division.

But his division is ensured to be highy competive by the presence of two money-flush teams, enriched by many of the un-American rules he lives under, and the rivalry between the two has only made him richer.

Oh, and Manny.

[metsmarathon]

hank's got a point. i mean, in teh first world series ever played, the 1903 series, both the NL and AL representative had 91 wins, and no team that was left out of the playoffs had more wins than any team that made the playoffs.

granted, they screwed that all up to hell in the 1905 series...

pittsburgh had 96 wins to 57 losses, yet lost the NL to the giants' 106 wins. the scrub AL winner, philly, had only 92 wins! what crap! of course philly didn't win, either.

1906 screwed it up also, where the giants this time had 96 wins, and stayed home while the sucky white sox and their 93 wins played in and won the world series! they must've gotten lucky or something.

order was restored in 1907, when the two winningest teams in all of baseball went to the world series. but that would only highlight te travesty of 1908, when not one, but two teams with more wins than 90-win tigers were kept from teh postseason. the pirates and tigers both had 98 wins, yet the inequitable, shameful two league playoff system prevented them from postseason play.

i'd go on, but i'm sickened at the shameful history of major league baseball teams being kept out of the postseason despite having more wins than another team that made the post season. leagues, divisions, wild cards - fie on it all! put 'em all into one fucking league, have em all play against each other, and at the end of the day, give the fucking trophy to the team with the most wins, period! enough of this 'league' bullshit, and the fakery of declaring a champion after a fucking seven game series! if somebody's got more wins than you, and they're not in the playoffs, then you shouldn't be either, no matter if you played against totally different teams or not. end it all now!

are you with me (and hank)??? i said, ARE YOU WITH ME (and hank)!!!!

[Centerfield]

marathon,

You're distorting what he meant and you know it. Hank meant that the playoff system should be adjusted each season to ensure the Yankees are in them regardless of their regular season record.

[metsmarathon]

sorry. i was only hoping to give him the benefit of the doubt. it won't happen again.

[Benjamin Grimm]

You know, aside from the typical bluster, he does have a point. The more divisions that the leagues are divided into, the more likely it is that a mediocre team in a weak division will turn a late hot streak into a championship. Some day we'll have a sub-.500 team in the World Series. (A few years ago I had a hunch that that team would be the Texas Rangers.) And there will be a lot of tsk-tsking when a losing team ends up as the World Champion.

I'd rather see four divisions with eight teams each and an unbalanced schedule, and only one round of playoffs before the World Series.

[metsmarathon]

i wonder if hank even realizes that the same hated divisional playoff system which will allow joe torre's silly dodgers team to make the playoffs is also the same silly system whereby his team was allowed into the playoffs to win world series number 26. in 2000, the yankees had only 87 wins, fewer than all the NL playoff squads, and fewer than the 90-win cleveland squad that didn't make the AL playoffs thanks to a 91-win seattle team.

prolly not, and i'm not sure he'd care either, so long as the yankees made it, and won.