George Steinbrenner Biography

1930-

American baseball executive

Called by the Tampa Tribune "Tampa's biggest icon," George Steinbrenner is best known today as the owner of the New York Yankees baseball team, arguably the best baseball team in the United States. Under Steinbrenner, the team won six World Series championships by 2002 (in 1977, 1978, 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000). On the occasion of Steinbrenner's 72nd birthday in 2002, the Tampa Tribune's Ira Kaufman summed up Steinbrenner's career by, "few individuals have changed the face of baseball or Tampa Bay more profoundly." And Sporting News has called Steinbrenner the second most influential person in sports, after Paul Tagliabue, the commissioner of the National Football League.