“If the Boss were here.”
The longing hypothetical is often thrown around by Yankee fans when discussing the state of the team, as the franchise sits in fourth place and in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in five years, while extending their World Series drought to a dozen years.
But George Steinbrenner is not in the owner’s box at Yankee Stadium anymore. Hal Steinbrenner, the Yankees managing general partner, is now calling the shots, and he doesn’t carry the same fire and reactionary tendencies as his father, but he understands the constant comparisons as Hal tries to find his own way as leader of the franchise.
“I think I’m just used to it,” Hal said of the comparisons to George, who passed away in 2010, a year after the Yankees’ last World Series title. “Look, I’m my own person, we all have pluses and minuses, strengths and weaknesses, and there’s a lot of things that are different between my dad and I. There are also things that are similar. To me, it’s a justified question to ask, because he was one of the greatest at what he did. All I can do is do my best, be my own person, make the decisions in the way I’ve always made decision, which is putting as much thought into a decision as possible. Taking the time, if I have the time, to do just that.”
Many would argue that if George was still overseeing the team, manager Aaron Boone and general manager Brian Cashman might both be fired already after hovering around .500 for the past two seasons, and failing to get back to the heights the team reached in 2017. But Hal is not his father, and hasn’t made drastic in-season changes since taking over for his father, and doesn’t anticipate doing that this season, even with questions being raised about Boone and Cashman’s performances.
“He certainly did that a lot,” Hal said of George’s tendencies to make quick and emotional decisions. “I think what people forget is that it often times didn’t help or didn’t work. And often times, quite frankly, he was criticized for it. I’m just a believer of seeing an entire body of work from an employee, regardless of what department they’re in. We do that year to year, even if somebody is in the middle of a contract. At the end of the year, I’m gonna look at their performance and I’m gonna make a decision whether to continue with that person or not continue with that person, regardless if they’re under contract.”
The Yankees have changed managers just once since 2010, hiring Boone after Joe Girardi wasn’t offered a new contract. George fired one manager (Billy Martin) four times alone in an equal amount of time. That won’t happen with Hal, and while he understands the consistent comparisons, it won’t change the fact that he is his own man, operating in his own way while still trying to adopt the characteristics that he believes made his father a great owner.
So, for the fans waiting for a Boss-like shakeup in the Bronx, those days are over. Hal is riding with what he’s got through the rest of what has been a disappointing season so far.
“There’s no doubt I’m a little less spur-of-the-moment than he was in a lot of ways,” Hal said. “All I can assure everyone is I do my best. It’s a legitimate question to always ask. It never bothers me. I love the man. He was the greatest, it’s understandable…it’s part of the job.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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