OPINION

By Gene A. Budig

updated 2:17 p.m. ET Sept. 30, 2006

It is now time.

No owner has done more to keep baseball energized and visible to growing numbers of engaged fans from across the country than George M. Steinbrenner, the sometimes reviled owner of the New York Yankees.

He has built a team that helps maintain the spotlight on Major League Baseball in an increasingly competitive sports and entertainment environment.

It does not matter whether you revere him, as many do on the subways of New York, or resent him, as many do in other major league cities. His long record of success is indisputable.

During his more than 30 years in the Bronx, Steinbrenner’s Yankees have won 10 American League pennants and six World Championships. No team has done better in either league.

In my opinion he has earned a plaque at baseball’s Hall of Fame at Cooperstown and he would fit in with the likes of fellow pinstripers Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, Berra, Jackson, Ford, among others.

Like those before me as league president, I was once one of his favorite targets and felt the sting of his public criticism. I dealt with him and his moods on numerous occasions. I found him to be at least two people — one driven by ambition and emotion, the other, generous to a fault.

George Steinbrenner is, first and foremost, determined and rarely deterred.

“Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing. Breathing first, winning next,” he reminded me and the members of the league staff. He always sought a competitive edge for his players, and he generally questioned umpiring calls that went against his team.

“I will never have a heart attack. I give them,” he once said at a league meeting. He also reminded his 11 general managers of this contention and in those words.

Steinbrenner believes owning the Yankees is much like possessing a rare piece of art. Such masterpieces are meant to be enjoyed, and not sold.

Interestingly, he formed a group in 1973 to purchase the storied franchise for $8.7 million, and today many believe the New York Yankees would fetch more than a billion dollars and there would be a long line of suitors with deep pockets. The club is, by the way, not for sale.

The Yankees will have a new ballpark in 2009 which some already believe will be referred to as the house that Steinbrenner built. The old stadium is often called the house that Ruth built.

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The New York entry in the American League is a big business. In the past six years, the Yankees have drawn more than 22 million men, women, and children to historic Yankee Stadium. Amazingly, the New Yorkers have attracted 81 percent of that number on the road. MLB continues to post record attendance, eclipsing the combined total of the NFL, NBA and NHL.

Owners love having the Yankees come to town since those games result in much larger than usual crowds and spirited competition. No team draws better on the road than the Bronx Bombers and that has been true for generations. Derek Jeter, the team captain, even says he is energized by the chorus of boos that greet the Yanks everywhere outside the cavernous Stadium in New York.

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