Yankees Owner Steinbrenner Dies Aged 80

NEW YORK (AFP) – Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, patriarch of the most famous team in baseball, has died, his family said Tuesday.

In a statement issued by the storied franchise, Steinbrenner's family said he died in Tampa, Florida, on Tuesday morning at the age of 80.

"It is with profound sadness that the family of George M. Steinbrenner III announces his passing," said the statement, which came in the wake of media reports that Steinbrenner suffered an apparent heart attack.

Knicknamed "The Boss," Steinbrenner was one of the most powerful and wealthy figures in US sports. He had owned the famed New York team since 1973, enjoying seven World Series championships, including last year.

"He was a visionary and a giant in the world of sports. He took a great but struggling franchise and turned it into a champion again," Steinbrenner's family said.

He passed day-to-day control to his sons Hal and Hank in 2007.

While Steinbrenner became synonymous with the Yankees, he had other sports interests. A former gridiron coach, he served as a vice president of the US Olympic Committee from 1989-96 and entered six horses in the Kentucky Derby - none of them winners.

A hands-on owner who was for years the face of the Yankees, he was famous for his outspoken style, deep pockets and relentless drive to make the team the best and richest in the world.

Last year the Yankees moved from their historic stadium in the Bronx to a new facility a short distance away that quickly was dubbed "the House that George Built."

Steinbrenner appeared at only four games at the new stadium - the opening game there in April of 2009, the first two games of last season's World Series and at this season's home opener.

When he attended this year, Yankees captain Derek Jeter and manager Joe Girardi visited his suite to deliver Steinbrenner's seventh World Series ring.

Steinbrenner, who celebrated his birthday on July 4, had been in poor health for several years.

Steinbrenner had fainted at a memorial service for NFL star Otto Graham in 2003 and appeared fragile at the 2006 groundbreaking for the new stadium.

Even so, he bristled at questions about his health.

"No, I did not have a stroke. I am not ill. I work out daily," Steinbrenner said in 2006. "I'd like to see people who are saying that to come down here and do the workout that I do."

His death was another blow for the club after Bob Sheppard, whose 50-plus years as the public address announcer at Yankee Stadium earned him the nicknmae "Voice of the Yankees," died on Sunday at the age of 99.

Steinbrenner's family said there would be a private funeral, with an additional public service "with details to be announced at a later date."

Steinbrenner headed a group that bought the club on January 3, 1973, and he proved to be anything but an absentee owner.

He feuded with Yankees legend Yogi Berra and had a roller-coaster relationship with manager Billy Martin - who Steinbrenner hired five times.

In 1985 he denounced future Hall of Famer Dave Winfield as "Mr. May" - a dig at Winfield after poor performances in the autumn postseason.

While Steinbrenner enjoyed his reputation as "The Boss" he could also poke fun at it.

He hosted the comedy show "Saturday Night Live" and appeared with Martin in a television commercial.

His millions of dollars in charitable contributions often came with the condition that his name be kept secret.

"He was an incredible and charitable man. First and foremost he was devoted to his entire family - his beloved wife, Joan; his sisters, Susan Norpell and Judy Kamm, his children, Hank, Jennifer, Jessica and Hal; and all of his grandchildren," the family said.

Still, Steinbrenner's big-spending ways made him a lightning rod for criticism, with some complaining that the huge wages he paid to players like Jeter, and current and former sluggers Alex Rodriguez and Reggie Jackson put baseball's salary scale out of whack.

For Steinbrenner, however, the victories were worth the price.

"Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing," he liked to say. "Breathing first, winning next."

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George Steinbrenner, the adept buyer of the New York Yankees, died on Tuesday abrogation abaft America's best acknowledged sports authorization in history.

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