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July 22, 2010

Our Opinion: Does 'The Boss' belong?

The limelight will be on this year’s National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees this weekend, but the death of New York Yankees’ owner George Steinbrenner has people questioning whether or not ``The Boss’’ belongs there as well. Steinbrenner himself once said he did not want to be enshrined at the HOF.

``If they have an Owners Hall of Fame, I’ll consider it,’’ he once said. ``But believe me, I don’t want to be in the Hall of Fame.’’

Others, although not exactly unbiased, would disagree.

Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter was quoted saying it’s, ``a no-brainer’’ for him. He says Steinbrenner has been a winner and when thinking of the Yankees, the first name that comes to mind is his. Jeter said ``The Boss’’ belongs in the Hall of Fame because of what he meant to the game.

Steinbrenner’s son and Yankees managing general partner, Hal, told MLB.com before his father’s death that there’s no doubt in his mind Steinbrenner belongs in the Hall.

Sam Nadar, who for years operated the Yankees’ farm team in Oneonta, said he believes ``The Boss’’ should be inducted into the HOF. The former Oneonta mayor said Steinbrenner was the ``best owner baseball ever had.’’

Steinbrenner was an owner, a philanthropist and some say a tyrant, but there is no doubt he was the backbone behind the success of the Bronx Bombers and had a big influence on how the game is played today.

Under his watch, the Yankees have been extremely successful, winning seven of their 27 World Series titles and 11 of their 40 American League pennants. Steinbrenner has invested huge capital in the team, and has come under some criticism from his own contemporaries for doing so. However, ``The Boss,’’ who once said he was ``really 95 percent Mr. Rogers, and only 5 percent Oscar the Grouch,’’ was also known to be very generous when it came to dipping into his wallet and giving to charities asking not to be acknowledged.

Steinbrenner, who purchased the team from CBS in 1973, is eligible for induction into the HOF as an executive 65 years or older. ``The Boss’’ could be considered and voted upon by the 12-member Veterans Committee evaluating executives and pioneers, which meets every two years and will next convene at baseball’s Winter Meetings in 2011. But first the committee must put Steinbrenner, who served on the museum’s board of directors, on the 10-person ballot. The committee is made up of two Hall of Fame players, three members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and seven baseball executives. Like players, executives need 75 percent of the vote, or in this case, seven of the 12 votes, to get in. Last year, this particular committee didn’t elect anyone.

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