Heaven help Heaven. George Steinbrenner is headed your way.The Yankees' owner died of a massive heart attack Tuesday, little more than a week after celebrating his 80th birthday. The surprise was how he died. A lot of people would have sworn Steinbrenner didn't have a heart.
He had a heart, all right. Ask anyone in his adopted hometown of Tampa, where Steinbrenner donated millions of dollars to hospitals, schools, police and youth athletics.
To cancer-stricken children, he was Uncle George. To Yankees-stricken baseball fans, he was The Boss.
In the next few days, New York City will echo with eulogies. As nice as it would be to remember Steinbrenner strictly as a benevolent dictator, you can't paint an accurate Steinbrenner picture and leave out the warts.
When it came to business, he had the patience of a 2-year-old Doberman. We all know about the firings. Manager Billy Martin was canned five times. Yogi Berra got it after 16 games in 1985. Dick Howser got it after winning 103 games in 1980.
Then there was that secretary who got it for bringing Steinbrenner the wrong sandwich. In the recently published book, "The Last Lion of Baseball," author Bill Madden recounted a couple of quintessential Steinbrenner moments.