The House of Steinbrenner

ESPN, Wednesday

George Steinbrenner was pretty much the archetypal figure people think of when they picture the owner of an American sports team. The New York Yankees chief was larger than life; by turns gregarious and churlish. He was the idiosyncratic money man who did things his way when his team were on the crest of a wave, the pig-headed idiot who was all too easy to hate when the team were in the doldrums.

"There has to be a little bit of turmoil to do better," he once said about his confrontational management style, which seems like a self-serving way to explain being partial to a good row. In the week when the Premier League cautiously awaited the arrival of its newest American owner at Anfield, ESPN's The House of Steinbrenner was an interesting, albeit shamelessly sentimental, look at the Yankees' move to their new stadium last year and the relationship between the fans, the old stadium and the owner who died of a heart attack last July.

For a guy who made his fair share of enemies during his life, Steinbrenner was depicted here as someone approaching sainthood status and the hagiography started with footage of the celebrations that greeted the Yankees' 2009 World Series win. "The Steinbrenners spend money so we can have parades like this," said one of the tens of thousands of screaming fans who lined the streets of Manhattan as the open-topped bus rolled past. Given he bought the club for $10m and built it into an entity worth in excess of $1.5bn on the back of a loyal fanbase, you could say he was duty-bound to give a little back. But Steinbrenner's oddness is never fully teased out.

This is the guy who changed managers 20 times in his first 23 years at the helm, firing and rehiring Billy Martin five times. He's the guy who wouldn't allow his players to grow a beard or wear their hair long because it didn't fall in with his picture of a tight ship. He's the guy who was such an institution in the city of New York that Seinfeld based a character on him. All we get is some archive footage of him saying stuff like, "I'm the boss and I'm a tough boss. My number one frailty is impatience."

There's some token dissent from a couple of baseball hacks who probably felt the sharp edge of his tongue over the years but these are too easily dismissed as curmudgeons amongst the love-in with the fans as the last game at the old stadium approaches.

Pretty quickly it becomes apparent that this isn't a balanced look at the 37-year Steinbrenner regime, it's a mawkish wave goodbye to the bricks and mortar that was the old stadium where, it seemed, every second fan interviewed was on the cusp of blubbering over the microphone about coming here with his dad and not being able to come here with his kids. One is bittersweet; 10 is bordering on the pathetic.

Where the documentary takes an interesting twist is in looking at the new regime running the club in Steinbrenner's wake. His youngest son Hal is now at the helm and you can see why he has risen to the top. "I'm a numbers guy, I enjoy things that other people may find boring... like budgets!" he said. "I love checklists, that's me."

It's no surprise then that there is some discontent about the new Yankee Stadium. Seats behind the home plate cost up to $2,500 per game while many of the cheapest seats have obstructed views. Meanwhile, the old stadium is being torn down and sold off piece by piece, literally. A piece of dirt costs $74 while some freeze-dried original grass will set you back $99. The guy running the sale actually utters the words, "This is very emotional." Yep, making money would bring a tear to anyone's eye. Way to preserve those memories.

So the next time some fan of English football grumbles about an American owner messing with their club, let them know that greed doesn't recognise borders.

jfoley@tribune.ie