George: The Poor Little Rich Boy Who Built the Yankee Empire

From the time he bought the New York Yankees in 1973 until he handed control of the team to his sons in 2007, George Steinbrenner was the object of more media scorn than any other team owner in sports history-and most of the time he deserved it. Yet, amid the swirl of scandals, feuds, firings, banishments, bad trades, and even a felony conviction, he revived baseball's most storied franchise, won ten pennants and six World Series, and transformed a failing ten-million-dollar team into a billion-dollar sports and media empire. It's easy to say that there's no such thing as bad publicity; it's quite another to prove it over and over again for more than three decades. How did he do it?

In George, New York Times bestselling author Peter Golenbock, who has been writing about the Yankees since before Steinbrenner's first day on the job, tells the stranger-than-fiction story of baseball's biggest bully, worst boss, and most successful owner ever.

Drawing on more than a hundred interviews with those who have known Steinbrenner throughout his life, Golenbock tells the epic story of the "Boss," from his Midwestern childhood and family shipping business background through his thirty-four-year ownership of the Yankees-the longest in the team's history. He reveals the inside stories behind George's stormy relationship with manager Billy Martin, whom he hired five times and fired four, and his decade-long war with Yankee star Dave Winfield, which culminated in Steinbrenner's second banishment from the game. He also reveals how general manager Gene "Stick" Michael saved the Yankees' future by preventing the Boss from trading Mariano Rivera and Bernie Williams early in their careers.

If you've ever wondered why Sparky Lyle and Graig Nettles were traded away when both were in top form, what it took to provoke Yogi Berra into declaring that he'd never set foot in Yankee Stadium again, or why the man who fired every manager he ever hired couldn't fire Joe Torre and had to insult him into quitting, you'll find the full stories behind these bizarre decisions and every other off-the-wall episode in Steinbrenner's controversial tenure as Yankee owner.

Complete with accounts of Steinbrenner's involvement in the creation of the Yes Network and the sweetheart deal between the Yankees and New York mayor Rudy Giuliani that enabled the construction of the House that Steinbrenner Built-the new Yankee Stadium-George is packed with drama, insight, and plenty of inside-baseball and front-office details. It should be required reading for every baseball lover and Yankee fan, and for anyone who appreciates an exciting and compelling story well told.