The Boss' Plaque Is Monstrously Huge

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On Monday night, a plaque in honor of longtime owner George Steinbrenner was unveiled at Yankee Stadium's Monument Field. And the immediate consensus was that it's really big. At seven feet by five feet, the Boss' tribute looms over the monuments to, oh, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and other legendary Yankees. While one Gothamist commenter said, "Hideous -- looks like something they would have done on Seinfeld!" there's a method to this madness.

Yankees president Randy Levine told the NY Times, "It represents George. He was a force. He built the stadium. He took the Yankee brand to places nobody else did. We don’t look at it in comparison to Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle or Joe DiMaggio. They were unbelievable Yankees, but George was larger than life, and you needed something that represented that spirit."

ESPN.com's Rob Neyer writes, "I thought the Yankees were supposed to be bigger than just one man. I thought George Steinbrenner was just another in a line of owners who's made the Yankees the greatest franchise in American sports history, just as Derek Jeter is just another in a line of players, and Joe Torre was just another in a line of managers." Still, it could be worse.

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By Jen Chung in News on September 23, 2010 2:19 PM

Comments [rss]

whitecastlerock

More credit needs to go to Gene Michael who helped build the farm system that enabled the Yankees to win their titles in the late 90s. Joe Torre was a great manager for those teams as well. During the 1980s when the Yankees couldn't draw flies, Steinbrenner signed some of the biggest stiffs out there to bloated contracts. He changed managers more often than he changed his socks. Motivated by the quick buck, he went so far as to threaten to move the team to New Jersey-yeah his heart was in the right place. His personal vendetta against Dave Winfield, not my favorite Yankee either, was the reason he was banned from baseball years ago. The new stadium is one of the biggest swindles he ever pulled off as well.

Ed

I agree with commentators #3 and #4. But also, they screwed up. They could have put the same plaque in the entrance lobby instead, where it wouldn't overwhelm the place and more people would see it. It would have been more fitting, since Steinbrenner built the stadium but had a mixed record as regards to what happened on the field.

Or they could have put a smaller plaque in Monument Park and that would have been OK. Its the combination of the size of the thing and Monument Park being too small for something that big.

Alex

The amount of white washing that's gone on since Steinbrenner died is insane. He presided over the longest championship drought in Yankees history. They only won once he stopped controlling day to day operations. He spent money which is good from a fan's perspective, but that's it.

Steinbrenner Memorial Causes Havoc At Stadium

Sketto

I love the idiots who claim Yankee Stadium wouldn't be there without this blowhard. So, unless George bought the Yankees, everyone in America would've forgotten how to play baseball or build stadiums? Yeah, and I guess Derek Jeter would've become a plumber.

TimSPC

Randy Levine is full of horsehockey. Jacob Ruppert acquired Babe Ruth and built the original Yankee Stadium. George "took the Yankee brand to places nobody else did."? Balderdash! The Yankees won eight World Series during his ownership, one more than Big Stein's, in 17 years compared to 35.

The Yankees won 20 World Series championships before Steinbrenner showed up. They had Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, DiMaggio. Steinbrenner didn't do anything other than inflate the balloon even more.

Guest

a holy ceremony for new york's largest religion. cool.

Guest

"He took the Yankee brand to places nobody else did."

Like Napoleon did with the French?

Angelheaded Hipster

he was a big self-important buffoon in life, and people laughed at him (behind his back because he was the rich guy) this plaque is getting the same reaction. i guess in that sense it is the perfect memorial