New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner has died at age 80 after a massive heart attack. Since Steinbrenner bought the Yankees in 1973, they have won 7 World Series titles and 11 American League pennants. “Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing,” he once said. “Breathing first, winning next.”
Flags were immediately lowered to half-staff at Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees’ spring training complex. The Yankees says many employees there were in tears.
Steinbrenner’s Yankees empire, which he purchased for $10 million, is now worth billions.
Steinbrenner, who turned 80 on the U.S. Independence Day holiday on July 4, was a well-known figure in popular culture, routinely pictured on the back pages of New York’s tabloids wearing his familiar white turtleneck under a blue blazer and regularly skewered in the TV sitcom “Seinfeld.”
Here’s the official statement from the Yankees on the death of George Steinbrenner:
Yankees principal owner and chairperson George Steinbrenner died Tuesday morning, reportedly after suffering a massive heart attack.
The Yankees confirmed Steinbrenner’s death in a release issued Tuesday.
Steinbrenner was rushed to St. Joseph’s hospital in Tampa, Fla., on Monday night, according to reports in New York and Tampa.
Steinbrenner turned 80 on July 4.