New York Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner dies at 80

By Chris Cermak Jul 13, 2010, 18:00 GMT

Washington - George Steinbrenner, the billionaire owner for nearly four decades of baseball's storied New York Yankees, died Tuesday after reportedly suffering a massive heart attack.

Steinbrenner passed away in Tampa, Florida, after celebrating his 80th birthday on July 4. He had already transferred ownership of the team to his sons Hank and Hal after a series of health scares in the past few years.

'He was an incredible and charitable man,' read a family statement announcing his passing. 'He was a visionary and a giant in the world of sports. He took a great but struggling franchise and turned it into a champion again.'

Steinbrenner was one of baseball's best-known personalities, loved and hated in New York and around the sport as he reinvigorated a storied franchise that had floundered in the 1960s and early 1970s.

'This is a sad day not only for Yankees fans, but for our entire city,' said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. 'Few people have had a bigger impact on New York over the past four decades than George Steinbrenner.'

Steinbrenner in 1973 led an 8.7-million-dollar bid to purchase the then-struggling Yankees. Under his ownership, the team won seven World Series trophies - in 1977, 1978, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009 - and reached the World Series 11 times.

Nicknamed 'The Boss' for his hands-on, demanding and often brash ownership style, Steinbrenner hired and fired 20 team managers in his first 23 seasons.

'There was a sense of urgency with him every second of the day, and if you didn't bring that, you weren't gonna survive,' Buck Showalter, a former Yankees manager, told US sports broadcaster ESPN.

Steinbrenner poured record amounts of money into his Yankees, turning them into a multi-billion-dollar franchise and driving up salaries around the league. The team's massive payroll led a rival owner of the Boston Red Sox to dub the Yankees the 'Evil Empire' earlier this decade.

Altogether, the Yankees have won 27 World Series titles since being formed at the start of the last century, more than any other US sports franchise. Steinbrenner once said: 'Owning the Yankees is like owning the Mona Lisa.'

Steinbrenner was born on July 4, 1930, in Rocky River, Ohio. A sports coach in his early life, Steinbrenner amassed a fortune after taking over his family's shipbuilding business, leading him to his later life as a professional sports owner.

One of his final impacts on New York was to build a new Yankees stadium that opened at the start of the 2009 season.