{"id":1163095,"date":"2026-02-22T14:38:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T19:38:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/?p=1163095"},"modified":"2026-02-22T14:38:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T19:38:33","slug":"yankees-legend-the-boss-wouldve-never-been-outspent-by-dodgers-klapisch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/yankees-legend-the-boss-wouldve-never-been-outspent-by-dodgers-klapisch\/","title":{"rendered":"Yankees legend: The Boss would\u2019ve never been outspent by Dodgers | Klapisch"},"content":{"rendered":"
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TAMPA, Fla. \u2014You don\u2019t have to believe in ghosts to wonder what George Steinbrenner <\/a>is thinking about today\u2019s Yankees<\/a>. Nor do you have to be a genius to know The Boss would\u2019ve already cleaned house as The Great Drought enters year 17.<\/p>\n

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One way or another, Steinbrenner lives on. He\u2019s either embedded in the memory banks of older fans, used as a cudgel against his tame son Hal or else making former Yankees miss the good old days when finishing second was considered a tank job.<\/p>\n

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Ron Guidry<\/a> falls in that last sub-set. But unlike other stars of the past who only show up once a year for Old Timers Day, Gator is in camp every day as a guest instructor.<\/p>\n

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That gives him a close-up perspective on the generation gap. He\u2019s unafraid to say Steinbrenner, the original Boss, would be aghast. <\/p>\n

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Not just because the Bombers haven\u2019t been champions since 2009. It\u2019s the fact the Dodgers, of all franchises, have replaced the Yankees as the industry\u2019s richest and most dangerous opponent. <\/p>\n

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\u201cGeorge would\u2019ve found a way to match the Dodgers,\u201d Guidry said on Saturday. \u201cWhatever they did, he would\u2019ve done better. If they signed one star, George would\u2019ve signed two. He would\u2019ve tried his best to stop what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Guidry delivered his verdict in a calm, measured voice. Unlike his late 70s teammate Goose Gossage<\/a>, who criticized GM Brian Cashman so frequently he was finally excommunicated, the great lefthander doesn\u2019t have a get-off-my-lawn gene.<\/p>\n

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He\u2019s a truth teller who isn\u2019t bitter about getting older. Guidry doesn\u2019t resent this generation of major leaguers, especially the less talented ones who are making more money than an old school, tobacco-chewing Yankee could\u2019ve ever imagined.<\/p>\n

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That\u2019s an important distinction. Guidry is on good terms with the current hierarchy, including Hal Steinbrenner<\/a>. His praise for The Boss isn\u2019t meant as criticism. Guidry is smart enough to know how much the industry and its owners have changed.<\/p>\n

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But he\u2019s also convinced the Yankees of the 70s were driven to succeed by The Boss\u2019 frequent blow-ups. Steinbrenner\u2019s medium of choice was the tabloids, and players used to live in fear of those 96-point headlines authored by the man himself. <\/p>\n

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\u201cOne way or another, you\u2019d go looking for the newspaper every morning to see what George had to say,\u201d Guidry said. <\/p>\n

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\u201cToday, it\u2019s really calm (in the clubhouse). When I was playing, there was always tension, guys were always looking over their shoulders, like \u2018what\u2019s next?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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Guidry smiled as he drew a contrast to the present day media and how the Yankees no longer have to worry about being blasted by the owner.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s actually boring this way,\u201d Guidry said. \u201cThe players today don\u2019t have to deal with the tension. They\u2019ve never experienced that.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBut George knew what he was doing. He\u2019d wait to see if you\u2019d stand up to him. Because if you had the guts to do that, then he knew you weren\u2019t afraid of anyone. That\u2019s the kind of player he wanted on his team.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Guidry went on to cite one of Steinbrenner\u2019s most enduring attributes: he loved the Yankees fiercely enough to always be looking for ways to give them an edge. <\/p>\n

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Despite his reputation for uncontrollable anger, he was actually a keen businessman who realized the Yankees would eventually need additional sources of revenue. Tickets, hot dogs and beer sales wouldn\u2019t be enough,<\/p>\n

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Along with Ted Turner, who founded TBS, Steinbrenner was a pioneer of the first wave of regional sports networks. The Boss was determined to stop giving away broadcasts for free on the MSG Network. That\u2019s how the YES Network was born. <\/p>\n

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He and team president Randy Levine <\/a>laid the groundwork for the new Stadium, which was full of corporate suites. By that point the Yankees\u2019 business model had changed radically from the late 70s.<\/p>\n

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But the sport has continued to evolve in a way that Steinbrenner may or may not have realized at the time of his passing in 2010. <\/p>\n

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There are more wealthy owners than ever who can compete with the Yankees\u2019 portfolio. Front offices are populated by highly educated executives. The era of ex-players who became bad general managers is long gone.<\/p>\n

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And then there\u2019s the Dodgers. It\u2019s understandable that Guidry believes Steinbrenner could\u2019ve defeated them in any bidding war. That\u2019s The Boss that Guidry knew.<\/p>\n

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But today\u2019s Yankees hierarchy is up against Guggenheim Baseball Management, an equity and investment empire that funds the Dodgers. Their assets are worth an estimated $330-$345 billion.<\/p>\n

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No one can touch the Dodgers\u2019 riches. Not the Steinbrenner family, not even Mets owner Steve Cohen. <\/p>\n

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Although Guggenheim is playing within the current rules, it\u2019s likely Steinbrenner would\u2019ve challenged the commissioner and the other 28 owners to re-think that equation,<\/p>\n

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Is it fair for a team to use other peoples\u2019 money? The Yankees aren\u2019t the only ones asking that question. It may be become a focal point in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement.<\/p>\n

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Guidry doesn\u2019t have the answer, but his endorsement of The Boss had less to do with money than heart. His memory is shaped by a man who hated to lose.<\/p>\n

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Which is why, when asked how The Boss would respond to the current championship drought in the Bronx, Guidry smiled so broadly his eyes momentarily turned into slits.<\/p>\n

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\u201cGeorge would not be happy right now,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can be sure about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Read the original article on NJ.com<\/a>. Add NJ.com<\/a> as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/yankees-legend-boss-ve-never-120100004.html<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TAMPA, Fla. \u2014You don\u2019t have to believe in ghosts to wonder what George Steinbrenner is thinking about today\u2019s Yankees. Nor do you have to be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1163096,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1163095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1163095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1163095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1163095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1163096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1163095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1163095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1163095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}