RIP, Boss
To me, there were two George Steinbrenners: The one often vilified in the newspapers before his suspension, and then the one most of us forgave when he returned from it. I was sometimes amused but mostly did not care for the first incarnation of him, grew to like him while he served that suspension, and thought more highly of the humbler iteration we Yankee fans witnessed in the background for most of these last 17 or so years. Steinbrenner had already made good use of the revolving door he installed at the manager’s office in Yankee Stadium and had already coined the sarcastic phrase “Mr. May” before I met him in either 1982 or 1983. In the early 1980s, I worked as a caddy on a private golf course, one where many famous people played. I had grown indifferent to celebrity appearances (aside from perhaps Mickey Mantle…), and when told that I would be Steinbrenner’s caddy, I treated him and his playing partner like I would anybody else. Mr. Steinbrenner was pleasant though; more pleasant...