R.I.P. George Steinbrenner

Assuming both are there.

 

Definitely not the greatest. Maybe the most famous of the last 50 years? Turner is famous, but he was famous for things outside of baseball such as TNT and CNN. Steinbrenner's was the Yankees for better or for worse when he wasn't banned.

 

George Halas or Al Davis, maybe? And given his ascension to commissioner, you'd have to put Bud Selig in that discussion.

 

Impactful on sports, for doing something other than spending money to win games? Because if that's the main criteria, how does a Jerry Buss not compare? Or the Rooney family?

Walter O'Malley. Opened the West to baseball.
Lamar Hunt. Helped establish AFL and later the Super Bowl. Extra points for also being an MLS pioneer in many ways.
George Young?

 

Beat me to it.

 

For longevity, perhaps, but not for unique impact. Rozelle's impact on the course of the modern NFL far outstrips that of any one owner. Hunt would be tied with Wilson and Adams and Davis on the AFL angle. And let's see, Steinbrenner showed how to proceed in the brave new world of free agency, how to build a cable television behemoth, etc. I get it, Piotr, you don't like Steinbrenner.

 

George Young was president/GM, not owner. The Mara family owned the Giants.
And I'm murky as to whether or not Branch Rickey ever actually owned the Dodgers. I know he didn't own the Cardinals when he ran that team (Sam Breadon did).

 

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/90/90cstore.phtml

I loved the Carl's Quick Stop sketch on SNL. Not a Yankees fan, but RIP.

 

As an owner, Selig was a cheapskate who lucked into one World Series appearance

 

I may have hated his manner as an owner, but I respect the fact that he wanted his team to bring championships to its city. RIP George.

 

Well, he was also enough of a consensus-builder to be elected commissioner.

 

He did enough of the scut work to be elevated. He wasn't a benighted choice