No owner has changed the landscape of sports more than New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. From the moment he bought the team in 1973, Steinbrenner's monomaniacal pursuit was to restore the most-fabled franchise in baseball history to its former glory. Steinbrenner's tumultuous reign included epic battles with Billy Martin, Reggie Jackson, Dave Winfield, even beloved Yankee captain Derek Jeter. His ruthless and free-spending tactics made him a lightning rod for controversy but they also paid off: Steinbrenner's Yankees won seven championships and remain the gold standard in all sports.Throughout his three decades of covering the Yankees, Bill Madden has cultivated hundreds of sources at every level in the organization—from the many managers and front-office personnel Steinbrenner has fired to the bat boys who are ever present in the locker room. They all have colorful stories about the man with whom they have enjoyed a love-hate relationship, but in Steinbrenner, it is the Boss himself whose voice rises above the rest.
