George Steinbrenner Dead at 80; Remember His Best Seinfeld Rant

George Steinbrenner, whose 37-year run as the principal owner of the New York Yankees transformed professional sports for better or worse, died this morning after suffering a massive heart attack. He was 80. More than just a shipbuilding magnate turned Major League oligarch, Steinbrenner also became a pop-culture monolith in fairly short order; his penchant for hiring and firing more managers in the '70s and '80s than most teams see in a half-century (including Billy Martin five times) made him a polarizing figure in New York and beyond. And he could thank Seinfeld for at least some of that notoriety.

Played on the series by actor Lee Bear (and voiced by Larry David), Steinbrenner famously hired George Costanza after a face-to-face fan rant of his own. But it was hardly glamorous work, as evinced in the great episode-ending rant that neatly summed up the Steinbrenner management style (and hilariously portended skipper Buck Showalter's imminent departure form the team):

And because there truly is no substitute for the real thing, enjoy Steinbrenner and Martin in their good old beer-shilling days:

They don't make them like that anymore. Actually, they kind of do, but even George Steinbrenner wouldn't have fired a staffer using Comic Sans. And he died on the day of the All-Star Game! Unbelievable. Rest in peace, Boss.

· George Steinbrenner, Yankees' Owner, Dies at 80 [NYT]