00:00The Bosses of the Bronx, the endless drama of the Yankees under the house of Steinbrenner
00:05is the latest book by our longtime New York sports columnist, Mike Vaccaro.
00:09And Mike is on to take us through the rebirth and decades of drama.
00:14And of course, the championships of the Yankees franchise, the books, March 24th release is
00:20right around the corner.
00:21Mike's also going to talk about the bombers, both past and present.
00:25Mike, you're a busy guy, man.
00:26Really busy guy.
00:27I love what you do for the viewers, our viewers and our fans here in New York City.
00:33You've been a longtime sports columnist for the Post, as I said.
00:37So what made you want to write the book?
00:40And what do you want the reader to kind of learn and take away about the history about
00:45the Yankees franchise?
00:48You know what, Brandon?
00:48George Steinbrenner is such a huge part of the Yankee history, obviously, especially he's
00:54really the most significant part of Yankee history since 1973.
00:58And the fact is, he's been gone 16 years in July.
01:02And a lot of Yankees fans either weren't born when George was on the team, certainly maybe
01:08not when he was in his prime.
01:10And I think it was important to just kind of tell his story completely.
01:15You know, there were a lot of crazy moments when he was in his prime in the 70s and the
01:2080s and later on when he first returned in the 90s.
01:24And a lot of those stories are priceless.
01:27And it was fun to be able to chronicle them, go back and revisit them.
01:31And, you know, tell a fresh generation of Yankees fans what things used to be like.
01:35Because I think a lot of times now, George is a product of mythology.
01:40People don't necessarily remember firsthand who he was and what he was, all the good,
01:45all the bad.
01:46And I think that's what this book, its mission was.
01:49And I hope I accomplished it.
01:51I think, look, it was a fun one to write.
01:53So I certainly hope it's equally as fun for people to read it.
01:56Because there should be some laughs in there and some things that'll make you want to shake
02:00your fists.
02:00And I think that's what a good book does.
02:02You know, I go back and forth with the Yankee fans a lot about how they live in the past
02:06and the days of, you know, the captain, Derek Jeter.
02:09And those, those are, those are the yesteryears.
02:12But there's a new generation of Yankees fans out there, Mike, that I feel like are lost.
02:17I don't know, you know, if you've seen it.
02:20Like, so do you feel like this is a must read book for that younger generation of Yankees
02:25fans?
02:26Because, you know, they are what?
02:28The Yankees fan, that's what?
02:2922 to 27 years old today, they were five to 10 years old the last time the Yankees won
02:37a ring.
02:38Right.
02:39And I think that's kind of the, I think, I think what the best part about this book is
02:43is it kind of shows George, you know, through his own kind of droughts, you know, obviously
02:47the Yankees didn't make the postseason from 1982 to 1995, and that was on his watch.
02:53And I think it's important to remember, there's a lot of nostalgia that goes on now, Brandon,
02:58you know, this about the George Steinbrenner myth.
03:01You know, holy George was so alive.
03:03You hear that at least 15, 20 times a year.
03:05Yankees go on a losing streak and the manager hasn't been fired or the general manager has
03:10been reassigned and people just start yearning for George.
03:13And I think what this does is it kind of shows, yes, I mean, there was an impetuousness to
03:17George that was actually rewarded in certain times, you know, making decisions, having
03:22urgency to win, and other times it didn't work out quite so well.
03:25And it's also, look, it's a different time for Hal Steinbrenner to run this team than
03:30it was for George.
03:30To me, financially, it's a whole different, you know, economic stratosphere.
03:34So I think these are all things we get into.
03:37And like I said, you know, when the Yankees were good in the 70s and when they were born
03:41in the 90s, George had a lot to do with that.
03:43But when they were struggling, they had a lot to do with it also.
03:45So he wasn't perfect.
03:47I think a lot of younger Yankee fans are shocked when they find out that, you know, the day
03:51that Steinbrenner was kicked out of baseball for the second time, Yankee Stadium gave the
03:57news a standing ovation and started chanting, no more George, no more George.
04:01And you can trust that with a kindly, avuncular figure that people were chanting, thank you,
04:07George, later on in his life.
04:09It was a very full life and a very interesting life.
04:11And certainly the portion with the Yankees, which is what this book focuses on.
04:15And I think that's what's going to be most enjoyable about reading it.
04:19You kind of mentioned the landscape of modern day baseball being different for Hal than it
04:24was for George.
04:25But you also talk about like the man, the qualities of the boss, George Steinbrenner.
04:33Do you think that he could navigate this current landscape and win the franchise World Series
04:4028?
04:41Well, I think he figured it out, you know, and frankly, in his own way, I think Hal has
04:45figured it out, too, even though I know that's not a very popular opinion.
04:50Look, I mean, when George put together the 1977 Yankees and they were the first team ever
04:55dubbed the best team money could buy, the entire payroll for that team was about three million
05:00bucks, right?
05:01So you translate that to $2,026 is about $25 million, which is about what they're going
05:06to pay Aaron Judge, you know, through July 31st.
05:10You know, it's a whole different game.
05:12You know, ballplayers now are commanding three quarters of a billion dollars, some of them,
05:16right?
05:17It's a different, you know, when in back in the day, when George's partners would kind
05:21of complain that there wasn't a yearly dividend in their mailbox.
05:25He would joke and say, well, that's the cost of expensive season tickets, and everybody
05:28would get a laugh and they'd move on.
05:30You know, it's a little less funny now when you're talking about billions of dollars.
05:34The economics are far different, even for the Yankees, who make more money than just
05:37about anybody.
05:38You know, and I think that's something that, and look, I mean, I don't expect fans to put
05:43that in their list of things they ponder if they're going to complain about the way
05:47things are with the Yankees if they're going through a losing streak, or like now if they're
05:50going through a stretch where they haven't won a World Series since 2009.
05:53I get that.
05:54That's not important to the fans, nor should it be, but it is a reality of the times.
05:58And just pining for George, you know, unless George would just show up with about 20 extra
06:03billion dollars in his bank account, it might not be much different than what it is now
06:08just because of the realities of baseball's economic situation.
06:14Spring training's kicked off.
06:15Opening day feels like it's creeping up.
06:18We all know throughout the offseason, the ALEs got stronger, but the Yankees pretty much
06:23stayed the same.
06:24So do you think Hal Steinbrenner, Brian Cashman, and Aaron Boone did enough to make this team
06:31into contenders this year, Mike?
06:34Well, honestly, Brandon, by July, I think they're going to have one of the best pitching
06:37staffs, if not the best pitching staffs in baseball.
06:40Certainly the rotation.
06:41I wrote a column a few weeks ago at the start of spring training comparing, you know, this
06:45group of starters to some of the great rotations they've had in their history is as long and
06:50deep a history as any team in baseball, obviously.
06:53And look, I mean, a lot has to go right.
06:55You know, Cole and Radon have to be healthy and Schlittler has to, you know, has to take
07:00another step and Heal has to become a, you know, has to kind of look more like he did
07:05as a rookie and less like he did last year.
07:07And, you know, Max Fried obviously has to have a repeat of last year.
07:10So a lot of, there's a lot of ifs there and a lot has to go right, but if those
07:13things
07:13do go right, they're going to have a terrific pitcher on the mound every, every day from
07:19July, about July 1st on.
07:21And that's a huge advantage.
07:23Obviously, you're right.
07:24The other teams in the division got better.
07:26It's going to be a stronger division.
07:29The, you know, until proven otherwise, the Blue Jays are the team to beat.
07:33Of course, you know, running it back isn't such a terrible thing when you think about the
07:37fact that the Yankees won just as many games as the Blue Jays did last year.
07:39They just lost the tiebreaker.
07:41So, and yes, they lost the Blue Jays head to head.
07:43That happens in a short series.
07:45And, you know, so we can, we can, we can talk all we want about the crapshoot nature of
07:48the playoffs.
07:49Yankee fans are tired of hearing that stuff too.
07:51I get it, but I do think they're going to be in there.
07:53Look, I mean, what you're running back is a team that won 94 games.
07:56I think they're a little better because of the pitching.
07:58And I think, you know, once you're into October, then you take your swings.
08:01And when you have that pitching staff in a short series, I think you're going to like
08:05your chances about maybe being able to do some damage.
08:09Tuesday, March 24th is your book release event.
08:12Kind of talk to us about the event and what are you looking forward to most with this release?
08:17Just talking about those days, Brandon.
08:19I mean, George Steinbrenner was just a figure that just comes along, you know, maybe once
08:24in a lifetime and he was, he was, he was, he wasn't always a joy to cover.
08:28I mean, the beat writers who covered him in the day will tell you he was sometimes, sometimes kind of
08:32a nightmare.
08:33I had a good relationship with him.
08:35He and I talked frequently after I got the job at the Post in 2002.
08:40And look, I mean, that time and place in Yankee history, really in baseball history, and honestly
08:45in American history is, it's worth remembering and it's worth reading about.
08:50I'm looking forward to the event on 24th.
08:52We're having the Rutherford across the street from Madison Square Garden.
08:54Anybody who wants to come is more than welcome.
08:58It's, it's going to be available.
09:00Bookstairs everywhere starting March 24th is available for pre-sale right now.
09:04If you want to go to Amazon, you want to go to harpercollins.com, you know, don't feel
09:09like you have to wait till March 24th.
09:11It's a, you know, especially now as we're getting ready for baseball, I think people
09:14are hungry for baseball and, you know, hopefully this book can help satisfy that hunger.
09:19All right, Mike, well, thank you for hopping on with us and I can't wait for the event.
09:23Congratulations on coming out with another book, man.
09:26Thanks Brandon.
09:27Great talking to you about it.
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