1.
Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing. Breathing first, winning next.
George Steinbrenner
2.
You shouldn't have any betting in the locker room at all, whether it's baseball or it's horses. You can't beat the horses. You can't beat any kind of gambling because they have the odds.
George Steinbrenner
3.
Don't talk to me about aesthetics or tradition. Talk to me about what sells and what's good right now. And what the American people like is to think the underdog still has a chance.
George Steinbrenner
4.
Owning the Yankees is like owning the Mona Lisa.
George Steinbrenner
5.
People keep coming up to me and asking, 'How does it feel to be banned for life?' Banned for life. I wasn't banned for life. There was never a word of suspension, probation or ban in that agreement. It was never meant to be part of it.
George Steinbrenner
6.
I haven't always done a good job, and I haven't always been successful - but I know that I have tried.
George Steinbrenner
7.
Surround yourself with amazingly intelligent men and women. The people I work with not only are smarter than I am, possessing both intellectual and emotional intelligence, but also share my determination to succeed. I will not make an important decision without them.
George Steinbrenner
8.
From 1973 to 1982 I ate the exact same lunch everyday . Turkey chili in a bowl made out of bread . Bread bowl George. First you eat the chili then you eat the bowl . There's nothing more satisfying than looking down after lunch and seeing nothing but a table.
George Steinbrenner
9.
Winning means everything...You show me a good loser and I'll show a loser.
George Steinbrenner
10.
Second place is really the first loser.
George Steinbrenner
11.
I will never have a heart attack. I give them.
George Steinbrenner
12.
He's the leader on this team, I know when Baltimore let us have him, they thought they were giving us a problem. I'll take problems like that anytime.
George Steinbrenner
13.
But why shouldn't I speak out? Don't you speak out in this country?
George Steinbrenner
14.
My best and worst boss was the same man - my father. He never - and I mean never - took 'I can't' for an answer. He taught me the value system that, to this day, I have continued to practice.
George Steinbrenner
15.
I guess heaven needed a shortstop.
George Steinbrenner
16.
I am dead set against free agency. It can ruin baseball.
George Steinbrenner
17.
Is it in the best interest of baseball to sell beer in the ninth inning? Probably not. The rule has got to be more clearly defined. And then some process should be set up where the judge is not also the appeals judge.
George Steinbrenner
18.
When you're entrusted with a tradition, you've got to protect it.
George Steinbrenner
19.
Irabu is a fat, pus-y toad.
George Steinbrenner
20.
It was the class and dignity which he led his life that made him part of all of us. I will forever treasure the close friendship we shared over the years.
George Steinbrenner
21.
We plan absentee ownership as far as running the Yankees is concerned.
George Steinbrenner
22.
I don't want to be in the Hall of Fame. I don't think owners should be.
George Steinbrenner
23.
I am tough. Sometimes I'm unreasonable. I have to catch myself every once in a while.
George Steinbrenner
24.
Ruth was probably the greatest athlete to perform in any sport. Never has there been anybody like him.
George Steinbrenner
25.
I'm really 95 percent Mr. Rogers, and only 5 percent Oscar the Grouch.'
George Steinbrenner
26.
I won't be active in the day-to-day operations of the ball club at all.
George Steinbrenner
27.
As I have said many times - my father was a great fan of Bill Dickey's and he certainly loved the Yankees. I hope that he would be pleased.
George Steinbrenner
28.
Why would you want to stay manager and be second-guessed by me when you can come up into the front-office and be one of the second-guessers?
George Steinbrenner
29.
I haven't always made the right decisions.
George Steinbrenner
30.
Once in a while, I played second base; once in a while, outfield. But those were just pickup games and softball leagues. So when I bought the Yankees, I tried to stay one pace ahead of the players.
George Steinbrenner
31.
I'm pretty excited, this is a big, big one.
George Steinbrenner
32.
The name Derek Jeter is made for stardom. He's got an infectious smile, and he's so handsome and well-behaved. He's just a fine young man who does everything right. He's like Jack Armstrong and Frank Merriwell, guys I grew up rooting for. Some guys come along who just measure up.
George Steinbrenner
33.
I'm not a win at all costs guy. Winning isn't everything. It's second to breathing.
George Steinbrenner
34.
I used to be very hands-on, but lately I've been more hands-off and I plan to become more hands-on and less hands-off and hope that hands-on will become better than hands-off, the way hands-on used to be.
George Steinbrenner
35.
I hate to lose. Hate, hate, hate to lose.
George Steinbrenner
36.
David Cone is in a class by himself with three or four other players.
George Steinbrenner
37.
If you don't have a hernia yet then you're not pulling your own weight!
George Steinbrenner
38.
Winning was everything. I don’t care what they tell you.
George Steinbrenner
39.
He says all the right things, like it's Jeter's team. I want to correct him on that - it's my team.
George Steinbrenner
40.
Breathing first, winning next.
George Steinbrenner
41.
I was often misquoted. I was supportive of my managers, even though they all may not think so.
George Steinbrenner
42.
What happens is that all your life you operated businesses in such a way that you could one day afford to buy a baseball team. And then you buy the team and forget all the business practices that enabled you to buy it.
George Steinbrenner
43.
Let's not talk punishment.
George Steinbrenner
44.
We are the New York Yankees
George Steinbrenner
45.
In the end, I'll put my good acts up against those of anybody in this country. Anybody.
George Steinbrenner
46.
I'll stick to building ships.
George Steinbrenner
47.
If you haven't got a hernia yet, you ain't pulling your share.
George Steinbrenner
48.
I don't think that anybody should be suspended for life for anything, other than murder. How is it helping someone to say, 'You're done forever, your life's over'?
George Steinbrenner
