George Steinbrenner was not one to stay happy for long. He was famous — or, perhaps, infamous — for responding to championships by ordering a quick return to work the next day or the day after to begin focusing on the following season; the next title.
So when I asked Brian Cashman the happiest he remembered Steinbrenner, the Yankees general manager did not have a quick response. He thought a moment, and then, offered the Yankees’ 2004 acquisition of Alex Rodriguez.
“It had everything he loved,” Cashman said. “The media coverage was staggering and so was the impact and the Red Sox didn’t get him. He loved when we won a deal, when we beat other teams to the punch, when we scored a player as big as Alex. He loved outfoxing someone, outworking someone, outsmarting someone, and then sitting back and seeing all the coverage of that.”
That is why even if George had a soft spot for Scott Brosius and his three championships as the Yankee third baseman or even more affection for the feisty, comic Graig Nettles and his two titles, there is just one choice for the third baseman on our All-George Team.
The idea here is to form the best Yankees team of players from the beginning of his ownership in 1973 until Tuesday, when Steinbrenner died of a heart attack. In places where the competition is close, the tiebreaker
will be who George would pick — or at least who I believe George would pick.
So as a final gift to the man who always was trying to put a star at every position, we unveil the ultimate Steinbrenner team, the Boss-town Yankees:
CATCHER
Thurman Munson. It is hard to argue that Munson had a better career than Jorge Posada, who ranks among the 10 best offensive catchers ever. But Munson was Steinbrenner’s first Yankees captain and I bet when George imagined what a Yankee looked like or acted like, the picture in his mind was Thurman Munson.
FIRST BASE
Don Mattingly. Tino Martinez, Mark Teixeira and Chris Chambliss all won championships for The Boss. But perhaps no Yankee in Steinbrenner’s entire tenure meant more to him than Mattingly. In fact, Mattingly remains beloved by the entire Steinbrenner clan and so if he does not end up succeeding Joe Torre as manager of the Dodgers, the Yankees’ door always is going to remain open to Mattingly.
SECOND BASE
Willie Randolph. Robinson Cano is going to end up with a better career. But Randolph was a superb Yankee, a Steinbrenner captain and beloved by the owner.
SHORTSTOP
Derek Jeter. You were expecting Alvaro Espinoza? Four positions down, four captains. After publicly criticizing Jeter for partying too much, Steinbrenner appeared with his shortstop in a Visa commercial in 2004, and that reconnected a bond that only grew stronger with the passing of time. It was Jeter, along with manager Joe Girardi, who handed Steinbrenner his last of seven championship rings on Opening Day.
THIRD BASE
A-Rod. It is not just the mega-acquisition that puts Rodriguez on the team. In Steinbrenner’s tenure only Bernie Williams hit more homers (287) than Rodriguez (252). And A-Rod finally transformed from Dave Winfield to Reggie Jackson last postseason, dominating the playoffs with his bat and timeliness.
LEFT FIELD
Rickey Henderson. Steinbrenner thought there were times when Rickey did not play because Rickey did not want to play as opposed to him actually being injured. Nevertheless, when he was on the field for the Yankees, Henderson was — as always — the most dynamic leadoff man ever, stealing 326 bases and scoring 513 runs in five years.
CENTER FIELD
Williams. Early in Bernie’s career, George ordered Williams traded on more than one occasion, fearing that Bernie was too meek to ever succeed in New York. Then-GM Gene Michael actually had to stop answering phones at one point because there was a trade worked out of Williams for Darren Lewis, and Stick desperately did not want to give up on Williams’ talent. Lucky for the Yankees and The Boss, Michael ignored that trade and Steinbrenner. Williams turned out as the clean-up-hitting center fielder of a dynasty.
RIGHT FIELD
Paul O’Neill. It is a close call between O’Neill and Winfield. But, in the end, Steinbrenner nicknamed one The Warrior and one Mr. May. So, you know, case closed.
DESIGNATED HITTER
Reggie Jackson. Reggie arguably was the most important ingredient in turning Steinbrenner into The Boss. Jackson provided Steinbrenner a foil with as gigantic an ego as himself. Like Steinbrenner, Jackson was brash and divisive and unwilling to avoid controversy. But he also provided clutch greatness that led to two championships.
STARTING PITCHER
Andy Pettitte. You know George would love to pick Catfish Hunter, admired the competitiveness of David Cone and always had a place in his heart for Ron Guidry. But no pitcher in Steinbrenner’s term succeeded longer or more consistently than Pettitte. By the time the Yankees won their last title, October must have looked like a cap pulled down low on Pettitte’s head to Steinbrenner.
RELIEVER
Mariano Rivera. For a second, George would think seriously about Goose Gossage. But the second would pass. Rivera is now in the conversation with Whitey Ford as the greatest Yankees pitcher ever. You know what the opposite of spitting the bit is?
Mariano Rivera.
MANAGER
Billy Martin. Torre had the most success of any manager in Steinbrenner’s tenure, but we just cannot ignore that Steinbrenner did not like Torre and that the Steinbrenner family pretty much hates him. For this Dream Team, let’s imagine that we can get Billy I, who had his demons, but also had a highly formed baseball brain and the kind of competitiveness and fire that kept bringing Steinbrenner back to Martin.
GENERAL MANAGER
Gene Michael. In his term as owner, Steinbrenner quoted his first GM, Gabe Paul, more than any baseball man who ever worked for The Boss. In the end, George invested greater trust and responsibility in Cashman than any of his other baseball officials. But I believe if George Steinbrenner had to begin from scratch today, he would turn to Stick, who spent most of the Steinbrenner term working in one capacity or another. Michael not only had an acute eye for talent, but a willingness — when necessary — to stand up to the human typhoon that was Steinbrenner at his meanest and maddest.
And it was Michael, during Steinbrenner’s second suspension in the early 1990s, who successfully transformed the Yankees from laughingstocks to champions, changing the trajectory of the franchise toward becoming not just a great baseball organization, but a behemoth brand.
joel.sherman@nypost.com