Metro

He restored the pride of the Yankees

The heavens had opened over Yankee Stadium, The House That George Steinbrenner Built, drenching mourners who couldn’t help but think these had to be the tears of Ruth and Gehrig and DiMaggio and Mantle and, yes, Billy Martin, and of course “Voice of God” Bob Sheppard, on the day The Boss died.

At the end of the day, after the disgraceful, mean-spirited campaign with Howie Spira against Dave Winfield . . . after the illegal campaign contributions to Richard Nixon . . . after his suspension and banishment from baseball under two commissioners . . . after all the bluster and all the bullying and all the hirings and firings of Martin and the pathetic feud with Yogi, he deserves to rest in peace as The Babe Ruth of sports owners. The greatest of all sports owners.

From the Hall of Shame to the Hall of Fame someday. From con to icon. He did it his way, resurrected the Yankees, left them The House That Ruthless Built. Any fan, in any sport, would kill to have a George Steinbrenner as their owner.

“He had a good life,” said a man named Bill Oberle, a large man from City Island who was wearing an Alex Rodriguez AL All-Star jersey and Yankee visor.

“Obviously, he had bad sides to him, we all know that, going back to Howie Spira and Winfield, the Nixon thing and all that but . . . he rebuilt this team,” Oberle said, and pointed in the direction of Ruppert Place, where the old Stadium stood across the street. “That over there was The House That Ruth Built,” he said, and then turned around and looked up at the new park.

“This is The House That George Built. He brought some pride back to the Yankees, and also to the city, ’cause I know when I first started coming down here, the city was a mess. That was in the ’70s — ‘The Bronx is burning’ and all that stuff. The Yankees got good again, and New York started to pick up again, it seemed like.”

Now Oberle began talking about Steinbrenner’s Olympic involvement, and his charitable work, so often behind the scenes. “Controversial man, had some negative sides to him,” he said, “but when you look at the big picture, George was one of the kings of New York.”

Oberle became a Yankee fan as a 10-year-old growing up in Blacksburg, Va., dreaming about being another Mantle 52 years ago, and was in the stands on Old Timers’ Day 1978 when The Boss brought Martin back again as manager.

“Surprised everybody, and I really got into the whole Barnum & Bailey, you know, the vaudeville . . . ’cause George was that, too!” Oberle said, and smiled.

“Whether he wanted to be or not, he was that, too. Mystique and aura is a lot of George, it really is. To paraphrase DiMaggio, thank God he made me a Yankee fan.”

The Boss delivered seven world championships, made the damn Yankees loved and hated again, just as he was loved and hated over the years.

Donnie Smith, a Yankee fan from Texas, was asked at Babe Ruth Plaza what Steinbrenner’s legacy will be. “Being a winner,” Smith said. “Whatever it took to bring talent here to win the world championship, he did. So, long live The Boss.”

The launching of the YES Network helped Steinbrenner field The Best Teams Money Could Buy, with The Biggest Stars Money Could Buy.

“He was always willing to put his money where his mouth was, and, as a fan, who can hate that?” said Andrew Larrier, a souvenir vendor at the Stadium. “So he’s impacted that greatly, too, by taking the Yankee brand to a level where we’ve profited tremendously over the years.”

steve.serby@nypost.com