George Steinbrenner

I love going to Yankee games. Love, love, love it.

My feeling is probably similar to how Hank Steinbrenner reacts when the Phillip Morris Convention rolls into town. Pure titillation.

So when my buddy Mark offered me a ticket to the Yankees' home opener against the Angels on Tuesday, you can guess that my schedule was quickly cleared.

Being your dutiful Yankee blogger, I felt it was my responsibility to do a couple of laps around the House That George Built and report on what I saw.

Please excuse my shoddy camera work.

"28 in 2010" is the newfound battle cry of the resurgent Yankee dynasty.

However, "27 since 2007" might be a more meaningful one this week.

Just 28 months ago, on a Wednesday evening at the team's Legends Field training complex in Tampa, George Steinbrenner gathered his two sons, team president Randy Levine, Brian Cashman, and several others around him for a salary discussion requested by a leading member of the Yankee team that had won 10 AL East titles and four World Series in 12 years.

Today I came across the resolution Congress passed in the wake of the Yankees winning the World Series.

The text of the resolution includes this:

"Whereas the contributions of the Yankees' players throughout the season were all vital in securing the title; and

Whereas the Yankees were guided to victory by Manager Joe Girardi, General Manager Brian Cashman, President Randy Levine, and the leadership of Hank and Hal Steinbrenner: Now therefore be it

An objective observer of our two-party political system would be shocked by the exclusionary nature of the United States government.

Many liberals are quite disappointed with the way President Obama has governed so far. They are frustrated by his perpetuation of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, his lackluster environmental policies, and his complete abandonment of Single-Payer health insurance, and rightfully so (though if they had read the fine print during the campaign, this would not have come as a surprise).

It's no secret that the Texas Rangers are for sale. Owner Tom Hicks is ready to hand the reins of the franchise to someone else. Like many sports fans, I was taken aback by the rumors that Rush Limbaugh was in contention to purchase the St. Louis Rams. I was not surprised that a rich celebrity with no connection to professional sports would want to purchase an NFL team. I was confused about why such expenditures are relatively uncommon for wealthy idiots. The only interesting person currently in the running to buy the Rangers is Nolan Ryan. And let's face it, he's no Limbaugh.

George Steinbrenner is one of the most controversial people in baseball.

Since purchasing the Yankees in 1973, the Yanks have won six World Series and 10 pennants.

He's brought many great players to the Yankees, and they're usually overpriced.

He instituted the Yankees' famous grooming policy. 

He paid a gambler to find “dirt” on Dave Winfield, one of his own players!

In 1998, the Yankees won 114 games in the regular season, which at the time was an American League record (it would be broken in 2001 by the Seattle Mariners). 

The 1998 Yankees were not the most talented team ever, but they were the most complete team. 

Each of the 25 guys on the team had a role, and they each executed it. The 1998 Yankees had a great combination of youth and experience, power and speed, and right-handed and left-handed pitching. 

Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick is most likely facing one of the most difficult decisions that he will ever have to make.  He will have to finally make a significant change in an attempt to address the problems plaguing Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and the Amp Energy No. 88 team.

Junior had a miserable run in the Coca Cola 600. He battled a wicked race car throughout, sawing on the wheel and asking his spotter to just keep him out of the way of the other cars that could actually compete on the track.

“Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd;
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don't care if I never get back.
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win, it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game.”

That famous song, by Jack Norworth (I bet you did not know that, and I am impressed if you did) is sung in the middle of seventh innings from early March to late October in ball parks all over the United States.

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“You have the rest of you life to work.”