George Steinbrenner Dies at 80

Just breaking from the AP:

New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner dies at age 80, sources tell AP.

I was a big baseball fan during the 70's and 80's when Steinbrenner was at his craziest with the New York Yankees, firing and hiring Billy Martin and other managers many, many times, and going to war with Reggie Jackson. He was quite a character.

Craig Nettles book about his time with the Yankees in those days is pretty interesting and gives some insight to what was going on at the time.  As you can see, you can get it pretty cheap these days.

UPDATE:

New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner died, a high-placed source with the team told the Daily News.

Steinbrenner died around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday in Tampa, the source said.

Steinbrenner, who celebrated his 80th birthday on July 4, has been the owner of the Yankees since 1973.

The Yankees won 11 pennants and seven World Series titles during his tenure.

Joe Torre was the Yankee manager for several years during the latter part of Steinbrenner's reign as Yankee owner. I read his book a few months ago and it was pretty interesting as well.

Steinbrenner's death comes just two days after the passing of Bob Sheppard who served as the Yankee Stadium announcer for 57 years.