Yankees president Randy Levine slams Barbara Kopple’s ESPN documentary on George Steinbrenner

Always fun to pull out Lonn Trost quotes for no reason…“I practically lived in old Yankee Stadium,” he says. “That’s why, when the architect said, ‘We’re going to move right field in a foot,’ I said, ‘Oh, no, you’re not.’ “To Yankee fans, those distances are sacred.”

Sounding very much like his old boss, Yankees president Randy Levine Wednesday fired verbal shots at an upcoming ESPN documentary on George Steinbrenner, calling it “disjointed” and “the usual news at 6.”

“It was very disappointing to watch the film. She had unbelievable access to the Yankees. She had great access to Hal (Steinbrenner). The interview with him was exceptional,” Levine said. “The rest of the film was the usual news at 6. It was a disjointed effort. I’m not sure where she was trying to go with the story.

“As somebody who is an admirer of hers, I just think she swung and missed at this one.”

...Kopple said after Levine watched it (“We showed it to him out of the good graces of our heart”) he “didn’t stay and talk very long,” but did ask why he wasn’t in it. Neither Levine nor GM Brian Cashman appears in “The House of Steinbrenner.” Kopple said she wanted to include both in the documentary.

“We sent emails asking for Mr. Cashman and Mr. Levine,” Kopple said. “They just said no.”

Levine differed, saying: “She’s a filmmaker and she’s entitled to decide who she wants in the film. She never communicated that she wanted to interview me or many other relevant people at the Yankees.”