Joe Posnanski Blog: King George

Poz on Steinbrenner and the New York - Cleveland connection…sorta like the Bob Pfeifer story, but on a much larger scalewag.

Well, what words could you put at the end of George Steinbrenner’s movie? I’ve read a bunch of columns and stories about the man — some which make him out to be a hero, some which make him out to be a bum, some which make him out to be a complicated character, some which make him out to be as predictable as San Diego weather. I’ve enjoyed all of them, because it seems to me they all have truth. He IS the Seinfeld character. He IS the humanitarian. He IS the felon. He IS the driven perfectionist. He fits every theory.

My theory is simply this: Steinbrenner is a Cleveland man who wanted to be a star. Cleveland has always been filled with those people. Steinbrenner needed parades, he needed fireworks, he needed something to be remembered by. You may know the story of King Mausollos, whose reign has been somewhat forgotten, but whose large tomb was one of the seven wonders of the world (and the inspiration for the word Mausoleum). There are men and women who come along who simply need to be stars. And whatever else, Steinbrenner was a star. Nobody can deny that.