As an old Brooklyn Dodger fan I cheered when Walter O'Malley died and that Irish s.o.b. was one of my own kind but I feel poorly about losing Mr. Steinbrenner. I still hate the Yankees but George was a tiger and a tough guy and even with all his foibles he caught my respect and was fun to watch.

So true pole, I grew up in the 80's when George was at his worst with all the managerial changes and the scandal that got him banned. But he also did so many charitable things. He is the best thing a fan could ever want, a man that was willing to invest in his product regardless of cost. It seems through time he mellowed and in later years he'd made up with Yogi and Dave Winfield. It's a shame that Torre and he couldn't get together one last time to squash the bad taste of the last few years.

Both he and Bob Shepherd are links to a time when you had characters that were larger than life.