George Steinbrenner, died today of a massive heart attack at the age of 80.  He was best known as the owner of the New York Yankees but belonged to a family of shipowners. Kinsman Marine Transit was once one of the largest bulk carrier operators in the Great Lakes.  In 1962 he became president of Kinsman.  Five years later Kinsman merged with American Ship Building Company and the Steinbrenner family took a controlling interest.  In 1973, George Steinbrenner bought the New York Yankees.

I was involved in ship conversion projects in two of Steinbrenner’s yards in Lorain, Ohio and Tampa, FL during the early 80s.   As I recall we always hoped that the Yankees would keep him occupied because his management style was autocratic, to put it politely, and his arrival in the shipyard always slowed down production.   The Lorain yard shut down in 1983 and the Tampa yard was closed following the company bankruptcy in 1997.  The facility is now being operated as Tampa Ship and is owned by Gary Chouest, who happens to own the New Orleans Hornets, a basketball team.

George Steinbrenner, Who Built Yankees Into Powerhouse, Dies at 80