George Steinbrenner Wears A Black (okay, navy) Hat

Bad guys always wear black hats. At least they wear dark hats. You rarely see a bad guy wearing a white or light-colored hat. Just doesn’t fit.

The Yankees are a love-’em or hate-’em team. Those who hate them vow they all wear black hats. They’re bad guys to those who hate them. Me? I’m indifferent. I don’t care about the Yankees one way or the other. But I don’t care about baseball either - until this time of year. And even now I don’t care who wins or loses. I just like the drama of playoff baseball. At least this time of year there is drama.

I’m not that indifferent to management/ownership styles. Enter Yankees’ owner George Steinbrenner and his team’s manager, Joe Torre. Of Torre Mr. S made some public comments.

“His job is on the line,” Steinbrenner told the Bergen (N.J.) Record in Sunday’s editions. “I think we’re paying him a lot of money. He’s the highest-paid manager in baseball, so I don’t think we’d take him back if we don’t win this series.”

Mr. Steinbrenner is quite literally Joe Torre’s boss. Steinbrenner likely loves being called “The Boss.” I wonder how Bruce Springsteen feels about that. Pay me $7 million a year and I’ll call you anything you like.

To be fair, Torre has delivered 4 World Series Championships to George over the past 13 seasons. He’s never failed to make the playoffs, but these are the Yankees and making the playoffs is no barometer for success in New York.

Tonight Torre’s team faced another first round knockout for the 3rd consecutive year. Was it proper or beneficial for Steinbrenner to make that statement to the press?

I say, “Sure. Why not?”

One, Torre is a professional. He’s a seasoned veteran. Steinbrenner has never been a pat-you-on-the-back type of owner. He’s quite capable of being a jerk. But I’d imagine Torre can also be a jerk. We all can. And George writes the check. Like it or not, writing checks gives people license to behave badly - or in ways unapproved by some. Torre’s bank account has benefited from working for Mr. S. There’s a stick dangling that carrot, Joe.

Two, Torre knows exactly what’s going on. He’s been with Mr. S for 13 seasons. Torre’s responses to the comments tell you he knows the score. It’s just part of the gig. You get the $7 million annually - and you get criticized. Joe knows.

Three, Mr. S has never been shy to speak his mind. He doesn’t care if people agree or disagree. He’s part of the fabric of New York and he knows that puts him in a different light than owners in other markets. New Yorkers don’t soft-peddle anything. George is a New Yorker.

Four, (and this is really the point) teams thrive on bunker-mentality. Steinbrenner is like all good bosses. He’s willing to wear the black hat. He’s willing to be the bad guy. Somebody has to be that guy. George has no problem being that guy. He’s not part of the club house. He’s not on the team. He owns the team. If the team needed to climb in the bunker, George knew it was now. They were on the verge of being swept by Cleveland. So, if George was going to exert the pressure - he choose his time wisely (you could even argue that he should have done it one game sooner). If these players need to hate somebody - George put himself out there.

You may not like Mr. S. You may not like the Yankees. You may love them both. I don’t care. I just know that sometimes it’s vital for the boss to be the bad-guy who challenges the group to dig it out. Torre can’t do it. He’s too close. More often than not the direct supervisor can’t openly challenge the group without risking the group turning on him. Sometimes the guy upstairs has to do it. Mr. S is willing to do that for his group. Some bosses aren’t. And groups aren’t better for it.

Praise and back-patting are fine. I applaud those actions. I think success should be celebrated and freely confess that most organizations do a pathetic job of it. It’s easier to criticize. But, I also know that hand-clapping won’t win championships. Accountability will. It’s true in professional baseball or professional selling. It’s true in professional health-care or transportation. Name it, and it’s true. You can either clap your hands and applaud a losing effort or you can encourage accountability - and make it stick - and enjoy success.

Soft-bellied management gurus preach touchy-feely stuff. When I lift the championship trophy and shove it in your losing face, I’ll yell, “Touch this!” When people excel, I think the celebration should be tremendous. But when people fail to perform up to their ability, fur should fly. Lowered expectations and the ready acceptance of poor performance will never generate success.

Tonight the Yankees lost in game 4 to the Cleveland Indians. Three consecutive years of post-season failure. Torre should be fired. Build a bridge and get over it. Crap happens. Joe, you should have done a better post-season job. Time for a change.

A brash, loud-mouthed owner made a public comment to the press to put pressure on his team, the highest paid in the sport - and on his manager, the highest paid in the sport. Did it help? I don’t know, but I know it did not hurt!

If you want the bucks, you get all the crap that goes with it. There’s always a downside. Besides, Torre may have worn out his welcome after 13 seasons anyway. Every group needs a change at leadership every now and then. Teams stop listening to the same voice year after year. Not just in baseball.

Every organization needs a person willing to play the role of Black (maybe Yankee Navy) Bart. That doesn’t mean the person is a jerk, but it does mean it’s a person with the willingness and ability to do what must be done, say what must be said - all without fear or favor. In this case, New Yorkers and Yankee fans everywhere would be disgusted if Mr. S had such low passion about his team that he quietly sat by while they faced elimination again. He’s competitive. And he expects his team to be competitive. I don’t blame him. He’s writing the checks. And he hates to lose.

Tomorrow morning he’ll be searching for a new manager. Don’t feel sorry for Torre. He walks away with some terrific parting gifts.