Should George Steinbrenner get inducted into the hall of fame?

[Ritchey 1st MRB]

well... should he?

Edited July 15, 2010 by Ritchey 1st MRB

[Vogt]

Didn't he just own the Yankees, and that's it? I don't know about him having any kind of baseball career.

[GMoney BAR]

Why should he? He just bought up everyone. There was no skill involved with it. You can argue that he has put together one of the greatest sports franchises in history but that's what a shit ton of money will do for anyone. The answer is no.

[Parker 1st MRB]

I say yes as an Owner. He took that franchise and did magic to it. He was great for the Yankees and great for baseball. I'm a Blue Jays fan so I hate his guts but the man knew how to win and made it happen. The guy bought the team in '73 for 8.7 million from CBS and he made that franchise worth today 1.3 billion dollars (only second in the world to Real Madrid). After buying the Yankees, they didn't win a WS until '77 and '78. After that the Yankees didn't win until '96 where they went on a rampage and took it in '98, '99, and 2000. Yes he did put a shit ton of money into the franchise but he also got the right players to make a team that could win a WS. It's not the best players that will win you championships, it's the right players. It's these type of owners that struggling franchises like Pittsburgh and Kansas City need to turn their fortunes around.

[Ford 1st MRB]

Being in the Baseball Hall of Fame doesn't mean you played baseball. It's there to honor those in history who had a major impact on the game, be it players, umpires, managers, commissioners, and yes, even owners. You can argue all he did was buy up the players and put together a team based off of money, but what you have to look at is he did all that and stayed under the salary cap. I am definitely not a fan of the Yankees. However, the team has won what.. 27 or 28 World Championships? They were good before he got there so he didn't make them a dynasty or anything. He did however, put together an great team, and did a great job as Parker pointed out in improving the value of the team.

Not letting Steinbrenner in would be like not letting Commissioner Happy Chandler in. You may not know who he is or what he even did for baseball, but he is in the HOF. In 1947, as the acting commissioner, Chandler approved the contract making Jackie Robinson first modern black major league player. He did this in the face of great adversity and became both loved and hated for what he did. Chandler is one of the 30 Non-players in the HOF, a senator and politician before his involvement with Major League Baseball, he never put on a uniform.

I'd say yes, in my opinion, Steinbrenner has earned his right to be inducted.

Litlle trivia for you: Who recieved the highest percentage of votes of all time for his induction?

(Try guessing without googling it)