As much as I hate to admit it, Steinbrenner should be in. He pulled his team out of an eightyear slump as a new owner and built a team amazing for being consistently competetive. And doing that means building an excellent front office staff. How many teams have the funding, but not the smarts to get the right players? And his marketing of the team was also impressive, bringing in concepts like the team owning a primary media outlet. (Turner and others were earlier, but I see them as more media outlets owning a team to use as a product.)
I'd also have to include Charlie Finley. Annoying, with odd but creative ideas- designated runner?- But some stuck for better or worse. Loud uniforms, ball girls... He pushed the DH and other less sucessful ideas. Todays game wouldn't be quite what it is without him. (Plus he had a couple people on the payroll that went on to bigger things- MC Hammer, and the woman who started Mrs. Fields Cookies)
Steve B
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