George Steinbrenner, longtime owner of the New York Yankees, died of a heart attack today in Tampa, Fla. He had just turned 80 on July 4. Steinbrenner, known as the mega power broker who demanded championships from his Yankees teams, was worth more than $1.3 billion. He made New York the center of the baseball universe.

The Yankees were dealt another major death this week with the passing of Bob Sheppard, a public announcer for the Yankees from 1951 to 2007. Sheppard died at the age of 99.

''Few people have had a bigger impact on New York over the past four decades than George Steinbrenner,'' Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement. ''George had a deep love for New York, and his steely determination to succeed, combined with his deep respect and appreciation for talent and hard work, made him a quintessential New Yorker.''

Steinbrenner's legacy of wealth is the story of a lifetime. When he bought the Yankees, the team was worth $8.7 million. Now, it's worth more than $1.2 billion. However, one must wonder if this valuation increase was due to smart investing or simply heavy spending, since the team's debt is 79 percent of its value, and it lost $25 million last year. Steinbrenner is known for being a big spender when it comes to putting together the kind of team New Yorkers have come to expect. Last year, the New York Yankees' payroll was $209 million, more than $70 million more than the next highest team. So, Steinbrenner clearly saw heavy spending as a way to fulfill his personal objective of winning rather than as a way to make money.


''Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing,'' Steinbrenner would sometimes say. ''Breathing first, winning next.''

Steinbrenner's aggressive style of team ownership created a lot of enemies in his life. One owner, Edward Bennett Williams said that Steinbrenner hoarded outfielders "like nuclear weapons." I agree with Williams, given that it seemed that beyond wanting to win, Steinbrenner felt compelled to give New Yorkers the great Yankee legacy to which they'd become accustomed. He would fire managers in the middle of the season and do whatever was necessary to make sure the team stayed on top. That's why so many New Yorkers love him so much.

His heavy investing paid off, at least in terms of winning. Steinbrenner's Yankees won seven world championships and 11 American League Pennants during his ownership regime. At the time he took over the Yankees, the team had not been in first place in eight years, the longest since they had Babe Ruth on the roster. Steinbrenner was the puppet master, and the players/owners/fans were his puppets. To make a long story short, the man had power.

The most intriguing thing about the financial life of George Steinbrenner is the fact that he was an investor and a winner. One of the things that black America can learn from his legacy is that when it comes to professional sports, athletes aren't the ones in control -- the owners are the ones who call the shots. While great athletes came and went through the years, Steinbrenner had more power as a frail 80-year old man than any young, strapping athlete in America. His power came through wealth and his wealth came through investing and ownership.

Now that's a life worth living.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.