George Steinbrenner was probably the toughest yet most compassionate man ever to be a part of professional sports and entertainment organization.
He sincerely loved Billy Martin. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. He loved the gangster, cowboy that Billy was all about. He loved the tough guy that would not take any crap from no one. He loved the baseball genius that Billy was. He loved how Billy treated certain people that had nothing and Billy would give them his last dollar. In some ways, Mr. Steinbrenner was like Billy and in certain ways, he wanted to be like Billy.
It was a lot of fun to sit with these two incredible men. However, it could also be scary to be with them. It all depended on the situation. With both of these men, it was about winning it was about putting on a good show for the fans. It was about a lot of different things.
The biggest problem was Billy’s issue with alcohol. With the alcohol came a few off-field fistfights one in particular with a marshmallow salesman.
Mr. Steinbrenner fired Billy on five different occasions. With Billy, he got a second chance five times because the Boss knew that Billy was by far the greatest manager in baseball and he sincerely loved Billy like a brother. They actually acted like brothers in the way they would talk to each other. The way the Boss would take care of Billy during the periods that he was fired. How the Boss would check on him. Mr. Steinbrenner always brought him back with the hope that he was going to get the complete Billy Martin without the alcohol situation bringing Billy down.
Christmas of 1989 was probably the saddest Christmas that George Steinbrenner ever had. Billy Martin was killed in a car crash after losing control on an icy road by his home. Those last few days Billy and his wife Jill had been very happy because The Boss was going to give the man that the Boss considered the proudest Yankee, Billy Martin a 6th chance.
In the summer of 2000 Dwight Doc Gooden had been given his unconditional release by the Tampa Bay Rays. He had been clean from drugs for about five years. This was after George Steinbrenner had given him a second chance at getting back into baseball after serving a drug suspension in 1996. Even though the Boss was warned by some of the major powers of the game not to trust Gooden and many other things of the uncomplimentary nature the Boss privately met with Gooden and me at a small Tampa restaurant, talked for about 3 hours and on his drive home the Boss decided that he didn’t care what anyone said and signed Gooden. A no-hitter and world championship later Gooden made the Boss proud.
During the 2000 season when Doc was let go by the Rays, he just sat around the house waiting for the phone to ring, however, it never did. I use to check on him to see how he was doing. With each passing call, I started to get nervous for Doc. Let’s not forget that when you are an addict, you are an addict forever. Baseball served as a bandaid for Doc. Let’s just say that baseball was a different type of drug. If he wasn’t playing it would be easier for Doc to fall back.
I honestly believed that Doc still had enough left so I called Mr. Steinbrenner and was totally honest about my concerns for Doc. I told him that if he gave him another chance that I thought he would be alright. The Boss said that the scouts told him that Doc was through.
He asked me, Are you asking me to help him because of his addiction or because of the player. I said because of both.
At that point Mr. Steinbrenner told me to have Doc show up at the minor league complex and work out with the rookie league team.
When I called Doc he couldn’t of been happier… it was baseball.
Two weeks later a couple of injuries occurred and Doc ended up pitching a very important game at Shea Stadium. Certain people thought that the Boss was crazy having Gooden pitch in such an important game, but like a Hollywood movie Doc Gooden would reach back to his heyday and mentally, physically, and spiritually beat his former team and that year’s National League champion Mets.
Doc would end up doing a good job coming out of the bullpen and spending the rest of the season helping the Yanks beat the Mets in the World Series.
After that season the Boss told Doc that as a reward he was making Doc his special assistant. Doc was flying all around the country with the Boss in his private plane.
The Boss could not of been prouder of what Doc had accomplished. He had plans for Doc and I can honestly say that Doc was one of his all-time favorite players.
One day after the season had ended Doc took his usual lunch hour and was late in coming back. This started to become a pattern and the Boss started to notice. This continued until one time Doc just didn’t come back. At one point Doc was arrested for whatever the situation was. It’s hard for me to even talk about it now because I remember how much this hurt the Boss.
Doc ended up going to jail and the Boss called me in his office and told me never to mention Doc Gooden’s name again. That if I did I would be fired. I didn’t take it personally because I knew how much the Boss loved Doc and this situation really hurt him.
Time passed and one day Mr. Steinbrenner’s secretary told me that the Boss wanted to see me.
I walked over to the Boss’s office and asked if he needed me. The Boss asked me if I had talked to the boy. I knew who he meant but I asked him anyway who did he mean. He said stop being a wise guy you know I mean Gooden. I said that I guess he is alright. I mean how good could you be in jail even if your Doc Gooden. The Boss knew exactly what I meant because he knew of some of my close family members that spent so much time in Rikers Island in New York. He understood my own struggles with them.
The Boss told me to get Phil Mcniff a former head of the Tampa FBI who worked for the Boss dealing with possible legal issues.
He told Phil to work it out with the jail that Doc was at that so that he could talk to Doc.
That afternoon Doc was on the phone with the Boss. The Boss asked Doc… How are you doing son…. Doc nervously said that under the circumstances he was doing ok. It was very awkward for both. For whatever the reason the Boss looked and acted responsible for the situation. Nothing could of been further from the truth. All he ever did was to try and help Doc. The Boss use to leave meetings in Tampa to be with Doc when his father was dying. He could not of done any more yet he felt guilty.
The Boss asked Doc if they were treating him ok…If they don’t you call me, if you can’t reach me call Ray.
Doc quietly said thanks, but the whole time I could tell that Doc was really embarrassed and at one point started to cry. He repeatedly said that he was so sorry… he said that the Boss didn’t deserve this after all he did for him … The Boss finally said to Doc through his quivering lips… Don’t you worry about a thing. I’m going to talk to our attorneys about getting you out of there and you will come back and work for me and we will make it right this time. There was a long silence and then all of a sudden You could tell that Doc was sniffling from crying and he blurted out… No no, I can’t hurt you anymore… please thank you but no. I love you Boss! And he hung up the phone.
Mr. Steinbrenner just stared down at the phone not saying a word. I can say that his face was red and you could see the tears hit his phone. I quietly walked out of his office and sadly they never talked again.
Like Billy Martin, Doc, through his own doing never got that other second chance.
