George Steinbrenner gave one of his last interviews to Plain Dealer writer Bob Dolgan

George Steinbrenner looks back and ahead in one his last interviews, a 2006 conversation with The Plain Dealer's Bob Dolgan.

George Steinbrenner, also known as "The Boss,'' died Tuesday morning, apparently of a heart attack. One of his last interviews was also one of the last big stories for now-retired Plain Dealer sportswriter Bob Dolgan.

View full sizeAP FileGeorge Steinbrenner, pictured in 2004, gave one of his last interviews to Plain Dealer sportwriter Bob Dolgan.

Some baseball fans are blaming owner Larry Dolan for the Indians' current troubles. Others point to General Manager Mark Shapiro or manager Eric Wedge.

They are wrong. Vernon Stouffer is the chief culprit.Before the 1972 season, Stouffer turned down George Steinbrenner's $8.5 million offer to buy the Indians. Stouffer sold the team to Nick Mileti for a slightly higher price instead.

Steinbrenner, like the young swain who was rejected by the girl next door and married a movie star instead, leapfrogged to New York and bought the Yankees, the most famous franchise in sports history, in 1973.Since then the Yankees, who come to town Monday for a four-game series against the Indians, have won 10 American League pennants and six World Series.

It could have happened here

Steinbrenner -- who once said that winning is the most important thing in life, next to breathing -- restored the Yankees to dominance by acquiring some of the best baseball players in the world, largely through free agency."If we had bought the Indians, we would have tried to do the same things we did in New York," Steinbrenner said by phone from his office in Tampa, Fla.

Steinbrenner, a Rocky River native who turns 76 Tuesday, has been unusually quiet lately. An associate said he has not been interviewed in a year and a half. With the Yankees lagging in second place, the old Steinbrenner would have been making noise, perhaps even firing a manager or two.

"I'm mellowing a lot," he said. "I'm getting old."

"I don't know if he's mellowing," said Cleveland attorney Dan McCarthy, his longtime friend who owns 4.5 to 5 percent of the Yankees. "He yells at me."

Asked if he ever thinks about retiring as principal owner of the Yankees, Steinbrenner replied, "Yes, I do. I think I will, maybe next year. I think the young kids are ready."

Steinbrenner was referring to his son, Harold Steinbrenner, 37, and son-in-law Stephen Swindal, 51, general partners on the Yankees.

"Steve will take over," George Steinbrenner said. "He's running the team right now."There have been some concerns about George Steinbrenner's health ever since 2003, when he fainted at a funeral service for his friend, Otto Graham, the great Browns quarterback.

"It was very emotional," Steinbrenner said. "Otto and I were very close."

Steinbrenner was taken to a hospital as a precautionary measure and was released in about an hour."I took a physical this morning," he said during the interview this week. "I'm doing OK."

Game looks good

Unlike many who are concerned with steroids, soaring salaries and high ticket costs, Steinbrenner is optimistic about baseball.

"I don't think the game has any problems," he said. "Attendance is better than it's ever been. The Yankees sell out nearly every game."

The Yankees, who went over 4 million at the gate for the first time last season, are on pace to do it again. They are averaging 51,048 fans at home and 39,499 on the road, best in baseball in both departments.

It wasn't always that way. When his group bought the Yankees in 1973, he inherited a club that drew 966,328 the previous year. They pulled in only 1.2 million in each of the next two years.

"The first couple of years were terrible," McCarthy said. "We had to pay a radio station to carry our games. We didn't start to draw until we signed Catfish Hunter."

Steinbrenner signed Hunter, a pitcher, to a five-year, $3.75 million contract in 1975. It was one of the early free-agent deals and was an astronomical price at the time. Hunter responded by winning 23 games. Less than two years later, Steinbrenner signed another future Hall of Famer, outfielder Reggie Jackson, paying him $3 million for five years.

Steinbrenner says his biggest thrill came when the Yankees played the Cincinnati Reds in the 1976 World Series."When we bought the team, I promised the fans we would win a pennant within four years," he said. "To stand there on the field with the Yankees playing that great Cincinnati team, and realizing we had done it, was something."

The Yankees were swept by Cincinnati that year but won the Series the next season, beating Los Angeles in six games.

From there on, Steinbrenner became one of the most famous and powerful men in sports."Owning the Yankees is like owning the Mona Lisa," he once said.

Huge profit margin

Steinbrenner had paid $10 million for the Yankees franchise. Now its estimated value is $1 billion.

That dwarfs the money made by Richard Jacobs, a successful Indians owner who bought the club in 1986 for about $35 million and sold it to Larry Dolan for $322 million in 2000.

Jacobs liked baseball, but he was more of a businessman, enamored by the bottom line. He had no trouble cashing in after winning a couple of pennants. Steinbrenner was more driven by the need to win and keep winning.

He made 23 managerial changes in his first 20 years as Yankees boss, firing pal Billy Martin five times. For the past 11 years, Steinbrenner has had Joe Torre in the Yankees pilot's seat.

"He's calm and collected," Steinbrenner said. "He has a good staff, and he's a very popular guy. I like him."

Torre has managed the Yankees to four World Series titles. He has worked for Steinbrenner longer than any other manager.

Steinbrenner always has found time to mix some fun into life. He hosted an episode of the television show "Saturday Night Live," acting in a sketch in which he dreamed he played all of the positions on the Yankees and also managed the team. He made humorous TV commercials with Torre and shortstop Derek Jeter.

"They took only a day to make; it was a lark," said Steinbrenner, who showed some good acting talent. He was portrayed by an actor in a recurring role in the hit TV show "Seinfeld."

"I enjoyed it very much," he said. "They asked me if they could do it. I got to know the cast."

The sportsman

Steinbrenner is still heavily into thoroughbred racing. He has about 100 yearlings, mares and stallions on his farm in Ocala, Fla. So far he has not achieved his goal of winning the Kentucky Derby, despite having sent six horses to the post in Churchill Downs. Bellamy Road, his colt, was the Derby favorite in the 2005 Run for the Roses, but finished seventh.

"He'll be running in the Breeders' Cup this year," Steinbrenner said.

Steinbrenner won't be coming to Jacobs Field to watch the Yankees take on the Indians this week, but he still has four seats in the ballpark.

"My sisters live in Cleveland, and they use them," he said.

He also has four seats at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

The Yankees' main problem this year has been a string of injuries, leading to a 45-33 record, second best in the AL East. "We're going down left and right," Steinbrenner said. "These are not the real Yankees."

Outfielders Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield, who are making $13 million and $10.7 million, respectively, have been on the disabled list most of the season.

"They might be back in September," Steinbrenner said, not sounding very hopeful.

Second baseman Robinson Cano recently joined them on the DL.

Third baseman Alex Rodriguez, the American League Most Valuable Player last year, is being booed because the Yankee Stadium fans perceive he is not hitting in the clutch.

"He'll come out of it," Steinbrenner said of baseball's highest-paid player at $26 million. "So much is expected of him. New York is tough, but very rewarding. It's a great city."

Nobody has been rewarded more in New York than Steinbrenner, who could go into the Baseball Hall of Fame someday.