Steinbrenner Ceding Power To Sons

The Boss is the boss no longer. Dictatorial owner George Steinbrenner, who has ruled the Yankees for the past 34 years with an iron-fist manner that would make even Stalin blush, has [abdicated much of his power] to his two sons—Hal and Hank. “George has taken on a role like the chairman of a major corporation,” team president Randy Levine said. “He’s been saying for years he’s wanted to get his sons involved in the family business. Both of them have stepped up and are taking on the day-to-day duties of what's required to run the Yankees.”

Steinbrenner, who has become softer than a roasted marshmallow in his old age, said manager Joe Torre would [lose his job] if the Yankees lost the American League Division Series to the Cleveland Indians. Sure enough, the Yankees [collapsed like a Minnesota bridge](http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1338294.html) and were eliminated last Monday, but Torre has yet to be fired. Then, in an interview published yesterday, Hal confirmed him and Hank are in charge. “I’ll pay more attention to the baseball part. The stadium, that’s more Hal. But basically everything will be decided jointly,” he said.

The two sons, their father and the rest of upper-Yankee management will begin offseason talks in Tampa Bay sometime early this week and [they’ll discuss Torre first]. But a decision about his future might not be made until the end of this week or early next week.