Do The Yanks Miss The Boss?

From Ken Davidoff:

A sunflower seeds bucket rested in the middle of the Yankees' clubhouse yesterday, a blemish on the formerly palatial ground that is George M. Steinbrenner Field.

The ceiling had been leaking Friday, a steady drip, drip, drip into that bucket, providing an unwanted harmony to the words of Andy Pettitte and CC Sabathia. The leaking stopped yesterday. But no one moved the bucket.

It made you wonder how George Steinbrenner would've reacted to that stray, dry bucket on the floor if he still were roaming the grounds and instilling fear into everyone in his zip code.

Which made you wonder, too, how much the Yankees could use the old Boss right now as they face the Alex Rodriguez crisis.

"He would've rallied around [A-Rod]," Jorge Posada said yesterday. "He would make him really, really comfortable. He's been like that since I've known him."

He sure made life difficult for everyone. Yet in virtual absentia, Steinbrenner's stature has only grown. It has become painfully apparent that for all of his flaws, he has left an immense void. One that is even more noticeable when the organization is under siege, like right now.

"Those are some big shoes to fill," said Rich Gossage, here as a guest instructor. "There is only one George Steinbrenner, I can tell you that. The current regime, it's going to take a while for the transition to happen."

"I miss Steinbrenner. I miss him walking around," Posada said. "I miss being able to talk to him about baseball, football. Anything.

"It was tough love. You knew that coming in. But you know what? He cared about everybody in here ... You heard little stories about how he'd have them remove the whole carpet [in the clubhouse] because there was a little stain in the middle. Little things like that. He did anything to make us comfortable. He was good at it."

Added Posada, whose son Jorge has overcome craniosynostosis: "He was always the first one to ask me every day, how's my son doing?"

George in his prime would've been livid with A-Rod. Absolutely livid. But then he would've taken a deep breath and appeared at the big news conference Tuesday. Expressing his support. Lending his considerable heft to the proceedings. Taking some heat off A-Rod.

"The problem with George, or the good thing about George - depending on what side of the fence you're on - if you're not as demanding as he is of you, then you're not going to cut it here," Gossage said. "That's all there is to it."

George's micromanaging steered the Yankees into trouble too often. Not at times like these, though. Right now, the team could use the old Boss.

I'll say one thing about his sons that make me optimistic about the future of this team: they are not afraid to spend money like their father did. We learned that real quickly these past two offseasons. Last year it was Posada, Rivera, and A-Rod. This year it was CC, AJ, and Teixeira. So on that end, I think the Yankees will be fine.

But it's the other things that made George Steinbrenner one of a kind. The talks with players like Posada spoke about, the obsession with winning, demanding excellence at every turn, those are the things that made him "The Boss."