It all began on Delaware Street in Buffalo, N.Y.

Long before George Steinbrenner purchased the Yankees 50 years ago -- before he made the transition from a shipbuilding executive to the most recognizable team owner in sports; to a visionary who charted the path to seven World Series championships and who literally revolutionized the landscape of the sports business -- he was simply trying to get his foot in the door.

Beginning in the late 1950s, Steinbrenner, whose family and business were based in northern Ohio, found himself spending significant time in Buffalo. Steinbrenner’s role in the American Shipbuilding Company -- which he merged with his family’s Kinsman Marine Transit -- brought him across Lake Erie to western New York on a weekly basis.

Steinbrenner could at times be found enjoying live music at Royal Arms, a well-known establishment in Buffalo’s downtown. It was there that Steinbrenner also forged a lifelong friendship with Max Margulis, who ran the place.

While his dedication to the shipbuilding business was never in question, Steinbrenner had other aspirations. Before he pursued the one goal that he was most passionate about, he partnered with Margulis in the purchase of a restaurant in Buffalo.

Along with Jimmy Naples, another Buffalo restaurateur, Steinbrenner and Margulis bought The Chateau, renamed it the Roundtable and continued its legacy as the place to be in Buffalo.

Yet still, the sports world beckoned. Already a part owner of the Cleveland Pipers of the American Basketball League, Steinbrenner had unsuccessfully tried to purchase the Cleveland Indians. Never one to give up, Steinbrenner remained dogged in his pursuit of a franchise.

“He was a visionary,” said Yankees COO Lonn Trost, who served as outside counsel for the team with the law firm of Shea and Gould and then Herrick, Feinstein for two decades before joining the front office in 1997. “But he also listened, could adapt and understand the extent of what someone might have mentioned to him and was able to run with it.”

Margulis, who would later work for the Yankees prior to his death in 2009, shared with Yankees senior vice president Tony Bruno the story of how the seeds of Steinbrenner’s dream were planted.

“Mr. Steinbrenner found out that the New England Patriots were going to be sold in the early 1970s,” Bruno recalled. “He knew that the Patriots’ owner was going to be attending a sportswriters’ dinner in New York City, and he asked Max how he could get a ticket to the banquet, which was scheduled to take place the following week. Max was so popular, particularly with sports people, that he was able to connect Mr. Steinbrenner with the head of the writers’ association.

“Mr. Steinbrenner went to the dinner with the intent of trying to get an inroad into buying the New England Patriots,” Bruno continued. “When he sat down at the table, the executive that he was trying to engage with from the Patriots just didn’t want to have it. At one point that night, Mr. Steinbrenner turned to the person next to him and said, ‘I came all this way, and I’m just trying to get a word in edgewise about buying his football team, and he won’t pay me any attention.’ That guy -- who turned out to be Yankees president Michael Burke -- said, ‘I don’t know why you want to buy a football team. Why don’t you buy a baseball team? We’re selling the New York Yankees.’”

Years later, during a long drive from Ocala, Fla., where The Boss was purchasing a few racehorses, to the team’s corporate offices and Spring Training facility in Tampa, Steinbrenner expounded upon those early days.

Steinbrenner was able to forge a meeting with CBS, the broadcasting company that owned the once-great team. Prior to 1965 -- the first season under CBS’ stewardship -- the Yankees had won the American League pennant 22 times in 29 seasons. The team then finished at least 15 games out of first place in each of the next seven seasons. From a financial perspective, things were even worse: Fewer than 1 million fans attended Yankee Stadium in 1972, the lowest total since 1945. On top of all that, The House That Ruth Built was in need of major repairs. As a result, the team played its home games at Shea Stadium during the 1974 and 1975 seasons.

Despite the fact that other suitors were willing to put up more money, Steinbrenner still found a way to make a case for himself and the group of investors he was in the process of assembling. As he explained to Bruno, that was not an easy task.

“The way Mr. Steinbrenner told the story was that [legendary CBS chairman] William S. Paley never turned toward him while he was talking,” Bruno said. “Paley just looked out the window the whole time with his back to The Boss. CBS wasn’t confident that Mr. Steinbrenner had the money to purchase the Yankees, and they really pushed him on that. Somehow, without ever looking Paley in the eye, Mr. Steinbrenner convinced him that he did have the money.”

On Jan. 3, 1973, the Yankees were sold to a group led by Steinbrenner for $8.8 million, a deal that included two parking garages worth $1.2 million that were later returned to CBS’ portfolio. The dollar amount was especially remarkable considering that CBS had purchased 80 percent of the team for $11.2 million in November 1964, making the Yankees only the second team since World War II to be sold at a loss.

Steinbrenner, who personally put up $168,000, vowed to do what many thought was impossible: turn the perennial fourth-place Yankees into World Series champions within a few short years.

“George had pride in the team and in being an owner,” said Trost. “Right from the beginning, he wanted to win for the city, for the fans. He was conscious of what the Yankees meant to New York City; that was the utmost thing on his mind.”

With the Yankees set to move into Shea Stadium, Steinbrenner held his first staff meeting in the team’s makeshift offices at the New York City Parks Administration building, located in the shadows of their temporary home. The Yankees’ current director of office administration, Debbie Nicolosi, was part of the front-office staff that first met Steinbrenner that spring.

“There were about 30 people who worked in the entire organization,” Nicolosi said. “He walked into a conference room and introduced himself. He sat on a desk and went around the room and asked everyone their names and what they did in the organization. He explained who he was, and then he said that he valued everyone as employees, but he told us that his money was going to the players on the field. We all kind of looked at each other and laughed.”

Steinbrenner would encounter a major setback prior to making good on his promise to return the Yankees to what they once were. In November 1974, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspended The Boss from running the team for two years -- a term later reduced to 15 months -- after he pled guilty to conspiring to make illegal corporate contributions to President Richard Nixon’s re-election campaign, along with related misdemeanors. Steinbrenner would later be pardoned by President Ronald Reagan in 1989.

Before his suspension had begun, Steinbrenner already started the process of rebuilding the team with trades for All-Stars and future postseason heroes Lou Piniella and Chris Chambliss. Soon after that, the Yankees completed deals for shortstop Bucky Dent and second baseman Willie Randolph.

The advent of free agency in baseball allowed Steinbrenner to prove that his commitment to restoring the franchise was genuine. The Yankees added Cy Young Award winner Catfish Hunter prior to the 1975 season, traded for a few more impactful players over the next year and brought in former second baseman Billy Martin to manage the team.

The Yankees’ 1976 season began at a refurbished Yankee Stadium. Before that campaign was all said and done, more than 2 million fans had come through the turnstiles and the team had won the American League Championship Series, defeating the Kansas City Royals on a thrilling walk-off home run by Chambliss. Although the Cincinnati Reds swept the Yankees in the ’76 World Series, the Bronx Bombers were on the precipice of putting it all together.

“When you think about how bad they were for so long, it was amazing to get where we were that quickly,” Nicolosi said.

In his biggest splash of the decade, Steinbrenner signed free agent Reggie Jackson in November 1976, and the All-Star slugger rewarded him for making a $2.96 million blockbuster commitment. Jackson hit 32 home runs in his first regular season with the team and three more in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. That night represented much more in the Bronx: The Yankees had clinched their first championship in more than a decade, and Steinbrenner had officially kept his promise.

Hal Steinbrenner, the organization’s managing general partner since November 2008 and the youngest of George and Joan Steinbrenner’s four children, was 7 years old when the team first won it all under his father’s leadership. While reflecting on what his father accomplished, the younger Steinbrenner pointed to the characteristic that set The Boss apart from his competitors.

“Nobody worked harder than my dad,” Hal Steinbrenner said. “The team was not doing well when he took over, but he was determined to turn it around. He added a number of significant pieces and was going to do everything he could to make the Yankees the best team in baseball. Within a few short years, it happened. He wasn’t afraid to use the resources he had to win a championship. As a leader -- he was previously a football coach at Northwestern University -- he knew who could lead. Hiring Billy Martin -- who had pluses and minuses like all of us, but who could get players going -- was a brilliant decision. My dad hired the right people in the front office and in the clubhouse, along with bringing in so much talent.”

Among the memories that Hal Steinbrenner holds close to his heart are the moments he spent with his father after all of that hard work had come to fruition.

“I was there in the clubhouse after the final out in 1977,” he said. “There’s a great photo of me, my dad and Billy. There wasn’t a lot of emotion with my dad, but he’s smiling in that picture. He did a lot of things, but he didn’t often smile as a result of watching a baseball game. That picture says it all; it looks like a smile of relief, pride and excitement -- all good things.”

George Steinbrenner didn’t rest on his laurels following his first championship, bringing in free-agent closer Goose Gossage even though the team already had the 1977 AL Cy Young Award winner, Sparky Lyle, in its bullpen.

The Yankees struggled for the first half of the 1978 season, and Steinbrenner fired Martin for the first of five times. Bob Lemon was promoted to the managerial position, and with Yogi Berra also on the coaching staff, the team came back from a 14-game deficit in July to tie the Boston Red Sox at the conclusion of the regular season. In a tiebreaker game at Fenway Park to determine the AL East champion, Dent hit a historic seventh-inning home run, clearing the 37-foot Green Monster and giving the Yankees a lead they would not relinquish that sunny afternoon.

Dent, the eventual World Series MVP, powered the Yankees past the Dodgers in the 1978 Fall Classic, bringing back-to-back championships to the Bronx.

After enduring heartbreak in 1979, when the team’s catcher and inspirational leader, captain Thurman Munson, died in a plane crash, the Yankees returned to the World Series in 1981, this time falling to the Dodgers in six games.

The rest of the decade could best be described as a roller coaster for Steinbrenner and the Yankees. The Boss’ commitment to winning remained firmly intact, evidenced by the acquisitions of superstars Dave Winfield in December 1980 and Rickey Henderson in December 1984. Of even greater significance, Don Mattingly, who was taken in the 19th round of the 1979 Draft, emerged as one of baseball’s best all-around players, winning the AL batting title in 1984 and league MVP honors in 1985.

But championships didn’t follow the stars to the Bronx in the ’80s. With each passing season, Steinbrenner’s patience grew thinner. He hired and fired managers -- most notably Martin and Berra -- and general managers between 1982 and 1990, and the narrative generally cast him as being impulsive and overly demanding. But to those who worked closely with him, the reality was much more positive than the perception.

“He was always good to me,” Nicolosi said. “He was a strong presence, but he was a very compassionate man. If you were loyal to him, he was loyal to you. As rough as he was when he took over the club, he was a gentle giant. He was rough around the edges, but his bark was sometimes bigger than his bite.”

According to senior vice president of marketing Debbie Tymon, who began her tenure with the Yankees in 1985, front-office members who worked closely with The Boss were expected to honor and uphold the team’s rich tradition.

“In every meeting, working on every project, discussing every event and anything that was going to happen in Yankee Stadium, there was a clear understanding that you had to know the history of the franchise leading up to that moment,” Tymon said. “The focus on attention to detail, understanding every aspect of the history of what you were working on, the player history, the Stadium history, that was all important to him.”

Despite not getting back to the World Series during the '80s, Steinbrenner was still able to grow the Yankees’ brand, both in the United States and around the world.

“In terms of the Yankees as a global brand, he had a vision for that growth process before anyone else did,” Tymon said. “He always wanted to have at least five cap days before the All-Star break. He wanted as many caps given out to the fans as possible because he considered the Yankee cap to be a moving billboard. To him, it was more valuable to see Yankees caps -- not just in the ballpark, not just in New York City, but around the country and the world.”

Steinbrenner’s vision for his beloved brand wasn’t limited to in-stadium promotions. In 1988, he spearheaded a 12-year TV deal with MSG Network for $500 million, which, at the time, was unheard of. During the same time frame, long before any other team owner had created a regional sports network with dedicated coverage of their team, Steinbrenner was contemplating that concept.

“I remember being with him in a meeting at the Carlyle Hotel, where he was trying to convince some luminaries, including Bill Shea and Jack Kent Cooke, of the importance of a regional sports network,” Trost said. “It wasn’t the right time yet; the rules of cable and the lack of inventory from a prospective partner made it impossible. But George was the impetus to getting the ball rolling.”

Regardless of whether the team was winning or struggling on the field, Steinbrenner never fell short in his efforts to help others. Based on what was instilled in him at a young age, much of what he did was never known about.

“My father was, without a doubt, one of the most generous people I have ever met,” said general partner Jennifer Steinbrenner Swindal, who serves as the president of the New York Yankees Foundation and the New York Yankees Tampa Foundation. “That was not always known by everyone. The part that I loved the most was his saying, ‘If more than two people know that you have given, then you have done it for the wrong reason.’ That stuck with me forever. There were so many wonderful gestures that he did for people, which we didn’t even know about until after his death. I saw the things that were publicized, but it was so much more than that, things like paying for people’s education and houses. It went on and on, and by watching it growing up, he set the example of giving back.”

“That was his dad’s philosophy,” Hal Steinbrenner said. “If more than two people know about it, it’s not charity. That’s the way my dad lived his life. If you’re out there advertising everything you do for charity, you’re not doing it for the right reason.”

Yankees senior vice president of corporate/community relations Brian Smith began working for the Yankees in 1993. During the first half of his tenure, Smith worked closely with The Boss and quickly learned just how much the local communities meant to Steinbrenner.

“He was someone who had a sincere commitment, not only to generate and provide the resources to establish a great product on the field but also to be a productive neighbor in the community that his organization existed in,” Smith said. “He showed that on an ongoing basis. It wasn’t about the story; it was about making a difference and moving the needle.”

What still stands out to Smith are discussions he had with The Boss about putting things into motion.

“I can’t tell you how many conversations, during work hours, late at night or early in the morning, that we had about our neighbors in the surrounding community,” Smith said. “From disaster relief to fires in the Bronx, Mr. Steinbrenner was committed to being there when individuals were in need. That meant being there for those families, supporting them, providing them with the resources they needed and helping them navigate through trying times. It meant covering funeral expenses and helping people rebuild their lives.”

Case in point: When a local high school football team lost all of its equipment, The Boss quietly went out of his way to save the season.

“I will always remember when St. Michael’s, a school right here in the Bronx, had a fire on their bus, and everything was lost,” Smith said. “Mr. Steinbrenner wanted to help them, and we came up with a plan, not only to replace their equipment but also to make sure that the transportation they had to and from games was at the same level as our ballplayers.”

The darkest time in The Boss’ era came just before the dawn of one of the greatest periods in team history. Following a fifth-place finish in 1989, Steinbrenner was again barred from running the team, this time for his actions involving Winfield that undermined the integrity of his position. The penalty, which was handed down by then-Commissioner Fay Vincent, only allowed Steinbrenner to remain as a limited partner until he returned to the front office on March 1, 1993.

Not long after Steinbrenner’s suspension began, Gene Michael, a former player, coach and manager, was named the team’s general manager. Michael brought a revamped culture to the organization, along with cornerstone players such as Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Paul O’Neill and Jimmy Key. Michael also tabbed Buck Showalter, then the team’s third-base coach, to lead the big club.

Things finally began to turn around in the Bronx, and by the time Steinbrenner returned, it seemed as if the team had a realistic chance to get back to the World Series. Although Jeter, Rivera, Pettitte and Posada had yet to reach the Majors, Steinbrenner quickly took notice of what he had in the pipeline.

“I first met Mr. Steinbrenner when I was 18,” Jeter said. “He used to show up and watch Rookie ball games. I remember him coming out in his turtleneck when it was about 100 degrees down there in Tampa. He was aware that I was the first-round pick, so he came over to introduce himself. I’m not sure that he said, ‘Hello, I’m Mr. Steinbrenner,’ but he introduced himself in his own way.”

Showalter led the Yankees to a second-place finish in 1993. A year later, the Bronx Bombers were in first place with a 70-43 record when a labor strike prematurely ended the 1994 season that August, thus negating any chance the Yankees had of returning to the World Series.

In Mattingly’s final season of 1995, the team captured the first ever AL Wild Card and took a 2-games-to-none lead over Seattle in the best-of-five AL Division Series. Much to the dismay of Steinbrenner, the Mariners stormed back, winning the final three games in the Kingdome.

Brian Cashman, currently in his 26th season as the team’s general manager -- which marks the longest tenure in the game today, and in team history for his position -- was then the Yankees’ assistant GM. It is Cashman’s belief that the public reaction to personnel changes that Steinbrenner made ultimately bolstered the stability and success that the organization had in subsequent years.

“When George came back in 1993, we were building something with Gene Michael and Buck Showalter,” Cashman said. “He was thirsty and hungry when he came back, but the strike took us down in 1994, especially considering that we had the best record in the American League. Getting swept in Seattle after taking a two-game lead in 1995 really impacted George. He was furious, embarrassed and angry, all part of his character. The general manager was out; the manager was not retained.

“The backlash that he got from that experience was so much stronger than anything he had dealt with in the past, and I think that made a major impact on him.”

With Joe Torre in the dugout and Bob Watson now the general manager, the Yankees made it back to the World Series in 1996 for the first time in 15 years. With his team down two games to none against the Braves, Torre famously told Steinbrenner that the Yankees would win three straight in Atlanta and clinch the title in the Bronx.

That’s exactly what they did.

Then, in 1998, the Yankees won more games than any team in history, amassing a 125-50 overall record including a World Series sweep of San Diego. That would be the first of three consecutive championships -- part of a run of four in five years -- for a team built with homegrown talent.

“Once we became so good at delivering, George had more patience and trust in the operation,” said Cashman, who took over for Watson prior to the 1998 season.

“As we came up through the Minors, Mr. Steinbrenner spent money to keep us there,” Jeter said. “We always knew that if we wanted to stay, we needed to win. The Boss was a big part of that; you need to have buy-in from your ownership and a commitment to giving the organization a chance to win every year. He did that.”

By the end of the century, Steinbrenner’s popularity was at an all-time high, and his fame had begun to transcend baseball. He hosted Saturday Night Live in 1990, and he was portrayed in the iconic TV comedy Seinfeld as an exaggerated and hilarious version of himself.

Having recently signed a $100 million sponsorship deal with Adidas, and with exponential growth of the Yankees brand and business on his mind, Steinbrenner hired Randy Levine in 2000. Before he was named president of the Yankees, Levine served as New York City’s deputy mayor for economic development, planning and administration. He also served as the city’s labor commissioner.

“George came to me and said, ‘I have a great baseball team, but I need to build a sports and entertainment company,’” Levine said. “He knew what he didn’t know, but he asked me to work with him to do it. We had great people in place -- Hal Steinbrenner, Lonn Trost, Steve Swindal, Andy Rey, Mark Tate, Norman Stallings and Tony Bruno -- and we all did it.”

The first major accomplishment was the establishment of the YES Network, the most-watched regional sports network in the United States. Launched in 2002, the YES Network, which reportedly generated more than $600 million in revenue last year, has become the gold standard for RSNs.

“It was a tough battle,” said Levine, a principal founder of YES. “But it was visionary.”

After decades of hard work leading to a deal that worked for the city, state and team and that had ideal infrastructure in place, the Yankees began building a new state-of-the-art home across the street from the team’s historic ballpark.

With Steinbrenner on hand in 2006, the team broke ground on the current stadium, a venue that not only serves as the Yankees’ home but has also hosted soccer matches, hockey games, concerts and the annual Pinstripe Bowl, a nationally televised college football bowl game.

“Honestly, it took a lot of convincing of George to stay in the Bronx,” Levine said. “But once he decided to do so, he was all in. He basically told me and Lonn, Hal and Steve, that if we were going to do this, we were going to create the best stadium that had ever been built. So, we re-created the original 1923 stadium, and he spared no expenses. It was $1.6 billion. Back then, there was no stadium that was even close to that amount. At the end of the day, what I remember most is him saying, ‘Go do it, but it better be absolutely great.’”

Before the Yankees took their new field for the first time on Opening Day 2009, the team’s brass founded Legends Hospitality in conjunction with the Dallas Cowboys. The global premium experiences company delivers holistic solutions for legendary brands in the sports, music and entertainment industry.

Recently valued at $1.35 billion, Legends operates within a diverse group of venues including Yankee Stadium, AT&T Stadium, One World Observatory, SoFi Stadium and the University of Notre Dame. The company also has partnerships with renowned properties such as the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the Professional Golfers’ Association of America, NASCAR and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

“It was one thing after another, and none of them could have been done without George’s support financially, intellectually and emotionally,” Levine said. “He pushed us, and he backed us when things got really difficult, as they always do. He never wavered.”

With several of the core players from the late ’90s still on the roster, the Yankees -- now under the stewardship of Hal Steinbrenner -- made it back to the top in 2009, defeating the Phillies in the Fall Classic. That championship, which followed AL pennants in 2001 and 2003, would be George Steinbrenner’s last. He died less than a year after the final out was made, on July 13, 2010, nine days after his 80th birthday.

“He was a massive competitor,” Cashman said. “Uber competitor. He woke up every day looking to take ground from an opponent, whether that was on the baseball field or in business. He was a conqueror, and he acted that way.”

“George was the greatest owner in professional sports,” Levine said. “He was the benchmark in so many ways, both on the field and off the field. All of the things that the Yankees were on the field and commercially were really done through his will.”

Steinbrenner’s children -- and several of his grandchildren, who are now part of the Yankees organization -- have upheld his legacy in every way. His youngest daughter, Jessica, has served as general partner for the last 14 seasons. Additionally, she has remained dedicated to the family’s horse farm in Florida, enabling her siblings to focus on the baseball team.

“Our family is proud to continue the Yankees’ legacy in much the same way as my dad,” Jessica Steinbrenner said. “He found a way to put the best team on the field, and he rebuilt the brand, and that’s what we are carrying forward.”

The Boss’ oldest son, Hank -- who passed away in 2020 at age 63 -- held the title of general partner and co-chairperson for more than a decade, working with his younger brother on every aspect of the team’s business and baseball operations.

“Hank had a love of baseball,” Hal Steinbrenner said. “He knew every player in the game. He knew far more about the game itself than I probably ever will. He certainly taught me a lot about the game and how to do this job effectively.”

The Yankees’ current managing general partner may be humble, and he may be mild mannered compared to his father. But to those in the front-office trenches with him, those characteristics don’t paint the whole picture.

“Hal likes to operate a lot quieter than his dad did, but their passion for winning is the same,” Bruno said. “I have had the chance to spend a lot of time with Hal during playoff games and pennant races, and he really carries that passion. He goes about it a different way than his dad did, but he has that same desire.”

“Hal’s commitment level is exceptional,” Cashman said. “His dedication to having a playoff-contending team and delivering that on a year in and year out basis seems to be second to none. Strength and stability are two words that describe what he’s been.”

To this point, Steinbrenner’s tenure has been highlighted by the 2009 World Series championship. While not garnering as many headlines, the Yankees have also posted a winning record in every season since he took the reins in November 2008 and have made it to the postseason in 11 of his first 14 campaigns.

An example of Steinbrenner’s commitment to winning and his all-in mentality came recently. After breaking the American League record with 62 home runs, Aaron Judge entered free agency. It was well publicized that the Yankees wanted Judge to remain in pinstripes and that losing the homegrown MVP would have been devastating.

“Owners hire general managers to do the heavy lifting,” Cashman said. “But there are unique circumstances that necessitate ownership’s involvement. When you’re dealing with the type of contract that Aaron was going to demand, it’s a partnership. I shared with Hal early on that he was going to have to be heavily involved in this. Aaron is a franchise player, and he was going to be courted by every team under the sun at the highest level, and we were going to have to match that. He was going to want to hear the messaging not through me but directly from our owner. Hal was completely on board.”

From a private meeting with Judge at his home soon after the 2022 season ended to a middle-of-the-night phone call to the slugger as he mulled over a competitive offer from the San Francisco Giants, Steinbrenner left no stone unturned. At the end of the saga, Judge signed a nine-year deal with the Yankees.

“What the Steinbrenner family has built here is something special,” Judge said. “[Hal] wants to continue to build on that legacy.”

George Steinbrenner would certainly be proud of his son’s approach to the Judge negotiations, and he would be equally as prideful in what his organization has done in local communities over the last decade.

With Jennifer Steinbrenner Swindal leading the charge, the team’s impact in the Bronx and Tampa -- and in many other areas -- is as strong as ever. From large-scale donations to the Food Bank for NYC, to strengthening the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay and the Bronx, the organization’s outreach is wide ranging.

“With the foundation, we’re making it happen in our communities,” Steinbrenner Swindal said. “We’re getting money to people most in need with the Tampa Foundation and in New York City. We have made a huge impact with children, and that means a lot to me. The organizations we work with can depend on us.”

Steinbrenner Swindal also supervises a series of holiday concerts in Tampa that have been a tradition for more than three decades, and in recent years, she has been instrumental in the development of the Bronx Winter Wonderland event, complete with music, food and a present for each child in attendance.

The dream that was fueled by George Steinbrenner’s passion for sports and was born in a Buffalo, N.Y., restaurant has now reached its golden anniversary. Encompassed by Yankee Global Enterprises, the once struggling team and its related businesses -- which also include investments in the Italian Serie A club AC Milan and the 2021 MLS Cup champion New York City Football Club -- are worth approximately $7 billion today.

With all that has happened during the Steinbrenner era, there are but a few reminders of just how fast the five decades have flown by. One of them is a precious document, still in pristine condition. Sitting at his desk inside Yankee Stadium, Trost recently retrieved the official purchase agreement from CBS.

“All of us who have had the opportunity and privilege to work for George Steinbrenner and the Steinbrenner family -- Hank, Jenny, Jessica and Hal, the Yankees managing general partner -- are and continue to be honored to have worked for a family that has had the foresight and passion to carry on the historic and continued legacy of the New York Yankees,” Trost said.

The document’s final page was signed on the day in 1973 that George Steinbrenner became The Boss, and the Yankees began their return to glory.