July 13: What You Missed

THE LEAD:

New York Yankees principal owner George Steinbrenner died today, at the age of 80, after suffering a major heart attack. Since buying a share of the team in 1973, Steinbrenner’s Yankees have won seven World Series titles, 11 American League pennants, and 16 division titles.

The Mariners, in the meantime, have won exactly three division titles since they entered the league in 1977.

One is left to wonder whether an outspoken owner such as Steinbrenner or Mark Cuban, who attempted to buy the Cubs in 2008, could bring greater success to the club in Seattle.

For now, the Mariners remain one of only three franchises yet to appear in the World Series, being joined by the Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals.

ON A LIGHTER NOTE:

Today is Chris and Melanie Egan’s 14-year anniversary. Taking full advantage of his opportunity to fill in for the “Go 2 Guy” this week, Chris called upon Kevin Calabro to use his pull to get him a table at Asado, a swanky Argentinean steak house in Tacoma.

Click here to listen to Kevin’s phone conversation with Asado maitre d’ Wayne.

IN OTHER NEWS:

The passing of George Steinbrenner got us thinking about the ownership of Seattle’s franchises. We asked John Clayton during his daily segment how Seahawks owner Paul Allen stacks up against his peers. Clayton also filled us in on some of the major story lines to watch for during training camp.

On where Paul Allen ranks amongst NFL owners:
I think he has to stack up somewhere in the top 10. Is he aggressive? No. He basically lets the people run this team, but also he gives any resource they want and he treats everyone in a first class manner. In a lot of ways George Steinbrenner- his successes were meddling; his failures were meddling. … In the case of Paul Allen, he’s the benevolent owner. … That’s a great way to run the franchise.

On whether there’s a chance Tom Brady will hold out:
I think he can. That’s one of the things I know he’s thinking about. He’s not tipping his hand one way or another. … This could be the biggest story of the summer, because he is Mr. New England, he is the Patriots. If he decides to hold out a lot of bad things can happen to the organization; a lot of bad things can happen in the locker room. That’s why in the end I don’t think he will hold out.

On what the Bills plan to do with Marshawn Lynch:
They’re still pretty firm in asking for a four [-th round pick] or something better, but as camp goes on they may be willing to do something less. So it looks like they will go into camp, see how he does the first couple weeks, see if they get any injury. … I don’t see a Lynch trade before the end of August, but I do think there’s a decent chance they could trade him because I don’t think they want him.