Hank "the Tank" Steinbrenner Emulates Daddy By Ripping $200M Club

Frank Giancana — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:44:35 -0400

Hank Steinbrenner once again proved that he is his father's son, ripping the Yankees on Wednesday night after their 11-3 loss to the Red Sox.

"The bottom line is, they sucked."

This marked only the second home game that Steinbrenner has attended this season, and he expressed his extreme displeasure in what he witnessed during a brief interview on his way out.

Mere minutes after the blowout loss was official, Steinbrenner emerged with various family members and security guards, stopped by the parking lot and said: "It's very disappointing."

Told that this was the type of loss his father would have gone bonkers about as recently as a couple years ago, Steinbrenner waited for the question to finish, nodded and said: "Even without having our two best pitchers, so forth and so on, they still stunk. That's the bottom line."

He remained calm and composed as he spoke, not even coming close to raising his voice.

Asked if he thought this loss means the Yankees won't be making the playoffs for a 14th straight season, Steinbrenner refused to rule out a miracle. But he made it clear with his words that he isn't exactly expecting one.

"I don't know," Steinbrenner said when asked if the Yankees are done. "All I can think about is this game at this point. We'll see what happens tomorrow."

This was the point when he issued the walk-off line that would make his father proud, saying, "The bottom line is, they sucked."

Just an hour earlier, Steinbrenner didn't seem all that concerned. As the Red Sox took a 4-2 lead into the seventh, he took a smoke break in the parking lot and was seen laughing heartily with two other men in suits.

But the Red Sox added seven runs in the eighth inning, and that apparently changed Steinbrenner's tone enough to rip his $200-million team as he left.

Before the game, Steinbrenner vowed a busy offseason after this disappointing season, saying, "There's going to be a lot going on this offseason. I promise you that."

Other than that, though, Steinbrenner mostly used his platform with reporters before the game to back Alex Rodriguez, who was coming off an 0-for-5 game. Steinbrenner said Rodriguez has, "just got to stop pressing, that's all," and then added, "He's going to be fine in the playoffs, if we make it."

A few hours later, the playoffs were the furthest thing from Steinbrenner's mind.

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Hank "the Tank" Steinbrenner Emulates Daddy By Ripping $200M Club