Yankees Co-Owner Hank Steinbrenner Dies at 63 from Longstanding Health Issue

New York Yankees co-owner Hank Steinbrenner died Tuesday in Florida. He was 63.

George A. King III and Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported Steinbrenner suffered from a "lengthy illness." MLB Network's Jon Heyman noted it was a "liver issue."

Steinbrenner was named a co-chairperson of the league's most valuable franchise in 2008 along with his brother, Hal Steinbrenner.

They'd taken over daily operations from their father, George Steinbrenner, a year earlier. The family patriarch, who purchased the organization in 1973, died in 2010.

Hank took on a less active role with the Yankees in recent years while shifting focus to different endeavors, including the formation of Steinbrenner Racing with his son, George Michael IV, and the family's horse business in Florida, according to the New York Post.

The eldest son of the outspoken George Steinbrenner, he often took hard-line stances like his father did before giving way to Hal as the face of the organization's leadership.

"Don't put teams in minor markets," he told reporters in 2011 when asked about MLB's revenue-sharing system. "Or don't keep teams in minor markets. ... Communism, socialism, whatever you want to call it, is never the answer."

The comments came in the same interview in which he said Yankees players were "too busy building mansions and doing other things, and not concentrating on winning" during their 2010 title defense.

Pitcher David Wells, who spent four years with the Yanks across two stints, posted condolences on Twitter:

New York hasn't captured a World Series championship since its 2009 triumph.