Steinbrenner loomed large before monument

Contrary to the public’s perception, George Steinbrenner’s ego was not nearly as big as the oversized 760-pound structure now crowding Monument Park in Yankee Stadium.  Steinbrenner obviously dreamed big for his team, but not necessarily for himself.
 

He could have lived in a castle, but did not. His home in Tampa Bay is nice, but it is not what one would envision for a billionaire. He could have owned the hotel he stayed in when visiting New York, but he did not. His suite was expensive by the everyman standard, but it was not ostentatious. He answered his own phone. I know because he often took calls from reporters who covered his team in the in the 1970s and 80s. 

He was not Trump-like by any means. Steinbrenner was, if there is such a thing, a modest millionaire when spending on himself.  His riches were largely spent on baseball championships. His palace was Yankee Stadium.  He was, to be sure, a take-charge individual. That is quite different from being egotistical.
 

Steinbrenner could have been driven around in a stretch limousine, he was not. It was a  Lincoln town car that any other successful businessman could be seen in around Manhattan. In later years, Steinbrenner traveled in an SUV to accommodate his wheel chair.
 

Steinbrenner was perceived as a look at me type of individual, but in reality was not. He never wanted publicity for his charitable endeavors. He was famous for his anonymity in that area.       
 

All of this is to say that Steinbrenner probably would have been embarrassed by the 7-by-5-foot monument put in place just two months after his passing.
 

What is missing in the oversized tribute is perspective. What came before Steinbrenner has now been dwarfed: Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, DiMaggio.
 

 And what about the generations to come? Unless the baseball world is coming to an end, Steinbrenner's ownership is not the final word on Yankee history. There will be other great eras in the team’s history and how will those periods be celebrated?
 

Time erodes what is important today. Newer, bigger and greater events come along.  Jake Ruppert was the Steinbrenner of his time. His name is in Yankee lore, but not in the public consciousness. A modest plaque is all he warranted.

Believe it or not, in future lifetimes, the same sands of time will be cast over the Steinbrenner era, no matter the size of his monument.   
 

There’s a great argument to be made that if anyone should have an oversized monument, it should have been Ruth. The Yankees’ fabled history does not exist without him; it would have if not for Steinbrenner's ownership. And don't think he did not realize  that.
 

Perhaps the Steinbrenner family, with the sycophantic support of some Yankee brass, rushed to an emotional judgement in honoring the Boss. Time will tell.

steven.marcus@newsday.com