Healy remembers Steinbrenner 'good for baseball'


Fran Healy

July 26, 2010

By Chris Maza

Reminder Assistant Editor

HOLYOKE -- Fran Healy is a baseball guy. He thinks George Steinbrenner was, too.

Many who grew up in Western Massachusetts would refer to Steinbrenner with disdain but not Healy, a Holyoke native.

Healy, who now spends time in both Holyoke and Madison, Conn., played for the New York Yankees under Steinbrenner's ownership from 1976 to 1978, backing up Thurman Munson at catcher.

Since retiring, Healy, a former Holyoke Community College student and American International College alum, has worked in New York as a television play-by-play announcer and analyst for the Mets and now hosts two shows for the Madison Square Garden (MSG) Network. Over his team in the Big Apple, Steinbrenner made a big impression on him.

"I've had a lot of dealings with him over the years and a lot of them are private moments that I can't share," Healy said. "But I definitely have a lot of feelings for George. He was an interesting character."

Steinbrenner is credited by many for changing the face of baseball, including being associated with the beginning of free agency in sports as we know it. Steinbrenner was known for his lavish spending on high-profile athletes, starting with Dave Winfield, whose 10-year, $23 million contract in 1980 broke all salary records in baseball.

The Yankees boast the sport's highest payroll, this season committing $206.3 million to its players on Opening Day, according to Major League Baseball (MLB) The Boston Red Sox were second with $162.4 million.

But on top of big spending, according to Healy, Steinbrenner brought a different attitude for the sport.

"I thought George Steinbrenner was great for baseball. He was great for the Yankees and he was good for baseball because he brought a pizzazz off the field," Healy said. "You never knew what he was going to do. He wasn't afraid to show his feelings."

Joining the team in May of 1976 in a trade from the Kansas City Royals, Healy found himself in an unusual situation.

In 1976, Steinbrenner had just been reinstated by MLB after a 15-month suspension after pleading guilty on a conspiracy to make illegal contributions to Richard Nixon's campaign. That year, the Yankees went on to win its first pennant since 1964.

In 1977, Reggie Jackson joined the Yankees and despite feuds between manager Billy Martin, Jackson and Steinbrenner, they won the World Series title in 1977.

Healy called the situation a "baseball soap opera," but one that didn't interfere with success as feuds often do. It was Steinbrenner's "win now" attitude that kept the players focused.

"You wanted to win in San Francisco and Kansas City and the manager wanted you to win, of course. In New York, the owner wanted you to win and he made everyone aware of it," Healy said. "It's tough to define because it's in the abstract. You have to live it. In New York there was no let down. It's a long season and a lot of times at some point you suffer a let down. Not in New York. In New York you were in a fever pitch everyday."

"It was baseball with an edge. You would go to the ballpark every day in New York and it would just kick-start your nervous system," he added.

According to Healy, Steinbrenner never forgot his roots, including his connection to Western Massachusetts. Steinbrenner was a 1952 graduate of Williams College and often reminisced with Healy about the area.

"He was very familiar with the western part of the state," Healy said. "He used to tell me about how he used to hang out in Northampton when he went to Williams. He also knew Amherst very well from his college days."

Healy was released by the Yankees in 1978, but he recalled at time when Steinbrenner was interested in bringing him back. In order to make the arrangements as easy as possible to Healy, Steinbrenner offered to set up a workout at Amherst College in front of a team scout, offering to put them both up at the Lord Jeffery Inn in Amherst. Healy broke his arm shortly beforehand and the workout never happened.

Healy noted that this kind of relationship with former players was not uncommon for Steinbrenner.

"When guys got out of baseball, he brought a lot of them back, whether it be at camps, special events or anything else," Healy said. "At the fantasy camps in Tampa [Fla.], even when he got sick, guys would always go up to his office just to say hi."

But the relationship that stands out more than any in Healy's mind is Steinbrenner's relationship with the team's supporters.

"One of the things he had was an extreme sensitivity to the fans," Healy said. "He wanted to win as soon as he bought the Yankees because that's what he knew the fans wanted. I believe his kids will carry on the same tradition. There's nothing like the Yankees organization as far as baseball is concerned. All players in baseball realize that, not just Yankee players."

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