The Best Idea Yet - ⚾️ New York Yankees: Rise of the Bronx Bombers | 47

Episode Date: September 2, 2025

In the spring of 1903, the NYC subway wasn’t yet open… the Wright Brothers hadn’t yet taken their epic flight… and the New York Yankees were not yet the Yankees. They were the Highlanders: a group of unremarkable transplants from Baltimore, their future not guaranteed. But through determination—and some old-style political maneuvering— the Highlanders clung on as the Big Apple’s third-best baseball team. Then, with a single trade, the fate of the Yanks and Major League Baseball changed forever: the Red Sox dealt Babe Ruth to New York. The Babe helped elevate the Yanks from worst to first, putting them on a path to win 27 World Series rings and becoming the winningest team in American pro sports. But along the way, a big-mouthed big spender named George Steinbrenner remade the Yankees in the free agency era… and happened to transform the way we broadcast sports in the process. Start spreading the news… here’s why the New York Yankees is the best idea yet.Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at https://wondery.fm/wonderynewsletterFollow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting www.wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/ now. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to the best idea yet early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts. Jack, you know Molly and I were just in Paris, and we started counting the number of Yankees hats we saw. I mean, Paris isn't really baseball country, but go on. It's not, Jack, but then you notice like there's a guy selling knockoff handbook. bags on the Sen, and he's wearing a Yankees cap. Or like, there's a dude in some men's boutique in the moray, and he's wearing a Yankees hat. So you want to know what kind of numbers we saw

after the end of day one? Eighteen Yankees hats in Paris, and I think only three of them actually knew about the team. The Yankees hat is everywhere in the world. The New York Times reported that, anecdotally, nine out of ten hats sold at a Brazilian New Era's store were Yankees hats. ESPN has reported Yankees hat sightings all the way from Reykavik Iceland to Dubai to Russia to Shanghai. And in both of those stories, it's noted that the wearers of the Yankees caps seem to think that the NY meant America. They had no idea the cap was even related to baseball. But we know that this cap means baseball. And of course, it means a team very close to Knicks and my hearts. We're talking about the Bronx bombers, the pinstripes. The New York Yankees.

Curtis is there. Curtis makes the catch. Ball game over. World Series over. Yankees win. The Yankees win. That clip gives me chills. Obviously, the Yankees are more than just a team, man. They're a media company. They're a fashion statement. They're the pride of New York City. But this quintessentially New York franchise actually got its start in Baltimore. With 26, World Series wins in their 122 years, the Yankees don't just have the most championships in baseball. They have the most championships in major American professional sports. Thanks to players that would become household names like Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle. It's why the Yankees are beloved by millions of Americans and non-Americans alike. Their home is the

Bronx, but their market is the world. But Yeties, that dominating win percentage in those 27 championships, That's also why they're hated by millions of people and not just Bostonians living near that sicko sign outside Fenway Park. Our producer, Chris, is from Massachusetts. He's refused to be present during the recording of this episode. Hey, Chris, the Yankees have a green monster too. It's called record profits. But incredibly, before the Yankees got any of those 27 rings,

the team almost fizzled out before they even got started. That is, until a single earth-shattering trade changed their fate, and created a dynasty. I give you Babe Ruth. So in addition to telling you how the Yankees began, we're going to focus on two inflection points that help the Yankees transform from zeros to heroes. First is the curse of the Bambino,

and later, the controversial of the unforgettable ownership by the boss, Mr. George Steinbrenner. This guy ran the Yankees like a Fortune 500, boosting their revenue from millions to billions and turning those pinstripes into profits. Plus, we'll reveal why an entrepreneur can learn from the Yankees, Yankees relentless recruitment strategies, and how brand rivalries are your cheap code to a strong business. And why the New York City subway almost killed the Yankees, but Tiffany's jewelers made

them sparkle. So Nick, start spreading the news. Batter up. Here is why the New York Yankees is the best idea yet. From Wondery and T-Boy, I'm Nick Martel. And I'm Jack Kravici Kramer. And this, is the best idea yet. The untold origin stories of the products you're obsessed with and the bold risk takers who made them go viral. I got that feeling again. Something familiar but new.

We got it coming to you. I got that feeling again. They changed the game in one move. Here's how they broke all the room. Welcome aboard via rail. Please sit and enjoy. Please sit and sip. Play.

Post. Taste. View and enjoy. Via rail, love the way. What if I told you that the crime of the century is happening right now? From coast to coast, people are fleeing flames, wind, and water. Nature is telling us. I can't take this anymore.

These are the stories we need to be telling us. about our changing planet. Stories of scams, murders, and cover-ups, and the things we're doing to either protect the Earth or destroy it. This is Lawless Planet. Follow Lawless Planet on the Wondry app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Nick, is there a sweeter day for baseball fans than opening day? You stroll into the ballpark and breathe in the scent of roasted peanuts and freshly popped popcorn. The outfield is. is immaculate, and as you take your seats near the first baseline, you think there is no place I would rather be. On opening day, your team has a perfect record, nothing and nothing. It's the

first game of the year, and every swing of the bat is full of possibilities. But for New York baseball fans, this opening day, April 22nd, 1903, really is a new beginning, because today, a brand new team called the New York Highlanders is taking the field for the very first time. Now, besties, if you're wondering who in the name of Don Mattingly are the New York Highlanders? Well, surprise, the Yankees aren't called the Yankees yet, but they are New York's newly formed American League team. Technically, the club isn't fully brand new. One season earlier, they were down in Baltimore and called the Orioles, and they were a mess with a losing record and looming financial debts. That is, until a pair of investors from New York City got together

$18,000 to purchase the bankrupt Orioles, load them up with fresh talent, and ship them up north to New York. Now, the guys who put up the cash for the sale are the underbelly of New York politics, a corrupt police commissioner named Big Bill Devery,

and a saloon and gambling hall owner named Frank J. Farrell. Sounds like the setup for an episode of Boardwalk Empire. More about Frank and Bill in a bit. But for now, they're just the money guys behind the scenes. The real brains of operation, the man obsessed with getting an American League team to the Big Apple, is a jolly fellow

with tiny glasses at a huge competitive streak. His name is Ban Johnson. At this moment, in 1903, you could say that Ban Johnson is the most determined man in baseball, because he is the founder and president of the newly established American League. If you follow baseball, you already know the majors consist of both the National League and American League, the NL and the A.O. And every year, the winners of each league face off in the World Series. These days, the two leagues are more or less on equal footing. But in 1903, the difference between these two leagues is huge. First, the National League is older by a quarter century.

Some of these National League teams have names we all recognize today, like the Chicago Cubs or the Pittsburgh Pirates. Other National League teams have since been lost to history. Like, do you recall the Louville Colonels or the Cleveland Spiders? I love the spider's for a baseball team. I mean, you can't bring a kid to the game with arachnophobia. It's a huge problem. The American League forms in 1901, making them sort of like the National League's puny kid brother.

Now, Ban Johnson is not satisfied with the state of affairs. So, he starts a bunch of American League teams in Boston, Philadelphia, St. Louis, basically all the cities that already have a National League team. He's setting up on their turf. He's Lowe's, and he's coming after Home Depot. And once he's infiltrated their territory, Van creates a marketing push to distinguish the leagues by temperament. He paints the National League as a rowdy and crooked group

full of drunken slabs fighting in the stands during the games. Whereas the new AL is family-friendly, where you can take your kid to the ballpark on a Saturday afternoon without a beer falling into his lap. And to further entice these families to come out, Ben helps American League team owners poach players from the National League by ignoring the NL's salary cap of $2,400 per player. Ban says no cap, literally.

Without a salary cap, some of the NL's biggest stars defect to the AOL for the promise of a bigger payday. You even saw the great pitcher Sai Young, who is such a good pitcher that Major League Baseball eventually names its top pitching award after him, he switches leagues. So, add it all up, and with a growing presence and a growing roster of stars, the American League starts outscoring the National League

where it counts at the ticket counter. In 1902, over half a million more fans come to A-L games than N-L games. Basically, BAN's strategy is working. But BAN is not done. He knows that for his league to be considered a true rival, it needs a presence in America's biggest city. Ben Johnson has his heart set on installing an American League team in New York City. But there's a problem.

Yeah, you see, New York already has two well-established National League baseball teams, the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Baseball Club, better known as the Dodgers. Ben says, forget about it. In 1903, New York is by far the biggest city in the country. So Ben figures there's room for a third ball club in America's largest metron. But you know who doesn't think so? That would be the owner of the New York Giants, a man with a bushy black mustache, a barrel chest,

and a lot of power named Andrew Friedman. Technically, he's the former owner. He sold his stake right before the story begins. Still, Friedman is not about to let some American League team come in and poach spectators and players from his beloved New York Giants. And he has the power to make life difficult for whoever tries. Because in addition to being the Giants' biggest fan, Andrew Friedman also happens to be one of the chief directors of a new enterprise called the IRT,

or Interboro Rapid Transit System, aka the New York City Subway. In 1903, the New York subway is not finished yet. I think it's still not finished, Jack. But back then, Nick, there's no A-train, there's no turnstiles, there's no... Stand clear of the closing doors! New York City Transit is all above ground at the... this point. It's basically a mess of electric cable cars fighting for space with the humble horse and buggy. But subway construction is well underway, which means any parcel of land

Andrew Friedman says is important to the subway, can't be touched by anyone else, especially Ban Johnson. Ban, you're banned from using that land. For months, whenever Ban tries to lease some land for his new American League ballpark, Friedman's like, oh no, sorry, we need that land for the five train. And this is where those shady characters from earlier come in handy. The corrupt cop, Big Bill Devery, and the gambling hall owner, Frank Farrell. They're about to fight corruption with corruption. Desperate to get an AL team to New York by any means necessary,

Ben Johnson brokers a deal with these guys to pay the upfront cost for the team, $18,000, or about $650,000 today. Bill and Frank also agreed to take on the real cost, which is pulling the levers of power in the New York political scene to find this team a home for their new ballpark. So, through an intermediary, they find a plot of land, their nemesis, Andrew Friedman, has overlooked. It's called Hilltop Park,

right over on West 168th Street and 11th Avenue in Manhattan, way up at the skinny top part of the island, kind of where the George Washington bridge is today. The tough, rocky land up there happens to be one of the highest points in the city. It costs 15 times the sale price of the team itself just to level hilltop. Park and construct a baseball field and a grandstand.

In fact, the ballpark isn't even finished when the Yankees play their first home game there on April 30th, 1903. But under construction or not, New York's new American League team finally has a home. And their home actually explains their name. They're called the New York Highlanders for the high altitude of Hilltop Park. And this might still be the team's name today, except for one small but influential group. York sports writers. Highlanders is a lot of letters to squeeze onto a narrow sports column of a newspaper. So right away, a few stringers give the Highlanders a nickname. Something shorter,

punchier, and geographical. The Yankees. Now, Jack, I thought Yankees just meant American like Yankee doodle. Well, this is the American League team in New York, but it also does mean someone from the Northeast. Ironically, Yankee has classically meant somebody from New England. like a Bostonian. But don't tell the sports writers that. Either way, the name Yankees just kind of emerges out of convenience, but it sticks. And by 1913, no one's calling them the Highlanders anymore.

There's no press release, no official declaration. Society just collectively agrees the Yankees nickname is forever. And actually, Nick, this spontaneous acceptance of a nickname is exactly what happens to the next person, stepping up to the plate in our story. He happens to be the most famous Yankee ever, the one who will save the franchise, George Herman Ruth Jr. But you can just call him the babe. It's your man, Nick Cannon, and I'm here to bring you my new podcast, Nick Cannon at night.

I've heard y'all been needing some advice in the love department. So who better to help than yours truly? Now, I'm serious. Every week, I'm bringing out some of my celebrity friends and the best experts in the business to answer your most intimate relationship questions. Having problems with your man? We got you. Catching feelings for your sneaky link?

Let's make sure it's the real deal first. Ready to bring toys into the bedroom? Let's talk about it. Consider this a non-judgment zone to ask your questions when it comes to sex and modern dating in relationships, friendships, situationships, and everything in between.

It's going to be sexy, freaky, messy, and you know what? You'll just have to watch this show. So don't be shy. Join the conversation and head over to YouTube to watch Nick Cannon at night or subscribe on the Wondery app

or wherever you get your podcast. Want to watch episodes early and ad-free? Join Wondery Plus right now. How hard is it to kill a planet? Maybe all it takes is a little drilling, some mining, and a whole lot of carbon pumped into the atmosphere. When you see what's left,

it starts to look like a crime scene. Are we really safe? Is our water safe? You destroyed our time. And crimes like that, they don't just happen. We call things accidents, there is no accident. This was 100% preventable. They're the result of choices by people, ruthless oil tycoons, corrupt politicians, even organized crime. These are the stories we need to be telling about our changing planet.

Stories of scams, murders, and cover-ups that are about us. And the things we're doing to either protect the Earth or destroy it. Follow Lawless Planet on the Wondry app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes of Lawless Planet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondry Plus in the Wondry app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. So even if you don't follow baseball and you think a pop fly is a dance move, you've probably still heard of Babe Ruth. Seven-time World Series champion, 12-time home run leader.

He still holds the record for highest slugging. percentage to this day. Babe can pitch, he can hit, he can obliterate home run records, and unlike today's superhuman athletes, the Babe did it all right after chomping down on a thick cigar between the sixth and seventh innings. Let's have the kids from the sandlot explain it further. The Sultan of Swat. The King of Crash. The Colossus of Clout. Babe Ruth! The Grey Bambino! Now there had been star players in baseball before. for Babe. But none captured the imagination of fans or their concessions dollars quite like the Great Bambino. Babe's arrival on the Yankees takes the team from seller dwellers to the very

pinnacle of success. And the revenue he generates will pour the foundation for the Yankees' permanent home in the Bronx, Yankee Stadium, aka the house that Ruth built. But Jack, this amazing transformation almost didn't happen. Because before he was ever a Yankee, Babe Ruth started. started out as a Boston Red Sock. Maybe we need to go back to the beginning. Just like the Yankees themselves, George Herman Ruth Jr. was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He lives with his family above his father's saloon in a neighborhood called Pig Town. Charming.

On certain mornings, he sees actual pigs in the streets as they trudge from the stockyards to the slaughterhouse. The family calls the boy Little George, even though he's huge, with a wide face and a massive Noggin. But George is a troubled kid with an appetite for mischief and no stomach for school. One day his father catches his seven-year-old son stealing a dollar from the bar's cash register, so George Sr. whips him. Little George's response, he goes back and swipes more bills. So it's no surprise that he finds himself shipped off to a Catholic school. St. Mary's Industrial School for orphans, delinquent, incorrigible, and wayward boys. That name is straight out of a

old doll story. But little George being wayward turns out to be the best thing to happen to baseball since the stolen base. Because at St. Mary's, George Jr. discovers his talent for the game. He can hit, he can play the outfield, and he can pitch. So it's not

really a surprise when... As one version of the story goes, he's spotted at one of his school games by a minor league owner and talent scout named Jack Dunn. Ruth only works out for 30 minutes before Dunn signs him to a minor league contract. But here's the issue. Since Ruth is still a teenager when he signs, his guardianship has to transfer from the orphanage to his manager. So Jack Dunn

temporarily adopts George Herman Ruth Jr. as an 18-year-old. That's why the guys on the team start referring to him as Dunn's new babe. And thus another nickname for the ages, Babe Ruth is born. It's only four months before Babe Ruth gets called up from the minors to the big leagues in July 1914. He's 19 years old, six foot two inches, and looks more like a bouncer than a ball player. But there he is, a south-paw starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. And in his major league debut at Fenway Park, the Babe pitches seven innings, giving up only two earned runs and he defeats Cleveland, four to three. Over the course of five and a half seasons,

Babe Ruth leads the Red Sox to three World Series championships. and he wins almost 90 games as a pitcher. But here's the key. Unlike nearly every pro pitcher, Babe can also hit the ball. Baseball players tend to have to choose a path early in their career. Am I going to be a pitcher or am I going to be a batter? But not babe.

In fact, he gets frustrated that as a pitcher, he's only playing every few games. So he convinces the socks to let him play as an outfielder on his off days. And playing both ways works. Just one year into this arrangement, he breaks the home run record with 29 dingers in a single season.

For Red Sox fans, this is thrilling. Their star pitcher is now their star batter. The Babe is Shohei Otani 100 years before Show Hey Otani. And it's paying off for the whole team. The Babe leads the Boston Red Sox to glory. While down in New York, the Yankees are barely treading water. They've won zero World Series

since the AL versus NL Championship began in 1903. In fact, they haven't even appeared at the World Series, while the Boston Red Sox have won three at the last four of them. And not only are the Yanks fallen short against Boston, they're also lagging behind the crosstown rivals, the New York Giants. You know, the team whose owner used subway blueprints

to try to box them out? Those same giants have been to the big show five times, winning it once. The Yankees' previous owners, Bill Debray and Frank Farrell, have since sold the team to some new guys for less than a half a mill. Which, when you figure it cost almost $300,000 just to build Hilltop Park, owning the Yankees delivered a pretty poor ROI for these guys.

And they aren't even playing at Hilltop Park anymore. Turns out, watching baseball at the highest and windiest point in New York City was not exactly a draw for the fans. Instead, the Yanks are now sharing the giant stadium, the polo grounds up near the Harlem River. The Yankees management has discussed building the team of Boston, Park in the Bronx, but that's all it is so far. Just talk. The American League owner, Ban Johnson, he's crushed by the Yankees' mediocrity. He was hoping New York's American League team would be the

crown jewel of his league. Instead, the Yanks are idling near the bottom of the standings, their entire future uncertain. All that is about to change. When Babe Ruth does something daring, he asks for a raise. Here comes the most impactful HR decision in the history. of sport. For the owner of any sports team, every player is an investment. You sign rookies at a low price, you sell veterans at a high price, at least that's the goal. And if Babe Ruth were a stock, he'd be considered in the high-risk, high-yield category.

Babe's upside goes far beyond the box score. Not only is he ferociously talented on the field, he's also beloved by the fans off it. Go to Fenway Park on Saturday mornings, and you'll catch the babes sitting with the teenage vendors, helping them fill sacks of peanuts before the game. He invites busloads of orphans to his personal farm for a day-long picnic and of all game. Each child walks out with a new baseball and an autograph baseball signed by Babe. But on the risk side, management cannot control him. He slapped with suspension after suspension for breaking team curfew and sneaking out with women. He's got a reputation for a huge appetite, too. And hefty, boozy breakfasts.

literally sometimes right before games. And Babe has also been making giant salary demands on top of those breakfast expense demands. You see, right before the 1919 season, his sixth with the Red Sox, Babe threatens to retire and become a boxer instead if the socks don't double the salary from $10,000 to $20,000,

or about $400,000 in today's money. But keep in mind, this is coming off the Red Sox winning the World Series again. And the Babe was the winning pitcher in two of those World Series wins, one of them being a shutout. So the Sox end up saying, you know what, we got to keep this guy. Let's pay him what he wants.

But between the salary demands, the disrespect toward management, and the worry that Babe is a walk-and-impulse control problem, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee is starting to think this investment is maybe a little too high risk for his blood. Not worth the off-the-field distractions. If he were to trade Ruth and his pricey contract, he might be getting rid of a problem player at just the right moment. It would mean he bought Babe Low and now gets to sell him at a high.

For Z starts thinking of what the socks could do with an influx of cash and relief from the Babe salary obligations. They could improve the whole team by signing several underrated position players and pay them with the money they're currently paying the Babe. 80 years later, this kind of thinking will become a cornerstone of the moneyball strategy. And on January 5th, 1920, a day that will live in baseball, for me. The Boston Red Sox trade Babe Ruth and his pricey contract to the New York Yankees for $100,000 or $1.6 million today. Now, that may not sound like A-Rod money right there,

but at the time, compared to other occupations, I mean, Jack, $1.6 million? The Red Sox probably thought they were getting a good deal. So how did that work out? Let's run the numbers. Once Babe Ruth puts on the pinstripes, the stats are incredible. His first year as a Yankee, the Babe crushes his own home run record. Bye-bye 29. Hello, 54. The next year, 1921, Babe breaks his own record again with 59 homers. Perhaps, not coincidentally, the New York Yankees make it to the World Series for the very first time ever.

Now, they don't win their first matchup. They fall to the crosstown giants. But this is the closest the Yankees have ever come to a championship since they're founding in 1903. But Jack, then next year, they get a rematch. And they lose to the Giants again. Okay, okay. But the year after that, 1923, they face the same opponent for the third straight time. And this time, they managed to win the whole thing.

The New York Yankees of the American League defeat the New York Giants of the National League 4 to 2. It caps one of the single best seasons of professional baseball ever played by the new guy, Babe Ruth. He gets the MVP award and there was really no debate. American League president, Ban Johnson, is ecstatic. This is the kind of rivalry he dreamed of when he first convinced a dirty cop and casino owner to bring the club to New York. Meanwhile, the Red Sox, oh, trigger warning, but they won't win another World Series until 2004. 86 years after their previous win in 1918 with the babe. Superstitious sports fans and cynical writers call it the Curse of the Bambears.

know. So you can understand why Yankees Red Sox has become one of the most enduring rivalries in sports. It's all because of one monetary mistake by the Red Sox front office. But Jack, let's put down our scorecards for a moment and pick up the quarterly earnings report instead. How did adding Babe Ruth change the Yankees' financial future too? From a purely financial standpoint, Babe Ruth was the single greatest investment the Yankees ever made. In just one year, year attendance doubles for Yankees' home games from under 620,000 in 1919 to nearly 1.3 million in 1920. Their ticket revenues keep doubling over the first three years of Ruth's Yankees' career. And those added ticket sales help raise the $2.4 million that the Yankees need to finally

build that home in the Bronx, Yankee Stadium. People call it the house that Ruth built. And the Yanx get to work built in this stadium in crazy. incredibly fast. They break ground in 1922, and opening day is the very next year. When it opens, it can hold 58,000 fans, soon expanding to 62,000. Compare that to the mere 16,000 that could cram into the Highlander's first home way up on windy hilltop park. Millions will eventually come to see Ruth play over the next 10 years before he wraps up his career in 1935. And while cancer and hard living will cut his life short, the mark he leaves on the Yankees and on baseball, lasts forever. You see it in Yankee Stadium. The grand, steeply raked churches, steel, and concrete.

Fridged on cold days, roasting on hot ones, especially if you're sitting up with the bleacher creatures in Section 203. When the crowd roars, it reverberates through that stadium like thunder. This is the stadium that becomes the Yankees' hallowed home turf, where legends like Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Barra, and Mickey Mantle make their names. Yankee Stadium would also become a key supporter of the Negro leagues during the time of segregated baseball. Major League Baseball, as you probably know, kept black players out until Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. And it actually will take years to fully integrate the league. The Yankees don't even sign their first black player until 1955, eight years after Jackie.

But in the 1930s and the 1940s, Yankees ownership does open the stadium to Negro League games. This is a big deal, because in addition to being shut out of the MLB, black teams are also denied bank loans to build parks of their own. So Yankee Stadium ends up serving as a showcase for black teams for over 20 years. And that becomes part of Yankee Stadium's powerful history, too. The building will stand until 2009 when the Yankees open a brand new stadium right next door. We've been to the stadium, it's nicer, but in this fan's opinion, it's just not the same. But just think, Jack, neither the new or the old Yankee stadiums would ever have existed

if Babe Ruth hadn't asked for a raise back in 1919. Speaking of raises, player salaries are at the heart of our next chapter in Yankees' history, an era marked by big talk and bigger player contracts, led by an owner whose name dominates sports and tabloid headlines for the next 40 years. George Steinbrenner didn't just change the Yankees. George Steinbrenner changed the entire business of sports. Nick, I have a clip I'm going to play for you.

You're ready? It's going to bring you back to freshman year when we used to watch TV together in our dormer. Oh, I like where this is he going. Tell me who this is. George, come in, come in. You know, George, I've been your biggest support around here and that's why I was so disappointed to hear that

you've been pilfering the equipment. George would never do anything like that. No, why would I? I own it. Trick question is actually Larry David right there. But the character he's playing on Seinfeld is the real-life owner of the New York Yankees, George Steinbrenner. Nicknamed the boss,

with apologies to Bruce Springsteen. The Steinbrenner era is among the most memorable, controversial, and significant in the team's 122-year history. We should point out, this is not actually the Yankees' winningest era. That would be the stretch from 1923 to 1962 when the Yanks won 20 World Series in 39 years.

That's like one every other year. But Steinbrenner's larger-than-life leadership style changes the business of sports. To put things in tech terms, Steinbrenner is running the team in full-on founder mode. But first, let's start with a little context. You see, when Steinbrenner forms a limited partnership to buy the Yankees in 1973, He's not buying the team from one person. No, he's buying it from a network. Because get this, for almost a decade,

the Yankees have actually been owned by CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System, the home of morning shows, pharmaceutical commercials, NCIS reruns, and yes, the New York Yankees. It was 1964 when CBS purchased an 80% stake in the Yankees for $11 million. And at the time, the deal made sense. There's big money in airing live sports on TV and on radio.

Owning a team gives CBS a seat on both sides of the negotiating table. But the moment CBS takes control of the Yankees, the team starts struggling. From 1965 until 73, they make it to the World Series zero times, and they finish higher than fourth only once. So, Jack, I got to ask, is it the fault of network leadership here? Is it simply bad timing? That's hard to say. Because it turns out there was a broader business.

issue across the league. This is when baseball starts facing competition from America's other favorite pastime, football. And in addition to owning the Yankees, CBS airs the very first Super Bowl in 1967, and 40 million people tune in. So CBS is thinking, hey, maybe pigskin is where the profits are. And managing the Yankees, that seems to just slip right on down the priority list. As both the symbol of and product of that neglect, Yankee Stadium, along with a lot of New York City actually, falls into disrepair. So in 1973, CBS sells the Yankees to George Steinbrenner for $10 million. Just $10 million. That's $1 million less than CBS paid for the team eight years earlier. We should point out the start of Steinbrenner's tenure does get interrupted by a very

quick two-year suspension. He's charged and convicted of making illegal campaign contributions to Richard Nixon. Not a good luck. But hey, two years later, When George is back, he is back. He immediately starts putting his stamp on the team, starting with their facial hair. That's right. Steinbrenner institutes what you might call a no hippie grooming policy. No long hair allowed, no sidebirds allowed, and no beards allowed. This rule, it actually survives all the way from 1976 up to 2025, outlasting George himself.

But that's just the renovation to the team's faces. In October 1976, playing in a freshly renovated Yankee Stadium, the Yanks finally win the American League pennant their first in 12 years. To capitalize on this momentum, Steinbrenner makes a blockbuster move to sign the era's biggest slugger, Mr. October himself, Reggie Jackson. It's the biggest signing of its kind, $3 million for five years. And the best part about this contract, the boss throws in a Rolls-Royce just for good measure to make Reggie happy. But this isn't just Steinbrenner lavishing money and purse.

Perks on Reggie. This is the start of baseball's new age, the free agent era. And it requires a whole different strategy. Remember when Babe Ruth got sent to New York for $100,000? That was not free agency. He literally didn't have a choice, because at the time, players were bound to their teams for life, or at least until the owner said otherwise. Players had no say as they were traded for cash, for other players, or even for outside business loans. But now, in 1976, thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court case in a strong players union, players who've been in the league for a number of years earned the right to free agency. With free agency, the player gets to decide where they're going to play and hires an agent

to handle the bidding. Basically, it's a free country. Jack, it's a huge win for just organized labor in general. Players literally have the agency now that they've lacked for 100 years of basic. But there is a side effect. The talent bidding wars go crazy. When Free Agency comes, Steinbrenner publicly speaks out against it. He says it will ruin baseball.

But here's the interesting twist. In practice, George Steinbrenner learns not just to embrace free agency, but to use it as a hammer to smash down the competition. Thanks to their massive New York media market, the Yankees have deep pockets, not to mention their 50-year legacy as the best team in baseball. So Steinbrenner makes big signing moves that other teams can't afford a cornerstone of his ownership strategy. During his time in the Yankees front office, George spends more than $1.8 billion in free agent signings. That is more than double with the next biggest spender pace.

And like it or not, the big spender style produces big field results. One year after signing Reggie Jackson as a free agent, Reggie hits three home runs to win the game for the Yankees on October 18, 1977. And the Bronx bombers defeat the L.A. Dodgers in six to win the first World Series for the Yankees in 15 years. All they need. Let's do it. That's going to do it. The Yankees win for 21st World Series. Now, after all that champagne is dried and the hangover is over, you've got to ask, Will Steinbrenner's big personality, constant micromanaging, and free agent over-splurging, eventually,

backfire? Of course it will. Especially if you asked George Costanza's dad. What the hell did you trade JAP uniform? He had 30 home runs over 100 RBIs last year. He's got a rocket for an arm. You don't know what the hell you're doing. Get this, Nick. In 1990, Steinbrenner gets himself suspended from baseball again. This time, for life. After getting caught hiring a mob informant to spread damage rumors about one of his own players. Major League Baseball's commissioners like, You're out.

This supposed lifetelling ban actually gets reversed in just two years. Call Steinbrenner a kitty cat because this guy always lands on his feet. Interestingly, during the two years that Steinbrenner is banned, the Yankees general manager finally gets a chance to play some small ball

without the boss breathing down his neck. The Yankees end up rebuilding their clubhouse with young, inexpensive talent that comes up through the Yankees farm system. including pitchers Andy Pettit, Mariano Rivera, and the Future Hall of Fame shortstop, Derek Jeter. And once they had catcher Jorge Posada,

these guys will come to be known as the Corps Four. The guys who will bring the Yankees back to glory under the manager, Joe Torrey. And starting in 1996, this crew will go on a nearly unstoppable run of four World Series wins in just five years. But Steinbrenner's biggest move may be what he did off the field.

He recognizes an opportunity to capitalize on fans' interest in this new generation of winners. So Steinbrenner and Co. launched their own cable network in 2002, the Yes Network, short for Yankees Entertainment and Sports. Yes, becomes the first full-time regional HD network. It shapes the way we watch all our sports today, even the Super Bowl. Under Steinbrenner's ownership, with the aggressive free agent strategy on the field and the innovative media strategy off it, the Yankees become the first pro sports team in America

to hit a $1 billion valuation. Today, there's still the most valuable franchise in Major League Baseball at more than $8 billion. Jay-Z famously said, I made the Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee can, but we'd argue the Yankees themselves made it pretty famous too. It's why I saw 18 of those hats in Paris in one day. With 27 World Series rings,

the Yankees have more than double the number two team, the Cardinals, with their 11 championships. This team is truly in a class by itself. beloved or be hated by all. As a Yankees fan, I insisted that the 2004 season not make a single appearance in this episode. I don't even know what you're talking about. So Jack, hip, hip, ho-ho!

All right, that was a test. You passed yet again. Now that we've gone so deep on the Yankees' roots, I feel like I'm in the farm system right now. What is your takeaway on the biggest brand in baseball? Call it the Babe Ruth rule. Underpaying top talent doesn't save you money. It funds your competition.

Every company likes to say, their people are their most important asset on their balance sheet. Because without brilliant thinkers, engineers, and designers, Apple doesn't make the iPhone. Google doesn't make Google. And without the Babe, the Yankees don't become the Yankees. So the Red Sox trading Ruth might just have been the most expensive mistake in sports history because they didn't want to pay him 20 grand instead of

10 grand. But the Red Sox didn't save 10 grand a year. What they really did was fuel the rise of their AL East rival the New York Yankees. Underpaying your top talent doesn't save you money. What it really does is fund your competitors. Nick, what about you? What's your takeaway on the Yankees? Brand rivalries are a cheat code for your business. Red Sox versus Yankees, AL versus NL, Babe Ruth versus Hot Dogs. When you give people a chance to root for the home team, they will show up with their wallets. Obviously, this works in sports. If you're a fan deciding what game to get tickets to,

you go for the rival every time. This also works with household consumer goods too, like Crest versus Colgate, Jiff for Skippy, Tylenol versus Advil. And of course, the granddaddy of them all, Coke versus Pepsi. You know, it extends beyond consumer goods too, Jack. Rivalries thrive in the entertainment industry.

East Coast hip-hip-hop versus West Coast, Marvel versus D.C., Team Edward versus Team Jacob. The Kendrick v. Drake rivalry not only drove millions of downloads for the two main artists involved, it drove clicks for thousands of creators on TikTok and Instagram. It's the beef that keeps on giving. Yeah, and it separates the two rivals from the rest of the competition. Drake and Kendrick are on a higher level because they hate each other,

because brand rivalries are a cheap code for your business. Okay, Jack, before we go, it's time for our absolute favorite part of the show, the best facts yet. These are the hero stats, facts, and surprises we discovered in our research but couldn't fit into the story. Jack, I believe we referenced Tiffany's jewelry in the beginning of the show. How about we fulfill that promise? One of the most iconic aspects of the Yankees brand is its logo. The curvy capital N overlapping the Y below it.

Well, this logo has its own rich history, too, because it was designed by the famous jeweler Louis Tiffin. That's right. The interlocking N.Y. Yankees logo was originally crafted as part of the... the New York Police Department's Medal of Valor, which Tiffany designed for the NYPD. The logo likely made the leap from police metal to baseball logo, thanks to the Yankees' very first co-owner, police chief Big Bell Devery. So yeah, Tiffany's jewelry inspired the Yankees baseball logo. All right, Jack, got another fact for you.

Many teams have crosstown rivalry, but only New York City has a unique phenomenon known as the Subway Series. All in all, there have been 14 World Series. played between two New York teams. Six of them were between the Yankees and the Giants before the Giants moved to San Francisco. Now, the first two of those matchups didn't actually require a subway ride

since the Yankees were cohabitating with the Giants in that same stadium. It was only in 1923, after Yankee Stadium was built, that New Yorkers could take the subway to get to the World Series games between the two hometown teams. The Brooklyn Dodgers faced the Yankees

in seven World Series before they moved to L.A. And then, there's the Yankees Then there's the Yankees Mets, just one Subway World Series between them in the year 2000. But during the regular season that same year, these two teams faced off twice in one day, July 8th. In an unusual day-night doubleheader that only could have happened in New York, the first game was played at Shea Stadium in Queens, and the nightcap later in that day, was played in Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Final score, Yankees 4, Mets 2. both games. And that is why the New York Yankees is the best idea yet.

Coming up on the next episode of The Best Idea Yet, crack open that savings account and withdraw a few stacks, because we are going deep on the most expensive and hard to get handbag in the world. It's the Hermes Berkin. And don't forget to rate and review the show. Five stars helps us grow. And tap to follow the show. That's way you get the best idea yet every single Tuesday. The best idea yet is a production of Wondery, hosted by me, Nick Martel and me, Jack Kravici Kramer. Our senior producers are Matt Beagle and Chris Gautier.

Peter Arcuni is our additional senior producer. Our senior managing producer is Nick Ryan and Taylor Sniffin is our managing producer. Our producer and researcher is H. Conley. This episode was written and produced by Katie Clark Gray. We use many sources in our research. including Babe Ruth, His Life and Legend by Cal Wagenhunt. And the incredible resource that is The Society for American Baseball Research, or saber.org. Sound design and mixing by Kelly Cromeric.

Fact-checking by Erica Janik. Music supervision by Scott Elasquez and Jolina Garcia for Frieson Sink. Our theme song is Got That Feeling Again by Blackalak. Executive producers for Nick and Jack Studios are me, Nick Martel, and me, Jack Ravici Kramer. Executive producers for Wondery are Jenny Lauer Beckman, Aaron O'Flaherty and Marshall Louie. Follow the best idea yet on the Wondry app, Amazon music, or wherever you get your podcast.

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