As with all else concerning the Boss' storied, stormy epoch, the transition to a new generation is filled with Sturm und Drang. The subtext to the family birthday party is family upheaval. Steve Swindal, once Steinbrenner's designated successor to run the Yankees and for now still his son-in-law, will be absent. Swindal and Jenny Steinbrenner are getting divorced, causing his dismissal from the Yankees, as well.

That's caused Steinbrenner's sons, Hank and Hal, to take more active roles with the team, which they've previously spent their lives avoiding. Both have shrunk from the spotlight of baseball and skirted the stress of working for their father in that business. Now they have no choice. There's an $800 million stadium to be built. There's an underachieving team to be re-built. There's a patriarch in decline who needs them.