"I could have never envisioned all this," Steinbrenner said. "All I knew when I went into [then-CBS chairman] Bill Paley's office was that I wanted a baseball team."

A year earlier, Steinbrenner had been rebuffed in his attempt to buy his hometown Cleveland Indians, and when then-Indians General Manager Gabe Paul tipped him off that the Yankees were for sale, he was as much skeptical as he was excited.

"I remember walking into Paley's office and being scared stiff," Steinbrenner said. "I was sure he was gonna tell me he wasn't gonna sell or that I didn't have enough. As it was, he said to me: 'What are you planning on paying me with, Chinese money?' to which I said: 'No sir, I've got cash. Good old-fashioned American cash.'