Book Details Yankees' Near-Move to New Jersey

A new book reveals that George Steinbrenner's group was not the favorite to purchase the New York Yankees in 1973, with a Lehman Brothers-led bid offering more money and planning a relocation from the Bronx to New Jersey. Author Mike Vaccaro writes in "The Bosses of the Bronx" that the investment bank's commitment to leave Yankee Stadium proved a deal-breaker for seller CBS. Steinbrenner's faction instead acquired the franchise from CBS for just over $10 million.

Steinbrenner partnered with E. Michael Burke and others to buy the club, which had languished under CBS ownership. The competing Lehman group tapped former New York Giants catcher Herman Franks to run the team and courted Willie Mays as manager, a move that would have made Mays the first Black manager in MLB history, ahead of Frank Robinson's debut in that role on April 8, 1975. Yankee Stadium was crumbling at the time, seeking city funds for repairs, while New Jersey offered a new venue near the site of the future Meadowlands, home to the NFL's Giants and Jets.

The Steinbrenner purchase netted $8.8 million after CBS repurchased two parking garages for $1.2 million. Steinbrenner called it "the best buy in sports today" at his introductory news conference and pledged to keep the team in New York. Under his leadership from 1973 until his death in July 2010, the Yankees captured seven World Series titles; the franchise is now valued at approximately $9 billion.

The Lehman bid, reportedly between $13.5 million and $14 million, marked the last time a major league team sold at a loss.