I'm a Red Sox fan.  I'm a member of the Red Sox Nation, and have been long before it was cool to be an official "member".  I grew-up watching and playing baseball, and some of my fondest memories are sitting up late at night with my parents watching the Sox play. Pictures of Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio hang in my Dad's office.  Above any other sport, baseball is my favorite.

I was an avid fan in the late '80s and early '90s.  I could name every player on the team and knew who was who on rival teams.  My baseball card collection was pretty sweet. In the early 90s, I even (gasp!) liked the Yankees - it was a team filled with passionate players, from Don Mattingly to Paul O'Neill to Bernie Williams. 
 
Now, by nature and by loyalty, I don't root for the Yankees.  My heart broke when Roger Clemens, Wade Boggs, and Johnny Damon traded in their Boston sox for Yankee pinstripes.  I ask my cousins what went wrong in their lives to turn them into Yankees fans.  I cried with pure joy when the Sox came back from a 3-game deficit and beat the Yankees to win the ALCS in the 2004 World Series battle.  Their victory meant so much for Boston and more to me, as it carried me through my Dad's heart surgery saga.    

In simple words, I love the Red Sox and despise the Yankees.  I uphold the age-old rivalry and respect it in more ways than I can describe.  Yet with that respect, comes a greater one for those who keep the spirit of baseball alive.

I, like many, was not a fan of Steinbrenner, Yankee owner or not.  And while it's easy to criticize him, today is a day to respect him and the empire he built, as he passes into another life.  He kept baseball alive for many years, when the strikes, ridiculous salaries, and drug scandals could have buried it permanently six-feet under.  He built an amazing team of star players, who, at the end of the day, love their game: Jeter, Rivera, Posada, and yes, even the over-paid A-Rod.  He fiercely wanted to win and did what he could to build a team loved by many.  Steinbrenner re-energized a team, a sport, a nation of fans.

And, as we head into tonight's All-Star Game, I'm sure baseball players and fans - former, current, and future - will bid him a fair adieu.