Steinbrenner made lasting impact on USF, baseball coach Lelo Prado

Posted Jul 13, 2010 by Scott Carter

Updated Jul 13, 2010 at 01:16 PM

The passing of legendary Yankees owner and Tampa resident George Steinbrenner today has ignited a flurry of reflection from the sports world, including at the University of South Florida.

Here is a statement from USF baseball coach Lelo Prado on Steinbrenner’s death at age 80:

“I am deeply saddened to hear of the passing of George Steinbrenner. Mr. Steinbrenner has done so much for the University of South Florida, USF baseball, the Tampa Bay community and the game of baseball. I will be eternally grateful for his efforts. Baseball has lost an icon and model for success. USF baseball sends our condolences to the Steinbrenner family and the entire Yankee organization.”

I posted some of this earlier on my Twitter account, but here are some interesting Steinbrenner-USF notes I discovered recently in the Tribune archives while researching the closing of Red McEwen Field in May:

+ When the field needed an upgrade in late 1970s, Steinbrenner donated the lights, allowing the first night game to be played at ‘The Red’ on Feb. 25, 1977. USF defeated the University of Tampa, 8-7.

+ A month later when the ballpark was officially renamed Red McEwen Field, Steinbrenner attended the ceremony along with former Tampa Tribune sports editor Tom McEwen.

When talking to McEwen in May about that evening, he said it was a big deal at USF because Steinbrenner was there. After the game, McEwen said the two hung around the ballpark long after the game as Steinbrenner signed autographs.

McEwen’s most vivid memory of the evening came after the game. He recalled the story this way:

Steinbrenner introduced himself to a couple of young boys asking for autographs. One of the boys didn’t respond.

“What’s wrong, a cat got your tongue?’’ Steinbrenner asked the boy.

“No, he just can’t talk that well,’’ the other boy replied.

Turns out, the boy had a medical condition that prevented him from speaking clearly. According to McEwen, Steinbrenner got the boy’s name and information and sent him to the Cleveland Clinic for an evaluation.

+ In 1994 when the Yankees were in the middle of moving their spring training base from Fort Lauderdale to Tampa, the Tampa Yankees needed a place to play until Legends Field – now known as Steinbrenner Field – was built.

According to the Tribune archives, Steinbrenner paid USF $100,000 that summer for the Tampa Yankees to call USF home. That team included a couple of players you may have heard of: Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.

+ Finally, just got a call back from Prado, who added this about Steinbrenner:

“He was really good to this community,’’ Prado said. “He was a great man. He did so much for Tampa. There is a lot of stuff that people don’t even know about. Every time we needed something when I first started out in coaching at the University of Tampa, he came through for us. When we won our first national championship, we needed someone to help pay for our rings. Mr. Steinbrenner was there for us.’’