I for one am glad to see this happening.


HEIR TIME FOR YANKEES
KING GEORGE'S SONS ARE TAKING CHARGE

October 14, 2007 -- The Steinbrenner boys have taken the reins, Yankees brass has told The Post.

Hank and Hal Steinbrenner will share leadership of father George's beloved Bronx Bombers in an arrangement to be further ironed out at top-level meetings in Tampa this week.

"George has taken on a role like the chairman of a major corporation," said team president Randy Levine. "He's been saying for years he's wanted to get his sons involved in the family business. Both of them have stepped up and are taking on the day-to-day duties of what's required to run the Yankees."

"There's always been a succession - and that's myself and my brother," Hank told The Post in an exclusive interview.

He said he and Hal will have final say on baseball decisions as well as the running of the YES Network and the construction of the new Yankee Stadium.

"I'll pay more attention to the baseball part. The stadium, that's more Hal. But basically everything will be decided jointly."

"What's nice is the Boss is there - he's an office door away," said Levine.

Last month, Hal Steinbrenner was named chairman of the board of Yankee Global Enterprises. Hank expects to take on a new title - one that won't be decided until a board vote this week, when the team's brain trust gathers to sort out issues such as whether to bring back manager Joe Torre.

"We'll be bringing everyone together . . . to discuss those things. For the first couple of meetings, it will just be me, Hal, my dad and the usual cast," Hank said.

One decision has already been made: Joba Chamberlain, an emerging star who pitched in relief this season, will join fellow youngster Phil Hughes in the starting rotation in 2008.

"That's something I'll insist on," said Hank.

After 34 years at the helm of the storied franchise, the now-ailing George Steinbrenner, 77, will allow his virtually unknown sons to take control.

Even minority partners of the team don't know much about the pair.

Both are experienced businessmen and caretakers of parts of the $2 billion Steinbrenner fortune.

Hank, 50, runs the family's sprawling, 850-acre Kinsman Stable, a horse farm for thoroughbreds in Ocala, Fla., where Kentucky Derby contender Bellamy Road was reared. He's known as an expert in analyzing bloodlines.

Hal, 38, oversees five hotels in Florida and one in Ohio. He's also in charge of various real-estate, transportation and marketing companies.

They grew up immersed in baseball, surrounded by Hall of Fame players, coaches and executives, including mentors such as Clyde King, Billy Martin and Woody Woodward, Hank said.

The biggest impression was left by George himself, however.

"He was constantly on the go - and obviously he could be very emotional in his leadership," Hank said.

At different times, the brothers have held baseball-related jobs in the organization.

Hal, a Williams College graduate, worked for the team full-time in the 1990s, just after getting an MBA from the University of Florida, but it didn't go smoothly.

"George was a pretty challenging boss to work for right out of college and graduate school," Hal once said.

At age 29, Hank - who attended Central Methodist University in Fayette, Missouri - spent part of spring training with the team.

In 1990, after George was banned from baseball for paying gambler Howard Spira to dig up dirt on slugger Dave Winfield, he nominated Hank to be his successor as Yankee's managing general partner.

Hank turned down the offer, preferring to run the horse farm.

The brothers live near each other - Hank in Belleair; Hal in Tampa, 25 miles away. They and their sisters, Jennifer, 47, and Jessica, 43, each own additional homes at Kinsman Stable, 40 miles southwest of Gainesville.

Hank, the oldest sibling, admits to having some of his notoriously bellicose dad's temper. He even looks like George, sporting a military buzz cut and dressing in blue blazers, turtlenecks and pressed khakis.

Hal is painfully shy and reticent. Some team observers have barely heard him utter a word.

"I tend to be more volatile than my brother," Hank said. "Hal is calmer - and that will probably be a good influence."

Behind the scenes, the boys have impressed.

"Both Hank and Hal are extraordinarily smart, extraordinarily articulate and, like their father, very genuine people," said Levine. "And they like each other a lot. I think the Yankees are in very good hands."

The siblings grew up in the Cleveland suburb of Bay Village, Ohio, before the family moved to Tampa in 1973, when Hal was four.

Like their father, both boys attended Culver Military Academy in Indiana.

Hank was fond of his grandfather, Henry, who took him to his first baseball game - the Indians vs. the Yankees at old Municipal Stadium.

"My grandfather always had great respect for the Yankees - the class, the dignity, the success. Most Indian fans hated the Yankees."

And Hank loved George, recalling how his conservative dad accompanied him to the Beatles' first concert in Cleveland when Hank was seven - and squirmed as squealing teen girls rushed the stage.

"He was probably the oldest person there. I was the youngest," Hank said. "That's the most important thing about him - he's a great dad."

All four Steinbrenner children have been divorced. Hank split from his wife, Joan, a year and a half ago after 15 years of marriage; Hal and his wife, Christina, divorced this year.

Hank has four kids, ages six to 18. Hal has three children.

Hank said his emergence means he'll be spending more time in New York, attending games at Yankee Stadium, though he won't move here. He and his ex-wife have joint custody of their kids, who are in school in Florida.

Team spokesman Howard Rubenstein praised the move to put Hank and Hal in charge.

"What's happened is the two sons and the entire family have coalesced," he said. "Hal and Hank talk to George every day about the Yankees. It's a team that will rival Hany team in major league sports."