Let’s get one thing straight: I hate the New York Yankees. If you ask me as a baseball fan, they epitomize everything wrong with Major League Baseball.

With a payroll exceeding $200 million and a knack for finding a way to sign or trade for the best players in the majors, why would I not hate the Yankees.

All they do is win, all they do is compete and all they do is set the standard for every other baseball team in the big leagues.

Teams make a big signing because they are trying to keep up with the Yankees.

No general manager will ever admit to that, but everyone knows it’s the truth. One man made that truth possible: “The Boss” George Steinbrenner.

Love him or hate him, any baseball fan should respect him because of what he did for the Yankees. With his passing, baseball truly lost a legend, a dedicated owner and classic villain.

Sure, he was one of the most hated people in baseball, but like Babe Ruth or Jackie Robinson before him, Steinbrenner changed the game and brought it into a new age.

He turned his team into a business venture, and found the perfect recipe for creating a championship-caliber team.

He was not afraid to speak his mind, nor was he afraid to do anything and everything necessary to make his team a success.

He would not be content with mediocrity. He demanded the best, because frankly, he paid for the best.

As a fan of a team that did not always have an owner willing to do whatever it took to put a competitive team on the field, having an owner like Steinbrenner would have been a dream come true.

Why would it be a dream come true? Because you would never question the dedication and passion your owner has for the team. Steinbrenner knew what was important: winning championships.

That is why no one should fault LeBron James for what he did. He clearly was not getting the support he needed to win Cleveland a championship, so he decided to go to a place where he could win.

Is that not why players play the game? Is that not why fans cheer for their team?

Ironically enough, after James went to the Miami Heat with fellow superstars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, that team became the most hated team in the NBA and fell victim to the Yankee effect.

Miami instantly became “that team.”

And if it weren’t for Steinbrenner and the Yankees, there would never be that team for any sport.

Any time people are talking sports — no matter what country — if a successful team everybody hates comes up in the conversation they are automatically labeled “the Yankees of [insert sport here].”

He may not be missed by many baseball fans outside of the Yankees fan base, as he was indeed baseball’s version of Emperor Palpatine, but after a few years — or decades depending on which team you are a fan of — Steinbrenner will be remembered as one of the icons of baseball. People will tell stories of what it was like to watch their team have to go up against one of the “George Steinbrenner baseball teams.”

It is possible when those stories are told, all teams in baseball will have an owner as passionate as Steinbrenner and payrolls of $400 million will be the norm.

If that day ever comes, then Steinbrenner will be remembered not as a villain, but as the man who ushered in the new age of baseball.

He has already created the era of spending money to win, so maybe a scenario such as that does not seem crazy anymore.

But for now, the Yankees will continue to be the Yankees, and I will root against the Pinstripes no matter what team they are playing.

As always, we will have Steinbrenner to thank for that.