AOL’s Tom Krasovic on Steinbrenner’s lengthy obituary:
I was dubious of this at first, but a few minutes of Googling at least begins to bear this out. The longest Ronald Regan obit I could find in a mainstream publication was around 2,500 words. Same with Pope John Paul II. I suppose there could have been longer ones depending on the news outlet -- and of course, once you bundle in multiple sidebar stories the presidents and popes get more total coverage -- but that’s pretty impressive for Big Stein all the same.
My first impression of it though: while Steinbrenner wasn’t as important as Popes or presidents, he was probably more interesting than any of them, so the verbiage is justified. I mean, how long does it take to describe the exploits of a world leader? It’s pretty straightforward, major key stuff. Steinbrenner was a complicated dude, though. He took some explaining.