Gene Michael, a Yankee for nearly a half-century, rising from sure-handed shortstop to general manager and building teams that won four World Series championships, died on Thursday. He was 79.
The Yankees reported his death on its website, saying the cause was a heart attack. It did not say where he died.
For much of Michael’s time with the Yankees, George Steinbrenner ran a revolving door that sent players, coaches, managers and front-office personnel spinning in and out of Yankee Stadium. Michael was fired a couple of times, then hired back.
As a player he anchored the infield for seven seasons for the Yankees in the late 1960s and early ′70s, when baseball’s most storied franchise went into decline.