In the fictional world of “Seinfeld,” George Costanza earns a job with the New York Yankees after a memorable run-in with then-team owner George Steinbrenner in the last episode of season 5. He works until the end of season 8, when Costanza is traded to the Tyson company in exchange for chicken beer.
There were many Yankee tie-ins during George’s three seasons of “employment” with the team, a relationship that the Yankees continue to celebrate. The team announced on Thursday that a bobblehead of George Costanza will be given to the first 18,000 fans for the Yankees’ matchup at home against the Boston Red Sox on Aug. 21, coinciding with “Seinfeld Night.” The bobblehead features George sleeping under the desk in his office at Yankee Stadium.
It’s the second Seinfeld-inspired bobblehead released by the team that highlights the character who for a few seasons of the long-running TV show worked as the Yankees’ assistant to the traveling secretary. Last season, the team gave out a version showing George taking batting practice in a dress shirt and pants.
George Costanza Got Yankees Job After Berating Then-Owner George Steinbrenner
It was episode 22 of season 5 when George got the job as he berated Steinbrenner for turning the team into “a laughingstock” with many years of ill-advised, ill-fated transactions. Titled “The Opposite,” the episode, which aired in May 1994, featured George lamenting all of the decisions that he had ever made, turning his life into the opposite of what he had always hoped it would be.
“Every instinct I have in every aspect of life, be it something to wear, something to eat, it’s all been wrong,” whines George, played by the great Jason Alexander.
So Jerry Seinfeld suggests that George try approaching life by ignoring his first impulse and doing something completely contrary to what he normally would.
“If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right,” Jerry reasons.
George latches onto this advice, and by continually going against his gut instincts and doing the opposite, he begins to enjoy an unprecedented run of success, eventually resulting in an interview with the Yankees. It’s in the middle of this interview that George, after he is introduced to Steinbrenner, tears into the owner with a legendary rant.
“I must say with all due respect I find it very hard to see the logic behind some of the moves you have made with this fine organization,” George exclaims. “In the past 20 years, you have caused myself and the city of New York a good deal of distress, as we have watched you take our beloved Yankees and reduce them to a laughingstock, all for the glorification of your massive ego.”
New York Yankees Hope for “The Opposite” Result in 2025 World Series
And by doing the opposite of what he normally would have done, George immediately earns the respect of Steinbrenner, who demands that George be hired.
Of course, the Yankees would soon be anything but a laughingstock, enjoying an historic run in the late 1990s, with four World Series titles in five years, including consecutive sweeps.
The Yankees have been regular postseason contenders in the 21st century, but hadn’t returned to the World Series since their 2009 championship until they finally got there again last year. Taking the next step and winning the title this year will require doing the opposite of Seinfeld’s Steinbrenner and making trades that make a positive difference.
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