They were the fire and ice of the New York Yankees, the yin and yang of the Bronx Bombers, and within 48 hours, we lost them both.

Just two days after the death at age 99 of Bob Sheppard, whose elegant introductions proceeded the at-bats of every Yankee for nearly the past 60 years, longtime owner George Steinbrenner died on Tuesday following a massive heart attack at his Tampa home. He was 80.

The two men had not been regularly seen at Yankee Stadium in a few years, with Steinbrenner beginning to fade to the background following the 2006 season as his health worsened, and Sheppard ceasing to grace Yankee Stadium with his majestic voice following the 2007 season, with the exception of the recording that Derek Jeter has and plans to still use prior to his at-bats. Nonetheless, discounting the men on the field, there were arguably no two greater Yankee icons than Steinbrenner and Sheppard.

They shared nearly the same vantage point of the Yankees, both looking down on the men in pinstripes from high above, Steinbrenner from the owner’s box, Sheppard from the press box. That, however, is where the comparisons end.

Steinbrenner was “The Boss,” a hot-tempered perfectionist who wore his emotions on his sleeve and wouldn’t hesitate to let anyone -- most notably, players and managers -- know when he was not pleased. He was as hands-on as owners come, employing some of the smartest baseball men in the game -- Billy Martin, Gene Michael, Lou Piniella, Joe Torre and Brian Cashman among them -- but wouldn’t think twice about casting them aside, both literally and figuratively, at a moment’s notice. He changed managers 20 times in his first 23 seasons as owner -- including famously dismissing Martin on five separate occasions -- and changed general managers 11 times over 30 years.

Unquestionably, he antagonized underperforming players. He famously dubbed future Hall of Famer Dave Winfield “Mr. May” for, as he viewed it, failing to measure up to the crunch-time performances of “Mr. October” Reggie Jackson. Steinbrenner also wound up temporarily banned from baseball for paying small-time gambler Howard Spira $40,000 for dirt on Winfield after he was sued by Winfield for breach of contract. He had Don Mattingly benched for refusing to cut his long-flowing mullet. He dubbed highly-touted Japanese import Hideki Irabu a “fat toad.”

His rampant spending on high-priced free agents and abrasive personality earned him the ire of countless baseball fans across the nation, but there was no arguing the passion he had for baseball and the Yankees. It was a passion unrivaled by any owner in sports, and the Yankees unquestionably would not boast the legacy they do today if not for his influence.

Sheppard, on the other hand, was “The Voice of God”; the calm, cool, collected, stoic presence that perhaps more than any other individual is responsible for the mystique and aura so commonly associated with the Yankees and Yankee Stadium. He had a way of making even the most trivial moments of baseball seem epic in nature, and the grandest moments seem larger than life.

As Sheppard himself told the story, "Mickey Mantle says 'Everytime Bob Sheppard introduced me at Yankee Stadium, I got shivers up my spine.' And I said to him, 'So did I.'" That statement sums up all you need to know about Sheppard. He had the power to instantly earn the respect and admiration of even the biggest of baseball legends, from DiMaggio to Mantle to Jackson to Jeter and everyone in between, yet remained ever so humble and unassuming in the process. Even Steinbrenner himself wouldn’t dare refer to Sheppard with any sort of reproach.

The similarities between Steinbrenner and Sheppard were few and far between, yet both earned the undying admiration of the Yankee nation. Yankee Stadium does not feel like the same place without them, and in fairness, it is not. Yet, the fire and ice, yin and yang of Yankee lore will maintain the same vantage point on the Bronx Bombers -- looking down from high above.

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