It before the nineties the Yankees were not considered a very diverse team, some would even go to the extent of calling this team racist. This team was predominantly just Caucasians; with every little to no minorities, Blacks or Latin players. In time Streinbrenner learned that by hiring a larger diversity of players, the team could benefit by attracting a bigger fan base, and will also help the team win more games.
Before and during the fifties, the Yankees dominated the Major League Baseball, but, shortly as time began to change and segregation slowly started to disappear, more and more teams began recruiting minority players, such as Jackie Robinson and Louis Castro. This brought a whole new level of intensity to the ball game. Unfortunately, the Yankees were one of the last teams to catch on to the new phase and ultimately declined in wins.
In the sixties and seventies, the Yankees only managed to win four World Series in those two decades,1961,1962,1977 and 1978.
When Steinbrenner bought the Yankees from CNN in the early seventies, he realized the importance of hiring minorities and did so. But it wasn't till the mid nineties that the Yankees began to flourish with victories, winning consistently in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000, and reclaiming what's indisputably theirs, the title of being THE BEST!
