R.I.P. New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who died early this morning in Florida. As a Seinfeld fan, I can’t help but think about the show’s running spoof/homage to Steinbrenner, who was played by series co-creator Larry David:

The real-life “Big Stein,” as the Larry David version referred to the character, even filmed a cameo for the Seinfeld season seven finale, but the scenes were edited out because of time, and because the Yankees honcho reportedly didn’t like the storyline in which George Costanza’s bride-to-be, Susan, was killed off. The scenes appeared on the season seven DVDs, though, and have popped up on YouTube:

And, they’re not embeddable, but check out compilation clips of Seinfeld Steinbrenner scenes here and here … a true character, in real-life and on the small screen.