George Steinbrenner has named a successor, and he's even gotten a little unhinged by some of the foibles of his New York Yankees this season. But he is still in charge. Steinbrenner, in responding to e-mailed questions, touched on a variety of subjects for a wide-ranging feature story appearing in the Aug. 1 issue of ESPN The Magazine (on newsstands Wednesday). But "The Boss", who now does most of his talking through spokesman Howard Rubenstein, is showing no signs he will relinquish control of the Yankees soon, and particularly shot down rumors he is in declining health. But rumors persist, with some inside his own organization speculating the 75-year-old has suffered two strokes. "I have never suffered one stroke, let alone two," Steinbrenner said in his e-mailed response. "I am in excellent health. I have the body of a 55-year-old." Admitting that he's perhaps more subdued than in the past, and definitely less available to the media, Steinbrenner simply replied, "I have less to say publicly. Brevity is the brother of brilliance." And many of Steinbrenner's employees say that he still has the ability to engender fear within the office when he arrives in either Tampa, Fla., or New York. For his part, Steinbrenner said that is unintentional. "I just like people to do their very best," he said. "I don't ask anyone to perform at a standard any higher than I would ask myself to perform." Earlier this year, Steinbrenner designated son-in-law Steve Swindal as his successor. Only time will tell if Swindal follows through on a pledge Steinbrenner made when his group bought the team from CBS Inc. on Jan. 3, 1973. "We plan absentee ownership as far as running the Yankees is concerned," he said then. "We're not going to pretend we're something we aren't. I'll stick to building ships."