(CNN) -- George Steinbrenner was a "cracker who made a lot of African-American millionaires," conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh said Tuesday of the New York Yankees owner who died earlier in the day from a heart attack. "He fired a bunch of white guys as managers left and right," Limbaugh said. The comments prompted civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton to rebuke the radio talker, calling his comments "repugnant and offensive whether they were intended to be facetious or tongue and cheek." "For the last 20 years I have known George Steinbrenner, and we have quarrelled over diversity and community programs, but I always found him fair, direct, and genuinely prone to do what he felt was right," Sharpton said, adding that Limbaugh owed the Steinbrenner family an apology "that the first day of their mourning to have to be subjected to this type of rhetoric."
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Radio host says Steinbrenner "fired a bunch of white guys as managers"
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Sharpton calls Limbaugh's comments "repugnant and offensive"
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Limbaugh left sports network in 2003 after comments about media, Donovan McNabb
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Limbaugh: NFL is like street gangs with no weapons
Limbaugh has frequently lambasted celebratory dances performed by @placeholder players after scoring touchdowns ("a cultural problem ... that has resulted in a total lack of class") and assailed the game itself for its aggressive nature.