“Bern”, Baby Burn
He was supposed to be a part-time player this year. He was supposed to be an after-thought, a veteran guy who would be valuable just sitting on the bench helping other players. When he signed a 1-year, $1.5-million deal with the Yankees this winter, no one could have ever predicted that 37-year old Bernie Williams would be carrying the potent New York Yankees on his back and into first place in mid June.
Yes, as strange as it sounds, with all the injuries, the struggles of Alex Rodriguez, and an inconsistent pitching staff, the "new" old reliable, Bernabe Figueroa Williams, is saving the Yankees bacon, as the depleted "Bronx Bombers" try to win their 9TH straight divisional title.
Against the Washington Nationals last night, Bernie’s 8TH inning homer (his 6Th) was the deciding blow in the Yanks, 7-5 victory over the Nats. Bernie had four hits and 2 RBI in a win in which the Yankees maintained their one game lead over the second place, Boston Red Sox.
The heroics from Bernie last night, are nothing new to the Yankees this year. After his usual slow start, Williams has been on fire from both the right and left sides of the plate. So far in June, Bernie is hitting .349, with a .362 on base percentage. The Yankees "elder statesman" has hit 4-homers, and driven in 10 runs so far this month. To top all these numbers off, so far this season, Bernie has been very clutch as his average is .385 with two outs and runners in scoring position.
In his last 7 games, the 15-year veteran is hitting .474 (9-19) with two homers and 5 runs driven in. Those numbers have been so staggering, that Joe Torre really can’t afford to give Bernie some much needed rest.
As a long time Yankee fan, I can’t express how happy I am to see Bernie having such a great season. So many people wrote this guy off last year and in April this year, yet Bernie continues to make them all eat their words with every swing he takes. Williams has never changed since his first season with the Yankees in 1991. He doesn’t say much, and lets his game do the "talking" for him.
Because the Yankees have so many "big" names on the team, even the most diehard Yankee fan may forget where Bernie stands on the all-time Yankee leaders list. Here are the current numbers:
Games Played 5Th 2,003 (Mantle, Gehrig, Berra, and Ruth)
At Bats 3RD 7,645 (Mantle Gehrig)
Runs 5TH 1,333 (Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, and DiMaggio)
Hits 4TH 2,274 (Gehrig, Ruth, Mantle)
Doubles 3RD 432 (Gehrig, Mattingly)
Homers 6Th 281 (Ruth, Mantle, Gehrig, DiMaggio, and Berra)
RBI 6Th 1,228 (Gehrig, Ruth, Dimaggio, Mantle, Berra)
Impressive, isn’t it?
Yankee Tradition Notes
Kyle Farnsworth had to leave last night’s game after recording one out due to back spasms. Farnsworth may miss three or four games so the Yankees called up 25-year old reliever, T.J. Beam to help out in the pen.
Octavio Dotel pitched 1-1/3 innings in Columbus last night and gave up two hits, no runs, while striking out 3. Dotel is scheduled to pitch again today and if all goes well, he may join the team in Philadelphia early next week.
Robinson Cano now has a 14-game hitting streak and is hitting .325.
Jason Giambi leads the Yankees in runs batted in with 53.
Scott Proctor did a nice job last night, tossing two scoreless innings.
After another bad offensive game last night, Alex Rodriguez was called over by Don Mattingly and "Donnie Baseball" told A-Rod he may have found a flaw in Alex’s swing.
Yankee Tradition 