Injury Woes and a Tribute to Bernie

Well, it’s Sunday and You all know what that means. Yep time for me to let all of you crazy Yankee fans out there know what I think about our beloved Yankees. This weeks topic The disabled List or basically what is quickly become most of the Yankee roster. Let’s see now Matsui is on the DL with a Strained hammy, Wang is on the DL as well with the same injury. Karastan is on the DL because his arm was hurting thank god it was not his elbow and MRI’s scans came back clean. All three of them should be back on the Yankee roster before the end of the month Wang maybe as soon as next weekend, because good Ole Carl (I stubbed my Toe and it hurts so much) Pavano is hurt again as well (And just placed on the DL Today). Apparently his arm was feeling stiff and it extended up to his elbow. That can’t be a good sign. Moose also pulled a hammy but the Yankees seemed to think he would only miss one start, but then they placed him on the DL today as well so who frigen knows. The Good news in all of this my fellow Yankee fans (And YES there is some Good news) is that it’s only April. Injuries happen threw out the year, and usually they happen in bunches like the Yankee are going threw right now. The thing is right now the season just began, and once everybody is healthy by the end of April which is likely to happen (with the possible exception of Pavano) This team is going to be tough to beat. More importantly with the injuries mostly out of the way early the Yankees should not encounter too many late season injuries. Remember last year we went threw a rash of early injuries as well but finished the season strong unlike Boston who had their injuries late in the season and crashed and burned to third place in the division. So I say let them have their fast starts, let them be healthy NOW. The Yankees will work out their kinks, get healthy and then do what they do every year which is leading the AL East buy the end of September.

Now with all the injuries as of late especially when Damon was hurt the first week of the season then Matsui went down a lot of people have started to talk about bringing Bernie back into the Yankee fold. Personally I think the Ghosts of Yankee Stadium are trying to tell Cashmen something, and he needs to get on the phone and call Bernie PRONTO, before Abrue gets hit by a stray foul ball and a piano drops out of nowhere on Melky. Why bring Bernie back?? Well aside form being the best PR thing the Yankees could do, Bernie has always been a quite leader on this team and would be a HUGE clubhouse positive and a good influence on the young players coming up to help fill in for the walking wounded. On top of that Bernie proved last year that he still has it in his Bat. Last of all many a critic CLAIMS Bernie is not hall of Fame material and I for one beg to differ. Another season just might help him sway a few more stubborn voters into believing Bernie is worthy. A Few months ago I wrote a Blog about why I believe Bernie should be in the Hall Of Fame, so to finish this week and in Honor of one of my Favorite Yankees I have Reposted this blog for all to read.

Bernie Williams or BERN BABY BERN!!

Bernie Williams to me has been one of the greatest Yankees to ever grace the field of Yankee stadium. Mind you I said ONE of the greatest as I am well aware that many others have come before him. The thing about Bernie Williams is he was the first piece of puzzle in what would become the Yankee Dynasty of the late 90’s. Before Derek Jeter, Mo Rivera, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, and a few others there was Bernie Williams. In 1991 Bernie Williams made his MLB Début as a Yankee and has never looked back, and in that time has put up some impressive numbers along the way. Currently Bernie ranks in the top 10 of most Yankee offensive categories most notably, games played (5th), Hits (4th), Doubles (2nd), HR (6th), Runs Scored (5th), and RBI’s (6th). But it’s not his Career regular season numbers that stand out. In the postseason Bernie Williams has been a force even in his declining years, take a look for your self

SEASON	TEAM	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
1991	NYY	85	320	43	76	19	4	3	34	48	57	10	5	.238	.336	.350	.686
1992	NYY	62	261	39	73	14	2	5	26	29	36	7	6	.280	.354	.406	.760
1993	NYY	139	567	67	152	31	4	12	68	53	106	9	9	.268	.333	.400	.733
1994	NYY	108	408	80	118	29	1	12	57	61	54	16	9	.289	.384	.453	.837
1995	NYY	144	563	93	173	29	9	18	82	75	98	8	6	.307	.392	.487	.879
1996	NYY	143	551	108	168	26	7	29	102	82	72	17	4	.305	.391	.535	.926
1997	NYY	129	509	107	167	35	6	21	100	73	80	15	8	.328	.408	.544	.952
1998	NYY	128	499	101	169	30	5	26	97	74	81	15	9	.339	.422	.575	.997
1999	NYY	158	591	116	202	28	6	25	115	100	95	9	10	.342	.435	.536	.971
2000	NYY	141	537	108	165	37	6	30	121	71	84	13	5	.307	.391	.566	.957
2001	NYY	146	540	102	166	38	0	26	94	78	67	11	5	.307	.395	.522	.917
2002	NYY	154	612	102	204	37	2	19	102	83	97	8	4	.333	.415	.493	.908
2003	NYY	119	445	77	117	19	1	15	64	71	61	5	0	.263	.367	.411	.778
2004	NYY	148	561	105	147	29	1	22	70	85	96	1	5	.262	.360	.435	.795
2005	NYY	141	485	53	121	19	1	12	64	53	75	1	2	.249	.321	.367	.688
2006	NYY	112	368	54	104	26	0	11	55	30	47	2	0	.283	.333	.443	.776
Total	--	2057	7817	1355	2322	446	55	286	1251	1066	1206	147	87	.297	.381	.478	.859

My biggest argument with people when they tell me Bernie is not Hall of Fame Material is that he leads most MLB Players in post-season offensive stats. First in Games played with 125, First in runs scored with 83, Second only to Derek Jeter in hits with 128, First in total bases with 223, First in Doubles with 29, First in HR with 22, first in RBI’s with 80, First in walks with 72, second only to Derek Jeter in base hits with 77, first in Extra Base Hits with 51, and has been on base more times then any major league ball player in the post season with 202. If Bernie Williams was has been a great player over all in the post season he has been an EXCEPTIONAL player in the Postseason where it matters most.

When Bernie retires which is most likely this year, he will be remembered by many Yankee fans as a living legend of our times. The baseball writers thou will likely not be so kind, as they come up with excuse after excuse. He does not have 300 HR, his last few seasons have not been that great, and the one that aggravates me the most is that his numbers are good in the postseason ONLY because he plays for the Yankees. Their argument is that Bernie would not have played so many Postseason games if he were on another team. This argument will always piss me off because what they’re basically saying is because Bernie is a Yankee we are going to penalize him for being an exceptional postseason player. You think they would say the same thing about David Ortiz even thou he does not even RANK in any of these categories for the postseason?? The argument is a stupid one. Bernie Williams was one of the few things to cheer about during the lean years of the mid 90’s, and was a big part of the reason the Yankees even made the play offs, much less got to the World Series in 1996. It’s not like the man was riding the coattails of everybody else on the team then suddenly hit well for a few games in October.

He has ALWAYS hit well in October and if I am not mistaken it’s not like the pitching he was facing was poor. Those teams pitching to him got to the postseason ON THEIR PITCHING, which means when facing the best pitching in baseball Bernie Williams was better. You can’t ignore the fact that he will be in the top 5 of these Postseason stats for years to come. In most of those categories the player behind him trails by 10 or more points. He is ahead of Legends such as, Babe Ruth, Lou, Mickey Mantle, Reggie Jackson, Pet Rose, Steve Garvey, and Yogi Berra. There should be no Doubt that Bernie Williams maybe not on the first but eventually should be gracing the hollowed Halls of the hall of fame. Unfortunately the Writers of our day and age can’t even recognize players like Don Mattingly, Goose Gosage, and others as Hall of Fame members so Bernie will likely be left out in the cold when it comes to the Hall of fame while Chemically enhanced Steroid Abused players like Mark McGuire, and Barry Bonds are allowed in with their tainted records and questionable past.

Till next Week

The Yankees Fan