Bye bye Bernie? Seems that way
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Feb 19, 2007 
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It’s not official by any means but Bernie Williams seems to have retired.
He has not been in contact with Brian Cashman or Joe Torre. Nobody is saying he can’t come to camp but nobody is expecting it.
Bernie wants a guarantee that he will be on the roster and one isn’t coming.
Coming up on the blog: Audio clips from Brian Cashman and Steve Swindal
bernie, how we loved you. but did you have to act like a big baby this year?
you could have come to camp, hung out a bit, then when it was obvious you weren’t going to make the squad say “i am annoucing my retirement.” and then have bernie williams day sometime in august.
sad.
When will this non-story die?
Cashman has told Bernie that there is no spot, why can’t he explain this to clueless Joe? The only reason this is still a story is Joe making statement after statement.
It’s a sad day for Bernie Fans (i’m not one) – But the game is now a business, the players made it that way, and treat it that way so the teams should as well.
It’s in Bernie’s hands.
how can anyone who has been a fan of the yankees in the last 10 years at the least not be a bernie fan.
im a huge bernie fan, but i know that the current makeup of this team does not have a roster spot for him.
sure i would probably look at josh phelps as a guy who could likely not need to be on the 25 man roster, and sure you could put bernie there but at what cost?
joe will play bernie. joe will put him in the outfield. joe will use him as a pinch hitter. joe will make bernie try to perform in situations where bernie just doesn’t perform well at this point in his career.
in the end, bernie could be a valuable asset to almost any team right now. his passive ways and knowledge could take any youthful club and show them the right way to play. but the problem right now is bernie is showing a poor side to his personality. bernie is taking the situation personally. he is making yankee management look like bad guys and he as the victim. a victim isn’t paid $100M + over the course of his career.
i love bernie williams. i wish he would handle this much better but he chose not to. he chose to take the low road and sulk over the fact that with age his skills have diminished to the point where he is no longer considered worthy of one of the precious 25 roster spots that the yankees have. bernie should glow with pride that for so many years he was expected to be in one of those great 25 spots. he should feel great that those in the bronx who are blinded by pinstripes cheered him for ever step he took on the grass in both 2005 and 2006 with his pending “retirement” on the horizon. bernie however has chosen not to, rather he has chosen to expect he is to be given something that he is not contractually obligated to. sure experience should mean something, but not for certain situational players. bernie would not be a good every 4th or 5th game player. bernie would not be a good off the bench hitter. bernie is no longer a great outfielder. bernie is no longer a part of the precious 25.
bernie however is a yankee. and he will be loved and remembered for it, but unfortunately his actions at this time speak of a man who won’t let it go.
goodbye bernie williams. maybe next year we’ll see you as a special instructor. (a position you would have been given this year if you simply said “i retire”)
Bernie just isnt the kind of player who can contribute much off the bench.The enormous talent he once displayed isnt there anymore and his baseball instincts are nonexistent.As a fan Id love to see more of him but as a realist its time for him to go.
Where is George Steinbrenner?? Is he going to allow one of his Yankee treasures to be dumped like yesterday’s news? All Bernie wants to do is continue to be a Yankee – and he does it well. Cashman needs to recognize this and act accordingly. Torre realizes this and perhaps should make a visit to Steinbrenner again on behalf of his player.
Max,
George doesn’t care, nor does he make these decisions any more. Let’s not forget that for years George tried to trade Bernie.
Frankly , I don’t think it’s Bernie that’s lacking class here, it’s the Yanks. KevinC you must be 12 years old – mentally if not actually. No Yankee fan can not call themselves a fan of Bernie Williams.
The Yanks could have offered him a major league deal. What’s a $mil to this org – tip money! The one constant description of Bernie is his class. He wasn’t going to disrespect the Yanks or himself – if it were time, he’d hang ‘em up on his terms, as he’s earned. Even if he stuck, all that would mean is that 3 OF’s that typically play nearly every game in the season would have to be typical. And if anyone got hurt – here’s Melky! So the Yanks shouldn’t be disrespecting him. For you kids out there with extremely short memories, let’s think back to where this team would have been LAST SEASON had Bernie not come up pretty big for this team in May to August. Maybe Kevin Thompson would have stepped up, or we would have been stuck with Guiel, Reese, or who knows what. Perhaps you perspectiveless fools think .281 averages in 400 at bats grow on trees. If only for saving their bacon, the Yanks owe both Bernie and Melky.
And I’ve heard the he can’t play off the bench crap long enough. People – yeah, you Pete – point at his Sept. numbers to prove the point. In August, with only 5 more AB’s, he hit .317. Pete, I love what you’re doing here, but on the Bernie thing I can’t get on board with what I’m seeing.
nyyfaninlaaland:
Sorry, I’ve always thought Bernie was the most over rated Yankee for the last decade. He was a great hitter, thats it. NO arm, he was never a great fielder, his speed made up for his lack of baseball instincts, and when he started losing that, he should have lost his starting position.
Bernie made plenty of money for his years of service, and take a look at Bernie’s numbers from two years ago, before you talk about short memories. Yeah he was good last year, but without him we might have seen a younger player, or traded for someone else. Cashman was clear and concise with Bernie. The problem, once again is Clueless Joe Torre.
The fact of the matter is, this isn’t about money. Since you claim to be in LaLaLand I’ll give you a pass on what Cashman said to Michael Kay and WFAN radio.
Cashman said if Bernie was on the team, MELKY’s progression would be curtailed. He said it was either Bernie or Melky. So do you want an up and coming young player who can play all the outfield positions or an old DH who cannot play in the field? They all asked about the first basemen, the pitching staff, but he said Bernie or Melky. He then reiterated that it was Bernie or Melky.
I perfer Melky.
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