Bernie Meacham
Coming into today’s game, Bernie Williams’ slugging percentage was .296 and his on base average was .310. The last time that the Yankees had a player, who had enough PA to qualify for the batting title, have a slugging percentage below his on base average was 1986 – when Willie Randolph did it.
Actually, Willie did this often – from 1978 through 1986, Randolph did this every year except 1983. And, he almost did it in 1977 and 1987 as well. But, Willie also was doing this while posting some nice on base averages.
It’s that .296 slugging percentage for Bernie really stands out.
In 1985, Bobby Meacham had a slugging percentage of .266 and his on base average was .302. When you think about Meacham, being a switch hitter, well, dare we say that Bernie Williams is now batting like Bobby Meacham?
Of course, it’s early – very, very, early. But, when you consider that it’s been since 2002 that Bernie hit with any serious power…..again, well, maybe the Meacham thing is not that far off?
The biggest question, perhaps, here is: How far do you go with Bernie to find out for sure?
The biggest question, perhaps, here is: How far do you go with Bernie to find out for sure?
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An even bigger question, why is Sturtze pitching the 8th? Is Farnsworth hurt?
Bernie is 3 for 4 tonight, now batting .323
Bernie will have to bat .350 to have any value – if all he’s going to hit are singles.
I dunno, Steve. He barely missed a HR yesterday, and hit another one pretty hard, then got 3 hits today. I’m not convinced that “he’s back,” but it’s certainly encouraging that he might not be a black hole in the lineup.
I think we have to see how he does against the better pitching in the league before we say he’s back.