Bernie’s Post-Season Days
Posted by Steve L. on September 6th, 2006 · Comments (19)
Today, I find myself thinking about Bernie Williams and the reaction that he will receive from Yankees fans in the post-season this year.
If there’s an obvious “last post-season game” in the Bronx this year, will the fans give Bernie the “Paul O’Neill 2001″ treatment?
Of course, the fans knew in 2001 that O’Neill was going to retire – and Bernie has not made such a disclosure this year. But, Williams made no hint of retirement last year and the Yankees fans gave him ovations at the end of the season in 2005.
Maybe the fans will give Williams something like O’Neill got in 2001 – in any event – as a “just in case” move? Or, maybe as a “take the hint” move?
It will be interesting to see how the fans, and Bernie, handle this situation.
Unfortunately for the Yankees, Steve, the post-season isnt wrapped up. When a guy who oppo-shots a gametying homer off Mariano cant get a runner home from 3rd w/ less than 2 out twice in a game (both resulting in double plays) it shows the writing on the wall that future teams like the royals and O’s will do much of the same. That is not to mention that “clutch hitter” Joe Crede hit into a DP w/ a guy on 3rd and less than 2 out. Ya know, its a real shame that Bobby Junks and the White Sox offense hung their two starting pitchers out to dry just to help the red sox. I hope with all hope that the white sox miss the playoffs this year (twins and yankees make it) just b/c they decided that beating the red sox wasnt important.
I say were going to have to go 16-9 w/ one win coming off the red sox to clinch. All we can hope for is that the red sox lose 1 game for the rest of the season (against us) as their weak starting pitching will just continue to outpitch their potential.
nysupremacy:
How can you claim that teams fighting for playoff spots are “laying down and dying” for the Red Sox? For some reason, all of your posts revolve around teams playing poorly against the Red Sox, but stepping it up a notch against the Yankees. Teams like the Tigers, White Sox, Twins, Angels, and A’s cannot afford to lose games to an inferior team. It doesn’t make much sense. Your “whole world is against us” attitude is quite narrow.
Weird Steve. I was thinking about Bernie this morning too. I think it may be similar to what Bernie got last year, a “just in case” tribute. The only difference with Paulie and Bernie though, Paulie was a still a starter. In the post-season Bernie may just be in the pinch-hit role.
Exactly. It doesnt make ANY sense. The only thing that i can gather is that the white sox decided they wanted to beat us and that it was unimportant to beat them. Why would they fight back from being down 7-0 and being no hit by the greatest LHP of all time but do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING against a guy whos parents couldnt be decent enough to name him jason and then fight back against the greatest closer in history and do nothing against a 40 year old loser.
Sure, the twins swept them, and devil rays and blue jays & oakland played them well this year, but every team in baseball team w/ the exception of oakland & twins could have won a combined 14 more games against them WITH JUST MINIMAL EFFORT. Rather, they played/managed with NO effort. How many games have we won this year that we shouldnt have (not counting against the red sox)? Probably 7 including the umpire call v seattle, but that call negates the ball 4 call to tie the game against hideki matsui v the orioles.
One last thing, with a runner on 3rd and less than 2 out and down a run, how many times do you think the Vladimir’s & Konerko’s and Bonds & Texas A-Rods of the world are going to get the run home versus us? If i go back and count, its probably 80 %. Against the red sox, its probably 30 %. Thats a huge difference.
Someone said the other day, conspiracy theories get tiring. However, its not a conspiracy if every team, bud selig, every GM, and every manager & player goes out there trying to screw us. A conspiracy, i think, requires that it be kept hidden. This is by no means kept hidden. Every time Bud Selig sits next to the Boss at one of our games, what do you think he is telling him. Probably “you think youve seen everything george, but theres more to come.”
Us getting screwed is by no means being kept hidden, so its not a conspiracy. And its also not a theory b/c its been proven ever since 2001 when the worthless tony womack decided he was going to rip a base hit off mariano, then come to us a few years later ala randy johnson and become ineffective.
“become ineffective”?
Tony Womack has always been ineffective. A mediocre player at the end of his career is virtually assured of playing poorly.
I love nysupremacy’s posts. Reminds me of Riley Martin.
As for Bernie, yes, we’ll give him all sorts of standing O’s. Jen makes a great point though – he may not be playing in the last game the Yankees play.
If the Yankees choose not to re-sign him or offer him some type of coaching/special instructor gig, I really hope he retires. I would hate to see him finish his career with another team – like being a pinch hitter for the Pirates, or worse – being the 5th outfielder on the Red Sox.
For the record — the Red Sox are doing us a FAVOR by beating the White Sox. The Twins keep winning, and the White Sox are falling out of the wild card chase. That’s GOOD news. I would much rather go into the playoffs knowing our competition was the Twins, Tigers and A’s. When the team you have to be most worried about is the A’s, you’re going well. Out of those teams, the White Sox are the only ones who scare me — and mostly because it’s hard to win in their house.
As for Bernie: he’s said again and again he plans to play again, and if they keep him strictly as a DH and a right-handed hitter, he can be pretty useful. But Torre’s basically a bonehead. Torre knows the stats, but he doesn’t always play Bernie against lefties, which is so stupid it almost leaves me speechless. Bernie can take on any lefty out there. But he’s not much of a left-handed hitter anymore.
If used correctly — which Torre seems incapable of — Bernie is worth his 1.5 million dollars.
Man, while there are certainly signs that Selig has helped out Boston from time-to-time, this is really out there. So when Womack hit that double off of Mo, would you say he ripped a “magic bullet?”
Who would you rather see on the Red Sox next year…Bernie or Sheff?
Bernie’s not going to Boston. Sox might make a play for Sheff, but if anyone in Houston had a brain, they’d sign him immediately. He would hit sixty home runs in that ballpark.
RBJ, at the very least, Womack was a stolen base threat like Dave Roberts. With the yankees, womack stood at first base with cement in his shoes. I just looked, he had 27 steals. I specifically remember him having 4 in one game that we lost and would venture to guess that of his other 23, 20 were in meaningless situations. Ive heard that pinstripes make you look 10 pounds lighter, but its almost as if wearing the pinstripes makes you incapable of reading a pitcher’s move to home plate unless the game is out of reach.
As for the White Sox doing us a favor, hmmmmm, will it be a favor when the royals and orioles get swept like the losers they are by the likes of snyder, tavarez, gabbard, and (insert name here).
And was it a magic bullet, yes, b/c against mike timlin or jon papelstain or whatever loser that the red sox or a any team for that matter wouldve thrown out there in 2001, there isnt ANY CHANCE of tony womack getting even a bat on the ball in that situation. He is taking his seat on the bench like the white sox did when (i refuse to call someone kason) jason gabbard struck out the side in order. How many times have we struck out the side this year in order, maybe 5.
60 home runs in that ballpark for Sheff, and you can guarantee every one would be fair the way they just went foul for us.
It will be interesting to see how much Bernie plays in the post-season. If Matsui is the lefty DH, then Bernie ought to be used only against lefty starters, and even then competing with Wilson for playing time. If Sheffield gets back into form, Bernie ought never be the DH.
And, yet, given Bernie’s good post-season results and Torre’s respect for him, I expect to see Bernie quite a bit.
~~Who would you rather see on the Red Sox next year…Bernie or Sheff?~~
Both, as long as Mussina doesn’t go there too.
~~~For the record — the Red Sox are doing us a FAVOR by beating the White Sox. The Twins keep winning, and the White Sox are falling out of the wild card chase. That’s GOOD news. I would much rather go into the playoffs knowing our competition was the Twins, Tigers and A’s. ~~~
Check the Chisox pitching stats in the 2nd half. I want to face them before Santanna, any day.
Huh, NYSupremacy? If you’ve got ARod, Jeter, Matsui, Sheffield, Posada and Giambi in the lineup with you, why would you steal? I really cannot follow your logic here. Womack had “cement shoes” with the Yankees (I’m guessing that you think 27 steals is low), yet in 2001 for Arizona he was 28 for 35. How is that record being a “stolen base threat”, yet 27 for 32 “cement shoes”?
Garland is still pretty good, and Vazquez is capable (apparently) of being occasionally brilliant. But it’s not the pitching that scares me. Their lineup is capable of beating both Wang and Mussina (neither has pitched that well against them). Oddly, RJ does pitch well against them.
I’m more worried about their ballpark, which is basically Colorado-like. Every fly ball is a home run there, and I’d rather not play a playoff game in a ballpark that turns everything into a home run contest. We don’t play well there, and we can’t hold leads there, so I’d rather avoid it.
Plus we don’t know if Liriano is going to be one hundred percent, so the Twins don’t have much after Santana. And their offense sticks. Rasner and Karstens handled them. They don’t score runs. Neither do the Tigers. I wouldn’t say our pitching is great, but it’s enough to beat the Tigers and Twins, and our offensive ability couldn’t be more lopsided. I’d feel pretty comfortable going in against the Tigers, the Twins, the A’s (though less so), but not with the White Sox (I think they could legitimately beat us).
I want nothing to do with the ChiSox. Too much pitching depth and a solid lineup.
And I’m not worried about the Twins because we won’t be seeing them. The Twins will win the Central, we’ll beat the Tigers in the first round, and beat the A’s in the ALCS.