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1999 Yankees

The Bronx is Berning: Yanks retire 51

In 1989 the Texas Rangers sent Wilson Alvarez, Scott Fletcher and Sammy Sosa to the Chicago White Sox for Harold Baines and Fred Manrique. Why is this significant, you ask? Well, it was the summer of ’89, the New York Yankees almost traded Bernie Williams, Kevin Maas and Kevin Mmahat to the South Side for Baines. While Baines did have a solid major-league career, it will be Williams and his number 51 enshrined as part of forever, in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium, before the Yanks host the Rangers, Sunday night.

For those of a certain age, Bernie Williams was a light of hope. In the early 1990’s the franchise had hit rock bottom. Dave Winfield was gone. Don Mattingly had a cranky back. The organization either kept its best prospects in the minors or swapped out the likes of Willie McGee, Fred McGriff, Jay Buhner, Doug Drabek, Jose Rijo, Bob Tewksbury, Al Leiter and Hal Morris, for an older, quick fix type player. Williams, coupled with the faith of Gene “Stick” Michael and Buck Showalter, helped change the philosophy of the club and altered the course of history.

While Bernie had expectations of being a 40/40 player, it wasn’t all easy in the early going. Williams bumped between Columbus, Albany, Columbus, New York, Columbus and New York again. Plus, Bernie faced ridicule and teasing from some teammates, Mel Hall in particular, referring to him as “Bambi.” Bernie did get stronger, both mentally and physically, eventually becoming a fixture in center-field in 1993.

Soon enough it would be Bernie Baseball taking the torch from Donnie Baseball, leading by example and paving the way for the next wave of Yankee prospects. Bernie could seemingly do it all, hitting bombs from both sides of the plate, almost gliding to rob a home run at the wall, using his speed to dive full out and make a sprawling grab.

It’s no surprise the Yanks began to take off when Bernie did. One could argue Williams was the best player on the team from 1995-2002. In those seasons, Bernie batted .300 or better every year, leading the club in average in 1997, 1998 and 2002. From 1994-1996, Williams paced the club in runs scored. Plus, Williams drove in at least 100 runs, five times, between 1996-2002. Bernie became the only player in MLB history to win a batting title (.339), gold glove and World Series in the same season in 1998. In 2000, Bernie and Jorge Posada became the first pair of teammates to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game. Along with catching the final out of the 2000 World Series, Williams led the AL with a .1000 fielding percentage. Capping off this stretch of brilliance in 2002, Bernie won the AL Silver Slugger Award and set a franchise record for most hits by a switch-hitter in a single season with 204.

Those numbers only tell half the story. Where Bernie really went boom was in October. While “Bern, Baby, Bern!” was the operative phrase, Williams was cool, calm, collected and clutch in the postseason. I’m not saying Bernie’s whole body of work merits induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown but if we’re going to start arguing borderline players based on their numbers in the playoffs, I believe Bernie deserved a closer look. Batting cleanup and playing center-field for the New York Yankees on four World Series winning squads should warrant closer inspection.

During Game 3 of the 1995 ALDS at Seattle, Bernie became the first player in postseason history to homer from both sides of the plate. Bernie would duplicate the feat a year later at Texas, in Game 4 of the 1996 ALDS. As the Yanks advanced to the next round in 1996, Williams smacked a walk off winning home run in Game 1 against the Baltimore Orioles, eventually winning ALCS MVP by virtue of batting .474. Williams also hit his first World Series home run in Atlanta and the Yanks captured the title.

Following the record setting 125 win campaign of 1998, Bernie was back for more heroics. In Game 1 of the 1999 ALCS, Williams hit a walk off home run against Rod Beck and the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees repeated and were back for more in 2000, when Bernie torched the M’s, hitting .435 in the ALCS, while tormenting team again with three home runs in the 2001 ALCS.

Even in the somewhat tougher post-dynasty years, Bernie continued to battle. Williams’ eighth inning RBI-single in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS against Pedro Martinez and Boston, helped the Yanks rally and eventually advance to the Fall Classic. Bernie’s final World Series may have been his personal best, in a losing effort, Williams batted an even .400 with two home runs. Even in an uphill climb during Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS, when virtually every other bat went silent, Williams and Hideki Matsui continued to scrap and claw, knocking Martinez out as he attempted to tap dance on their graves.

Yes, Bernie Williams was some kind of special player. Bernie’s 22 home runs are a Yankees postseason franchise best and his 80-RBI are an MLB postseason record. Williams was a five-time All-Star, four-time gold glove winner and his 2,336 hits rank fifth all-time in Yankees history.

So as they get the band back together again Sunday night, it won’t be the South Side shuffle but rather reminiscing about the sweet swinging music Bernie Williams made in the South Bronx.