Saturday, January 30, 2010

Yankees should honor Bernie Williams


Who's going to be the New York Yankees centerfielder this year? Curtis Granderson? Brett Gardner? Randy Winn? I remember a time not too long ago when the answer to that question was settled. Bernie Williams became the Yankees CF in 1993 and held that position for the next 12 years, becoming a favorite among us Yankee fans for his clutch regular and postseason performances and his quiet, amusingly distracted demeanor.

Bernie is all over the place these days, gently mocking his former teammates at an awards dinner and hosting a charity event today. He seems content to focus on playing beautiful music, with an occasional foray into baseball. He played for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, one of the main reasons I tuned in to watch.

I'd love to see the Yankees officially honor Bernie Williams with a day at the new stadium, celebrating his accomplishments and retiring his number 51 so that no other player ever wears it. The problem, of course, is that Bernie hasn't officially retired from baseball. I think if he did announce his retirement, then the Yanks would quickly organize a major bash in his honor. And all of us Bernie fans would be lining up to get those tickets.

Thanks to Chris Ptacek and Amineshaker via Wikipedia for the photo.

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