I was at the game in Texas last week when he missed that easy fly ball after coming back off the bench for awhile. The most amazing thing is that he has lost bat speed. That is a killer, once that is gone .......time to hang them up. (also lost a step in the outfield......and maybe the "want to" )
51 Bernie Williams, CF
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=ffteams vAlign=top><TD class=playerbio width="50%">Height/Weight: 6-2/205
Birthdate: 09/13/1968
Birthplace: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Bats/Throws: S/R
</TD><TD class=playerbio width="50%">Team: New York
College: Puerto Rico
MLB Experience: 15
2005 Salary: $12,357,143
:monsters-
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=ffteams vAlign=top><TD class=playerbio width="50%">Height/Weight: 6-2/205
Birthdate: 09/13/1968
Birthplace: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Bats/Throws: S/R
</TD><TD class=playerbio width="50%">Team: New York
College: Puerto Rico
MLB Experience: 15
2005 Salary: $12,357,143
:monsters-
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
he isnt even the most washed up player on the yankees. Have you seen kevin brown pitch this year? he has an era closer to 10 than to 1. at least bernie has been fairl productive as a hitter. no, he cant field, but its not his fault the yankees have 6 DHs on the team and no one else that can play CF.
Thome?? are you guys serious?? He has been hurt all year.
If healthy even in his decline he would still hit 30hrs + and knock in over 100 runs easy. It's also funny listening to all the Philly fans here jumping on the Ryan Howard bandwagon. If Howard played all next season it would be considered a great year if he hit the 42 homers Thome hit last year which was also an injury riddled dissapointing season.
Do people here really consider 40 hrs and 100+ rbi washed up?
If healthy even in his decline he would still hit 30hrs + and knock in over 100 runs easy. It's also funny listening to all the Philly fans here jumping on the Ryan Howard bandwagon. If Howard played all next season it would be considered a great year if he hit the 42 homers Thome hit last year which was also an injury riddled dissapointing season.
Do people here really consider 40 hrs and 100+ rbi washed up?
I consider what has he done for 13 mil and change washed up. There is a reason everyone is calling for Howard, he has the potential to put up Thome numbers, that he himself is no longer healthy enough to do. He has never been fast, nor a gold glover. So effectively he is there for his bat. But he is not there, because he is d-l-ing, or rehabbing again. Old guys who have been playing for 14 years tend to lose it fast. No one wants to pay a slow average fielder, or a DH 15 mil a year, so he is untradable. Howard will get the ab's, so Thome is hurt, dl, rehabbing or batting .200 for that salary. Washed up and a major money burner or fantasy league washout.
Best Wishes...OF:howdy:
Best Wishes...OF:howdy:
http://wiltonvillager.com/story/492170
Ex-Yankee star Williams trades center field for center stage
Posted on 09/30/2010
Copy and paste below into your page: (close this pane)
<a href="http://www.thehour.com/story/492170/">Ex-Yankee star Williams trades center field for center stage</a>
By KEITH LORIA
The Hour Correspondent
When New York Yankee legend Bernie Williams was 17, he came to Fairfield for the first time to play baseball.
"I signed with the Yankees in 1985 and I didn't want to go to the rookie league right away, because I wanted to finish my high school," Williams says. "That summer they sent me instead to a baseball youth camp in Fairfield, so I spent a lot of time here, and it was a big part of my growing up."
When Williams returns Oct. 3, he will have traded in center field for center stage, as he comes to the Ridgefield Playhouse to perform selections from his two acclaimed jazz guitar albums.
"When I was playing baseball, I always brought my guitar with me and read books about music and saw every guitar player and concert I could get into, always trying to learn more," Williams says. "It is something I have always enjoyed doing over the course of my life."
It all began when his father, a merchant marine, brought home a guitar from Spain one year.
"I started playing guitar at 8, about the same time I started playing baseball," Williams says. "I asked my father to teach me how to play and I just fell in love with the guitar and music, and it's been a pretty important part of my life ever since."
Williams went to a performing arts high school when he was in ninth grade and studied classical guitar. Although they didn't have a baseball team, Williams kept up with the sport in his local little league.
As a member of the Yankees, Williams collected 2,336 hits, made five All-Star teams, collected four gold gloves and was part of four championship teams.
"Music is a passion for me, but at the time I was playing, baseball was a passion too. I wouldn't have survived 16 years playing with the Yankees if baseball wasn't important," he says. "I do miss the game a lot. The competition, the camaraderie of players and just playing the game itself...being part of World Series teams and All-Star games. I held one of the best jobs in sports for all 16 years, playing center field for the New York Yankees, and I do not take that lightly at all."
While playing, Williams released "The Journey Within" in 2003, a collection of original compositions he wrote based on his life. When he retired from baseball in 2006, Williams wanted to concentrate solely on his music.
"I had the opportunity after I retired to go to SUNY Purchase and its conservatory of music and expanded my horizons," he says. "I took some studio production classes, composition...and it propelled me to have the chance to create my second album."
That record, "Moving Forward," was nominated for a Latin Grammy and is something Williams is very proud of.
"This is a whole different world from sports. I don't have to face Roger Clemens or Pedro Martinez and face that whole competition, I can take this at my own pace and learn from people and develop my own style," Williams says. "It's awesome and the opportunity to play on stage is always very rewarding."
Williams is enjoying life on the road as a musician and is looking forward to his upcoming tour.
"My concerts feature a compilation of my two albums and a couple of covers here and there," he says. "It's mostly acoustic and very influenced by my Latin background. With my heritage being Puerto Rican, I can't really forget about where I came from, so I try to put a lot of percussion in all my music."
Of course, the opportunity to see No. 51 will attract people inside the venues, but he knows that his music is what's going to keep them coming back.
"I think the curiosity thing for people who knew me as a baseball player will have some of my fans come in to see if I can play at all," Williams says.
"I think that curiosity will work to my favor when they hear the music and see the energy of the band and they will come back and watch me play."
Even with his passion so strong for music, Williams doesn't believe his days in baseball are over.
"I envision myself maybe later on having the opportunity to coach and teach young kids about hitting," he says. "But right now I am having so much fun playing music so this is the direction I am going."
Bernie Williams, 8 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 3, Ridgefield Playhouse, 80 E. Ridge Road. Tickets are $70 and $60. Go online to http://tickets.ridgefieldplayhouse.org or call (203) 438-5795.
Ex-Yankee star Williams trades center field for center stage
Posted on 09/30/2010
Copy and paste below into your page: (close this pane)
<a href="http://www.thehour.com/story/492170/">Ex-Yankee star Williams trades center field for center stage</a>
By KEITH LORIA
The Hour Correspondent
When New York Yankee legend Bernie Williams was 17, he came to Fairfield for the first time to play baseball.
"I signed with the Yankees in 1985 and I didn't want to go to the rookie league right away, because I wanted to finish my high school," Williams says. "That summer they sent me instead to a baseball youth camp in Fairfield, so I spent a lot of time here, and it was a big part of my growing up."
When Williams returns Oct. 3, he will have traded in center field for center stage, as he comes to the Ridgefield Playhouse to perform selections from his two acclaimed jazz guitar albums.
"When I was playing baseball, I always brought my guitar with me and read books about music and saw every guitar player and concert I could get into, always trying to learn more," Williams says. "It is something I have always enjoyed doing over the course of my life."
It all began when his father, a merchant marine, brought home a guitar from Spain one year.
"I started playing guitar at 8, about the same time I started playing baseball," Williams says. "I asked my father to teach me how to play and I just fell in love with the guitar and music, and it's been a pretty important part of my life ever since."
Williams went to a performing arts high school when he was in ninth grade and studied classical guitar. Although they didn't have a baseball team, Williams kept up with the sport in his local little league.
As a member of the Yankees, Williams collected 2,336 hits, made five All-Star teams, collected four gold gloves and was part of four championship teams.
"Music is a passion for me, but at the time I was playing, baseball was a passion too. I wouldn't have survived 16 years playing with the Yankees if baseball wasn't important," he says. "I do miss the game a lot. The competition, the camaraderie of players and just playing the game itself...being part of World Series teams and All-Star games. I held one of the best jobs in sports for all 16 years, playing center field for the New York Yankees, and I do not take that lightly at all."
While playing, Williams released "The Journey Within" in 2003, a collection of original compositions he wrote based on his life. When he retired from baseball in 2006, Williams wanted to concentrate solely on his music.
"I had the opportunity after I retired to go to SUNY Purchase and its conservatory of music and expanded my horizons," he says. "I took some studio production classes, composition...and it propelled me to have the chance to create my second album."
That record, "Moving Forward," was nominated for a Latin Grammy and is something Williams is very proud of.
"This is a whole different world from sports. I don't have to face Roger Clemens or Pedro Martinez and face that whole competition, I can take this at my own pace and learn from people and develop my own style," Williams says. "It's awesome and the opportunity to play on stage is always very rewarding."
Williams is enjoying life on the road as a musician and is looking forward to his upcoming tour.
"My concerts feature a compilation of my two albums and a couple of covers here and there," he says. "It's mostly acoustic and very influenced by my Latin background. With my heritage being Puerto Rican, I can't really forget about where I came from, so I try to put a lot of percussion in all my music."
Of course, the opportunity to see No. 51 will attract people inside the venues, but he knows that his music is what's going to keep them coming back.
"I think the curiosity thing for people who knew me as a baseball player will have some of my fans come in to see if I can play at all," Williams says.
"I think that curiosity will work to my favor when they hear the music and see the energy of the band and they will come back and watch me play."
Even with his passion so strong for music, Williams doesn't believe his days in baseball are over.
"I envision myself maybe later on having the opportunity to coach and teach young kids about hitting," he says. "But right now I am having so much fun playing music so this is the direction I am going."
Bernie Williams, 8 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 3, Ridgefield Playhouse, 80 E. Ridge Road. Tickets are $70 and $60. Go online to http://tickets.ridgefieldplayhouse.org or call (203) 438-5795.
