Triple Play:
1. He was trained on classical guitar, and later developed an interest in blues and jazz. He released an album, The Journey Within, in 2003.
2. Bernie spent his entire 16-year career with the Yankees, finishing with an overall batting line of .297/.381/.477 (125 OPS+), 449 doubles, 287 home runs, and 1,257 RBI.
3. By dint of his membership on the dynastic New York teams at the turn of the century, he collected 128 postseason hits, second-most behind longtime teammate Derek Jeter.
11-Year-Old Kevin Says: Buster Olney has claimed that the Yankees were prepared to part ways with Bernie after the 1998 season. But a potential deal with Albert Belle fell through when the Orioles threw big money at the mercurial slugger, and Williams turned down bigger offers from Boston and Arizona to remain in the Bronx. Of course my O's helped extend the Yanks' run of greatness. Ugh.
Bill James Said: "Like Pat Kelly, nobody is talking Cooperstown, but he's a good player now, and he's probably going to get better." In hindsight, it's pretty funny to see Bernie and Pat Kelly mentioned in the same breath.
On This Date in 1993: May 27. Scott Sanderson of the Angels holds Mariners hitters to five singles in a 5-0 Halos victory. With the shutout, the veteran righthander improves to 7-2 with a 2.82 ERA and ties Jack McDowell for the league lead in victories. Unfortunately for Sanderson, he goes 0-9 with a 6.23 ERA in his next 11 starts before being claimed on waivers by the Giants. He does right the ship in San Francisco down the stretch, however.
Could there have ever been a better combination of jackassery than Albert Belle and the Yankees? Oh, what might have been... Plus having the Steinbrenners on the hook for his "arthritic" (not steroid ravaged) hips would have been icing on the karmic cake.
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