Bernie is all class.

No way to tell anything from just an hour of course, but he was as nice and genuine as you could expect, and much more forthcoming and expansive than he was in his playing days (when he was always pleasant, but often spoke in the usual baseball player platitudes).

I feel bad for Bernie in that he’s been out of the game for so long and still can’t believe it; he’s one of my favorites, but I remember all the GOB comments and I felt like it was time to either drastically reduce his role or gently put him to pasture, something that in my opinion was done wrong and set the stage for Torre’s eventual bad departing.

But his music’s really good; he has nothing to be worried about in that regard. Music like his really has no limit to how long he can keep making it as long as he desires to do so.

I agreed with what he said about the impatience with young players; it takes someone like Cano to make an impact in New York, but let’s not forget that Melky for one did get to start for at least a year before he was demoted strictly for not producing, and in Ricky Ledee’s case, he was a platoon player his entire career. In essence, the Yanks have made smart decisions about the young guys who go on to be starters (Cano, Wang) and the ones who platoon and go by the wayside (Melky, Ledee). It’s the pitching that’s always been suspect, really; particularly the way they’ve been handled of late.

Bernie really comes across as a genuinely decent man. Glad I had the chance to root for him.

Pitchers: Sabathia, Pettitte, Hughes, Burnett, Mitre, Moseley, Logan, Robertson, Chamberlain, Wood, Rivera

Catchers: Posada, Cervelli

Infielders: Teixeira, Cano, Jeter, Rodriguez, Berkman, Pena

Outfielders: Swisher, Granderson, Gardner, Thames, Kearns, Golson

i do have a question i’d ask him:

PLEASE let me audition for your band/PLEASE hire me?????

I would’ve loved to hear what was the most intimidating experience he had on the ballfield.

I remember watching him make some classic baserunning mistakes, hauling around second on a fly ball, sliding into third while the throw went to first to force him out for not tagging up. Then, blink, blink, blink, he’d just get back to the dugout. They’d cut to the dugout later and you’d see Torre or Zim schooling to him. And him still, blink, blink, blink, just trying to learn.

Man I miss watching that guy. Torre and Zim too. In their heydey, they sure made it all look, very, very human.

A followup to his comment about not leaving on the best of terms. What advice would he give to guys like Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada as they approach the end of their careers? It’s different for those guys vs pitchers (Andy and Mo), and he might have some interesting perspective.

To this day he seems like it’s all a mystery to him. Like he’s still pinching himself, still seeing through the eyes of a kid who doesn’t realize he is BERNIE WILLIAMS! Very humble and genuine, and still a bit surprised at how people react to him.

When it comes to Bernie – all I can say is “more please”.

Joe from RAB was there yesterday too, and posted his take: http://bit.ly/dl78Jc

Sometimes I feel like just an out-and-out Bernie fan, but during those halcyon days of the late 90s, even when Jeter had emerged as the big star/leader, it always felt a little off to me because it seemed obvious that Bernie was the straw that stirred the drink, so to speak.