Bernie Williams for the Hall?
January 4, 2008 by Geoff Young
Filed under Hall of Fame, Personalities, Stats and Analysis
No, I don’t think so, but Steve Lombardi makes an interesting comparison between him and Jim Rice over at Stat of the Day that forces me at least to consider the possibility. I’m not sure if it’s possible for a guy who spent his entire career with the Yankees to be underrated, but if it is, Bernie Williams might be the one. Or maybe Roy White.
Williams was unbelievably good from 1995 to 2002, while playing a premium defensive position. His offensive line for that stretch was .321/.406/.531. You know how many guys put up better numbers during that period (minimum 4000 PA)? It’s a pretty short list, and all but a few of them (Mike Piazza, Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr., Chipper Jones) played at the wrong end of the defensive spectrum. That’s assuming you’re willing to concede that Griffey and/or Jones had superior numbers.
Point? Williams was a better player than I’d remembered. Maybe we’ll talk about White one of these days…
I love Bernie Williams, but for me he is on the outside looking in.
While he did put up nice numbers for a stretch, his defensive shortcomings and decline phase really hurt him. He can’t be viewed as a HOF at this point, and even though he played in the biggest market in the world and he’s Puerto Rican (so am I), I can’t include him.
Totally agree, but he merits a more serious discussion than I would have guessed before looking at his entire body of work. I have to think for a moment before dismissing him, which surprised me.