Bernie Williams (The Show 24)

This will be my first of many posts about my favorite baseball player, Bernie Williams. It’s funny to think that at 31 years old, I can still be excited about a new player being added into a video game. But, with that being said, to me, this isn't just any player; this is my favorite player.

There are few things that we remember from our first five years of life, but everyone has a handful of things that they do. In the year 1998, the New York Yankees are about to win their first World Series of their incredible 3-peat World Series run. While in the ALCS against the Cleveland Indians, a 5-year-old me saw the first diving catch of my life. Bernie Williams, the Yankees' center fielder, made a diving catch, and it was, to me, the coolest thing in the world. After the diving catch, he comes in to hit. The commentator says that he’s a switch-hitter, and to my already wide-eyed self, it was too good to be true. I didn’t know anyone was capable of hitting right-handed and left-handed; this guy was the coolest! My parents informed me that seeing that diving catch made my next year of Little League baseball a tough one, due to my coach informing them that I dove for every baseball, which ordinarily wouldn't be a bad thing. However, I was diving for baseballs that were right at me.

I don’t remember the exact moment that Bernie Williams became my favorite player, and the more I watched him, the more things that I liked. Looking back at the 1998 ALCS, I was happy to see that Bernie was a force to be reckoned with. In 6 games, Bernie Williams hit .381 with a .536 on-base percentage, helping them clinch the American League Championship against the San Diego Padres. Looking back, I’d have to say that 5-year-old Ben had quite the eye for excellence on a baseball field.

It’s weird to think that Bernie Williams retired nearly 20 years ago. Most kids that I coach have heard about the Core Four of the Yankees: Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, and Andy Pettitte. None of them have any clue who Bernie Williams is. I’ll give a short recap as to why this is so crazy to me. Bernie is one of twenty-three retired numbers for the most historic team in MLB history. He won 4 World Series, was the 1996 ALCS MVP, a multi-time Gold Glove winner, 5-time All-Star, Silver Slugger, and a multi-time top 10 MVP finisher at a time when if you weren't on steroids, you didn't stand a chance to be on that list, yet he was. Let’s not forget; he held down the centerfield position for the most dominating team in baseball for 16 consecutive seasons.

MLB The Show has a cool way of introducing players to a different generation of fans that otherwise wouldn't know existed. And for a lot of these players, I believe it’s important that people remember excellence within the game. As for why I’m so excited about him being put back into a video game after all this time, it’s almost like getting to see my favorite player play baseball again. It gives me another chance to remember what that excitement felt like to see number 51 come to the plate one more time.