How Did Bernie Williams React to Batting 9th?

 

Watching Jorge Posada, now a full-time DH and commanding a handsome $13.1 million annual salary while batting a paltry .165- sulk about being pushed down to 9th in the New York Yankee lineup -must have seemed downright laughable to the 13 million Americans without jobs, wondering how they will pay their bills or keep their homes.

Can you imagine how long an average American worker would hold on to their job during these challenging economic times- if he or she was as productive as Posada is now:  batting .165, six hits in his last 29 plate appearances, pounding out only 18 hits over 33 games with 15 RBI’s and striking out 30 times?  Only two other designated hitters have struck out more than Posada 39 games into this young season: Jack Cust of the Seattle Mariners and Adam Dunn of the Chicago White Sox.

If Posada was living in the real world, he would have already been handed his pink slip, escorted to the exit by a security guard and told his services were no longer required; his job having been outsourced or downsized.

But as we all know, professional athletes don’t live in the real world; they’re paid generously whether they win batting titles, or carve nicks in weather (swing and miss) ; their hefty paychecks still end up in their bank accounts week after week, rain or shine.

Instead of being grateful he’s still being penciled in the lineup despite not even batting his weight, Posada sulks and pouts like someone stole his lunch, just for being asked to bat 9th.

The former Yankee catcher has already offered his apology to his skipper for his temper tantrum and taking himself out of the lineup on Saturday against their division rival foes, the Boston Red Sox.  Joe Girardi, hoping to keep this theatrical dust-up to a minimum, accepted his DH’s apology; and all in the Yankee dugout hope to put this media-frenzied disruption behind them for good.

And by all accounts, Posada won’t likely act as a disruptive force in the dugout for the remainder of the season. The pride that goes with being counted on for clutch hitting like Posada was counted on for so many years, and then seeing his name 9th in the lineup for the first time in his career, must have been a little jarring for Posada and he reacted uncharacteristically like a spoiled brat.

As many baseball fans tweeted all day Sunday, ``Posada has been placed on the 15-day DL with a bruised ego.’’

Bruised ego or not,  it’s instructive how another Yankee great, Bernie Williams, reacted when manager Joe Torre penciled him in 9th in the lineup on April 13, 2005. It was a game against the Boston Red Sox in Fenway and Williams hadn’t batted 9th since July 2, 1995.  Did Williams sulk or pout or take himself out of the lineup for being bumped down to 9th in the lineup? Hardly. When asked before the game how he thought about batting 9th, Williams responded, ``It doesn’t really matter to me.’’ Batting a mere .143 with only one run batted in,  Williams turned in one of the best games of the season, going 3- for-4, including a sixth inning solo shot off of Boston ace Curt Schilling to help the Yankees to a 5-2 win over their division rivals.

After the game, Torre told reporters, ``Bernie in unlike any player I have ever met. He never changes. I’ve been here 10 years now and he’s [Bernie Williams] the same person, personality-wise, and respect-wise.’’ ``It’s refreshing’’, the Yankee skipper said. `` You hurt for him because you know he’s struggling and he has his pride and is taking a beating. But he keeps coming back and that’s what makes him so special.’’

Special, indeed.

Maybe Posada should take a closer look at how his former teammate handled the second to last season of his career, knowing full well his offensive power wasn’t nearly what it was to be- asked to hit 9th. Unlike Posada, Williams didn’t take himself out of the lineup against a division rival, he didn’t say he needed to ``clear his head’’, or claim he had an ailing back. Williams just treated it like any other day, by being a Yankee, whether he was hitting 5th, 6th or 9th, it didn’t matter to Bernie; as long as he could look in the mirror at the end of the day, and tell himself he put his best foot forward, diminishing skills and all, in helping his team to win a ballgame.

For the record, Williams finished the 2005 season with a .249 batting average, 64 RBI’s and 12 home runs.  Nowhere near the numbers this slugger used to put up; but it was a yeoman’s effort befitting a true Yankee.

And Posada should remind himself despite all his hitting and defensive accomplishments, the one endearing memory to many Yankee fans, is not the hits that ricocheted off the bats from the heart of their mighty lineup , but from the hit off the bat of their No. 9 hitter in 1978, Bucky Dent, who batted just .243 with four home runs that year; but by far his biggest blast was his 3-run moon shot that just cleared the Green Monster  off of pitcher run Mike Torrez in propelling the Yankees to a dramatic 5-4 one-game playoff win against the Boston Red Sox.

During that memorable game, no one really remembers that the Yankee clean-up hitter Reggie Jackson belted a solo home run in the 8th inning; the only memory that will never fade is that ``Bucky Bleeping Dent’’, as disgruntled Boston fans referred to him, the number 9 hitter in the Yankee lineup, was hailed as the working class hero.

If Posada thinks it’s beneath him to hit 9th, I’m sure there are plenty of prospects in Scranton, Trenton, and Tampa, eagerly waiting the phone to ring.

-Bill Lucey
[email protected]
 May 16, 2011

Comments

[Politicsandfinance.blogspot.com]

Hi Bill:

We think very much alike as I wrote an article this past weekend on baseball players, a sense of entitlement and a lack of any reality when comparing what they do to jobs in the real world.

I wrote about it in my finance blog, The Economic Peephole, in an article titled "Hallelujah, finally some sanity in MLB baseball!"

This was an update to the article that originally ran on May 15th:

"Update May 16th: Jorge Posada of the New York Yankees received no punishment after refusing to play because he didn’t like being moved to ninth in the line-up. This despite a .162 batting average. Try that one at work today."

Great article. Keep up the terrific work.

Mike

[Ranger Tickets]

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