Jason and I tentatively approached him, Jason because Bernie was his favorite player and me because…..well I’m the new guy and the last thing I needed to do was upset a Yankee legend during my first week. Eric, master of our signings, got us the okay from Bernie to come over and ask a few questions. I knew that Bernie during his playing days was considered a “shy” player, not one to be extremely outgoing in his emotional reactions to things. So when his answer to my first question (would he come back and coach?) was one, extremely brief sentence, I was worried how the rest of the interview would progress.
Once we started rolling through the questions, Bernie got more comfortable. More importantly…I got more comfortable asking him the questions. So much so that I threw a question out about what he thought about Paul O’Neill broadcasting. He chuckled and said he thought Paulie was doing a great job and then he chuckled again when I reminded him about how O’Neill got kicked out of batting practice for not having the proper credentials.
I was writing his answers furiously, yet I wanted to look up because every time he got going, he would stop signing items and look me in the eye. I don’t know if you’ve ever made eye contact with someone you idolize, but it’s an enlightening thing to experience. When we were finished we took a few pictures of Bernie and I even got a picture with him (see below the questions)!
Here are Bernie’s answers to a few of the questions fans posted to the Steiner Sports Facebook Fan Page.
What’s harder: recording an album or playing in the World Series? – Paul May
“It’s easier to record an album than play in the World Series, but playing in the World Series is like playing on stage live,” Bernie said. “You have one shot to make that impression…They’re both high pressure situations where you have to rely on your training,” he added. Bernie confessed about his World Series experiences “I wish I could have enjoyed the moment a little more.”
Would Bernie ever want to come back as a coach, even in the minors? – Bryan Heasley
“I’m concentrating on my music right now,” Bernie said, but he suggested he might think about it around spring training next year.
Where do you think the Yankees dynasty you were a part of ranks with the other Yankees dynasty years? – Matthew Kilpatrick
“It’s a subject of debate,” Bernie said. “I’m just glad I was a part of it, the ranking doesn’t matter,” he added.
Bernie are you more proud of your 1998 league leading single season batting average of .339 or your .297 career batting average?? – Jordan Alexander Hodge
“Winning a batting title in the big leagues was pretty cool,” Bernie admitted. “But I have no regrets about my career either.”
Does Bernie think the Yanks have a shot this year? And who does he think can be the MVP between Jeter and Tex? – Saket Mehta
“I’m not getting into that,” Bernie laughed, when we asked him the Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira question. He did go into the Yankees this year, “It’s going to come down to the pitching,” he said. “I think the front office moves have been great. Getting Mark and Hughes has been great setting up Mo and we have a 1-2 punch the way Arizona did back in the day with Randy (Johnson) and (Curt) Schilling with Burnett & CC”. Bernie asserted “It’s not going to be easy, we may have made it look it easy, but it definitely wasn’t.”
The first of many....
steinersports
Eric: Autograph Handler
Bald Vinny
costelloswingsforthefences
Colby Brin
First of all, this is totally unfair on so many different levels. I was at game 6 of the 96 world series, and game 5 of the 2000 world series, yes the one where Bernie recorded the final out, and never have I ever come this close to a Yankee legend. Alex, I am officially jealous of you. My father and I continually debate about whether the Yankees should retire Bernie’s number 51. My father is against it, (to be fair he was also against the retiring of Reggie’s 44, Casey’s 37, Billy Martin’s 1, Guidry’s 49, and Maris’ 9.) My father believes that in order to have your number retired as a Yankee, you have to be a) a Yankee for life, and b) “the man.” In my mind Bernie fits both categories. He was a Yankee for life, coming through their minor-league system, and retiring as a four-time world series champion, all with the Yanks. People forget how feared a hitter Bernie was in his heyday. Managers simply did not pitch to him when he hit right handed. He did everything well, except throw in his latter years. No he never stole bases, but he played the most prestigious position in Yankee history with grace like DiMaggio. Watching Bernie go first to third or first to home was like watching a sprinter run the 200m dash. While my father likes to believe he is always right, in his prime Bernie was most certainly “the man.” He was never brash and fiery like O’Neill, or as popular as Jeter, but similarly to Mariano, he was quiet in his successes, and owned up to his failures. He produced year after year, and epitomized and anchored those Yankee championship teams, and as far as I am concerned, his number 51 should never again be worn by another Yankee.
I understand where you are coming from Eric. The question becomes where do the Yankees draw the line on retiring players numbers. If they retire Bernie’s #51, how can they not retire #46 (Pettitte) and #20 (Posada)? I know Pettitte doesn’t follow your father’s “yankee for life” rule, but the reason he left was to no fault of his own (the Yankees played their contract negotiations with him very badly). As you may recall, when Bernie was a free agent he was a step away from signing his name to a contract that had the Red Sox emblem on top before the Yankees jacked up their offer. Pettitte’s departutre hurts him, especially because his best season was in an Astros uniform. Posada, wasn’t playing over 120 games a year until the Yankees final championship season and doesn’t have the stats to have his number enshrined yet. As for Bernie, in his prime, he was one the stronger players in baseball and domianted his position both on the offensive end and defensive end. I think his number should be enshrined and I hope they man up and do it soon before it’s too late and people forget. For the record I also agree with your father that Jackson being enshrined as a Yankee is a joke. He played 5 seasons!!!
I would have to say Bernie’s Yanks of the second half of the 90s ranks up there with the best dynasties of all time. Granted it was during a period without much legitimate competition from any other AL East opponent- but they were about as complete and dominating a team as you’ll see.
I think the problem with retiring someone like Posada is that, like you said, he missed that window from 96-00. Posada is an incredibly important part of the current Yankee team, as evidence by his injury last year and the Yankees missing out on October. The difference is, Pettitte and Posada were never the best players on the team. One could certainly make the argument for Bernie being the best player on those Yankee teams. As far as I am concerned, the only players worth getting their numbers retired amongst active players are Jeter, Mariano and that’s it. Joe Torre also has to get his number retired, because he was a great manager with 4 rings and 12 consecutive post season appearances, and because then every single digit number would be retired, which is pretty neat.
Although this was not exactly the blog subject that I suggested to you yesterday, it still made for an interesting read. And since I’m certain that Bernie’s number will be retired, I’d rather move on to what appears to be the more heated debate.
I agree wholeheartedly with Eric in his assertion that Mo and Jeter are the only current Yanks that deserve to have their numbers retired. I don’t think there’s a person out there, Yankee fan or not, that could make a substantial argument for the opposite. Posada, however, is much trickier. He might not have caught much during the ubiquitous championship years, but he’s been a presence, both on and off the field, since. We both know I’m no sabermetrics guru like you are Alex, but I do recall a few seasons where Posada put up MVP calibur numbers. And, who could forget his ’07 season that flashed glimpses of a potential Hall of Fame candidate (Those are Michael Kay’s words, not mine, so take your beef elsewhere)? Obviously, most Yankee fans would love to see his number retired, myself being one of them, but I’m inclined to take a cynical approach in expecting it. Sal Fasano, on the other hand, is a lock.
Oh, and the only reason Reggie Jackson’s number is retired is because he gave George his first World Series ring, and we all know how much he loves those.
Where do I buy one of those signed balls?
All of our material is up on our website, SteinerSports.com. We have balls signed by Bernie, Jeter and a number of other players as well.
Gonna bookmark this, several man