When Bernie Williams DH’ed on Thursday, both he and Joe Torre downplayed the pain in the back of Williams’ left knee. They both said the injury is minor, not anything to be concerned with.
That still was the story last night as Torre again placed Williams at DH. There is no reason to believe the injury is serious. If it were, Torre said, he wouldn’t put Williams in the starting lineup at all.
“He’s OK,” Torre said. “He could play obviously in the outfield, but we are taking this opportunity to give him a couple of days to take him off his feet for nine innings.”
Entering last night’s action, Williams’ .339 average trailed only the Royals’ Mike Sweeney, who was at .344, in the AL batting race. Williams led the league in hitting in 1998 at .339.
“He has the temperament,” said Torre, the 1971 NL batting champion.
It is astounding how far Williams has come this season. He began this year hitting .236 in 24 games in April.
Since then, he has more hits than an Anna Kournikova website. Since April, his lowest average for any one month is .286 in June. In August, he hit an awesome .402. After the All-Star break, Williams is batting .379.
In person, Williams is deceptive. He is so relaxed, it seems as if he might doze off in mid-sentence.
“He is pretty mellow,” Robin Ventura said. “He gives me a run for my money.”
There is intensity with Williams, though. It is impossible to achieve the level of play without drive. Williams hides it well, but it is there.
“His ability to shrug off tight situations [stands out,]” teammate Mike Stanton said. “He’s not a guy who gets real excited, and those are the types of guys who usually excel in tight situations. Bernie is definitely a unique individual. He has different approaches than some of us, but it seems to work for him. Bernie is one of a kind. that is for sure.”
Williams’ season turned around when he had cortisone shots in his shoulders in April. They freed up his movement and his mind.
With his shoulders hurting early in the year, it looked as if Williams were swinging in water. The cortisone eased the pain.
“You just don’t feel little tweaks and stuff like that,” Ventura said. “Once you get past that you are not forcing yourself to swing. You can sit back and kind of relax.”
The Yankees’ incredible depth is perhaps most evident with Williams. On offense, despite the fact he is going for a batting title, he is probably the fourth-most important hitter after Alfonso Soriano, Jason Giambi and Derek Jeter.
Despite winning some Gold Gloves, it can be argued persuasively that Williams isn’t magnificent in the field. He often takes poor routes on balls. He sometimes makes up for these with his speed, while other times hits fall in that shouldn’t.
At the plate, Williams has hit for average, but rarely like has this year. Williams entered this season as a .305 hitter. His highest one-year mark was .342 in 1999.
Williams can also hit for some power, topping out at 30 homers in 2000. This year he has 18 long balls to go along with his 94 RBIs.
