I hope Bernie starts today and goes 4-4. Cashman and Torre need to send Giambi to Tampa. Bernie is a real class guy.
Williams Sees Signs, and They're All Red
By PAT BORZI
Published: May 15, 2005
OAKLAND, Calif., May 14 - From the thoughtful, subtle mind of Bernie Williams came a gesture that described his unsettled role with the Yankees as well as any words he could have used. Asked how he was doing, Williams put out his arms and gracefully shifted his body from side to side, as if surfing a wave.
Displaced from center field by Hideki Matsui, and temporarily ousted as designated hitter by the Yankees' can-he-or-can't-he-play commitment to Jason Giambi, the 36-year-old Williams is facing the reality that his days as a fixture in the Yankee lineup are over. Manager Joe Torre said as much Saturday before the Yankees faced the Oakland A's at McAfee Coliseum.
"In spring training, when he was the regular center fielder, I was still finding ways to get him a day or two off every week," Torre said. "I don't think he's an everyday player anymore, because he's better off if he isn't."
Williams has been around long enough to know that things change, players get hurt and unexpected things crop up, especially on a team owned by George Steinbrenner. But Williams can also see signs that do not bode well for him.
The Yankees have been winning with Matsui in center, Tony Womack in left and Robinson Cano at second; Torre on Saturday likened the promising Cano to Rod Carew, the seven-time American League batting champion.
If Giambi starts hitting, he will have to play more, cutting even deeper into Williams's playing time.
"You just take it as it comes," Williams said. "The most important thing I have to face is trying to make sure I'm ready. That's what I'm concentrating on.
"As long as we're winning, that's the most important thing right now. We're playing good. We've got a good thing going."
Torre said Williams would probably start as the designated hitter here Sunday or Monday in Seattle, but Torre committed to nothing beyond that.
"You can't predict the future," he said. "We're playing well the way we're set up right now. "We've got to get him enough at-bats to make it count. That's why it's important that Jason plays first base."
So Williams maintains his usual pregame routine, getting treatment on his right shoulder and elbow, hitting the weight room, taking batting practice. Friday, Williams napped on a couch in the clubhouse with a moist heat pack wrapped around his right shoulder - the wrap, rather than the nap, a daily prerequisite to playing.
"I don't think he'll ever be perfect, because he's had so many things going on," Torre said of Williams's physical condition. "He works up more of a sweat during his exercises before the game than he does playing the game."
Although in the final year of the seven-year, $87.5 million contract he signed after the 1998 season, Williams is trying not to think about his future. Williams has never been a Steinbrenner favorite, even though he has the most postseason home runs (22) and runs batted in (79) in baseball history.
But if Williams cannot be an everyday player, Torre's loyalty may not be enough to keep him in pinstripes.
"It's too early to think about that," Williams said. "The more you think about those things, the more you miss what happens right now. I don't want to think of the future. The present is going to pass you by."
Torre said he had spoken to Williams about his role on Friday, and asked for patience. This is their 10th season together, and Williams trusts Torre's judgment, which makes the situation easier to deal with.
"If I can help in any way, Joe will know what to do," Williams said. "My job is to give him the option to be available."
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