Should Bernie Williams have filed for free angency or retired as A Yankee?
813257
Bernie is a Yankee!!   Mickey Mantle, Don Mattingly, Whitey Ford, Joe DiMaggio, were Yankees and only Yankees.  Bernie is on a very special list of players to wear only Yankees pin strips.  Even Yogi Berra can't say that as he played briefly with the Mets before retiring.  If the Yankees offer him a contract, good, if not retire.  My only concern would be that in my humble opinion Bernie would need 300 career home runs and 2500 career hits to give him a real shot at the Hall of Fame.  Right now he is just short on both counts.  With 4 world series rings and 6 AL pennants and a batting title he still might make it.
325701
i don't care for Barry...attitude problem...and sorry to say I'd didn't realize it was Piazza's 400th...good for him.\n\nIf Barry gets into the hall of fame...i think they should allow Pete Rose into it.
528416
Most agreed.  He is a great player and competitor so long as he plays for any team other than the Yankees.\n\nYes he is outspoken and yes he whines- ALOT!  But he backs it up and is one hell of a pitcher.
357756
The man was all guts, played with heart everyday, never a slacker. His on field talent should be enough to get him into the hall. My problem is he never really admitted to the public and baseball itself that he was wrong. He kind of but not really did this last time.....for one I don't think it was enough. Admit your fully wrong Pete, you were too good a player to not be there.
1158261
The Cards have plenty of Offense so Pujos will be missed but not greatly. It's losing Mulder that would derail the Cards. With the Yanks Godzilla going down hurts, but Williams is picking up alot of the slack. A-Rod is more than enough to compensate for Sheffields being gone. To be honest I think the Yanks would benifit more by trading Sheffield for a younger RF anyway. There is no shortage of offense on the team, but better defense in right would help the pitching staff.  Mussina the kind of year he's having would be a more devastating blow and Rivera going down always cripples the Yanks. \n\nDerek Lee is a fluke, he wasn't going to have a second year like the last unless he's juicing. Lee is too old to have suddenly filled out and learned how to hit. If a 25 yr old does it thats one thing. Even a 28 yr old. Lee is what 31 or 32 and suddenly after years as a poor hitter he's an RBI leader? No way he did that without Steroids or HGF or something like that. Not unless it was a fluke season.
615222
I think they should be banned from the hall of fame and also stripped of any records they hold. I think they should be allowed to continue to play after a first offense but banned from baseball after a second offense. The key issue is the accuracy of the tests and frequency. If it's possible there was a falso positive or a truely accidental positive then thats reasonable once. Still tarnishs any records they held.
843921
he's old and needs to retire like he was supposed to.......your mom didnt necessarily "switched loyalties" since #17 is on the same team as Martin
757062
Buying a championship is a myth. Only a couple teams have done it in history. Even the Yanks in 77 & 78 had a core of home grown players or players that came over in trades.  Think about it. \nGuidry, Dent, Chamblis, Randolf, Nettles, Lyle, Munson, Rivers, Pinella, the relief core except for Gossage and most of the revolving door of starters were trades or from the Yankee farm system. \n\nThe Yankees dynasty epitimized and was the blueprint for many other teams to build WS teams in the 00s.  It was small ball team work. The few big name sluggers that were signed turned into disasters or very ho hum players. Chili Davis was not a major contributer. Strawberry at best was a distraction, Knablauch was troubled his entire stay with the Yanks.  El Duke could only pitch in the post season. Fielder never did much as a Yank. \n\nGuys like Wetteland, now he was important. But also not a free agent. \n\nMost of the key team came from the farm system or trades. Rivera, Pettite, O'Niel, Jeter, Possada, Martinez and Williams. The Yanks added Cone who helped fuel the team. From there they filled in holes with free agents like Boggs and Wells. Little guys came up big every year.  Shane Spencer one year came up big for the Yanks. Chad Curtis on multiple years came up big for the Yanks. Great play to fill in for injuries, broke slumps, carried the team when it was at it's lowest. Then went back to riding the bench without a complaint. Sojo, Leyritz, Brosus, Raines are some others that came off the bench and provided crucial performances. \n\nMendoza practically created his own role. His ability to be both mop up and short relief and take important starts was amazing. In some years Mendoza was the most important pitcher on the Yank's staff. It was like have three effective pitchers all rolled into one. Mendoza another Yankees farm prospect that came up big for the Yanks. \n\nThe Angels were one of many teams that created pretty much a duplicate of the Yankee's success and found their way into the WS.  \n\nOn the flip side look at the 80s Yankees,  The O's much of the 90s, the Diamondback's first attempts, the Rockies, the Cubs the Mets year after year. Teams that spent big and came up empty or worse. Sometimes sub .500.  Then you have teams like the Twins, Royals, Angels who have one of the lower payrolls in Baseball at the time winning a world series. \n\nWinning takes pitching, defense, timely hitting or a solid offense and most of all a team spirit. So many teams sabatage themselves by collecting flashy stats that do not produce wins.  Without the utley  kind of player a team like the Phillies can have all the Burrels and Howards they want but they are not going to win many games. The Braves made it to the series or league championship year after year after year while often not having more than a couple star hitters on their entire roster. Some years Chipper Jones WAS the Braves entire offense. They won with defense, pitching and team spirit. \n\nSo it is with great amusement I watch the Mets stock up on junk players. They have pulled a Stienbrenner and the mess that comes of it next year will be a zoo like the 70s and 80s Yankees were. The Redsox are another team that has mostly met with frustration trying to buy a world series. Year after year one of the top five payrolls. Year after year disapointment. When they did finally win a series the core team was home grown sox , pickups and trades not free agents.  \n\nSo buying a WS is almost impossible. You have have to have the core team to start with. One that's played together for a time, who give incoming players a foundation to fit into. You have to choose team players mostly not flashy selfish players. Teams can win despite the flashy players but very talented teams have been sunk by such players too. \n\nTo keep your core players you have to open up the pocketbook. The Astros have been wizards at keeping players for below market salaries. Biggio and Bagwell ga
811647
Well, he did serve the punishment he was given.  Having said that, should the Titans play him?  Considering that they're requiring him to continue anger management, I don't think giving him a second chance is such a horrible idea.  However, if I was in Fisher's shoes and he drew so much as a flag, I'd have him out of there and he wouldn't play again.\n\nThe pros set an example not just to high school kids, but kids even younger than that as well as their parents, if parents' behavior at Little League and Pee Wee games is any indication.  It's just a f'ing GAME, for crying out loud.  Yet when you get to the pros, it's not just a game anymore.  It's about the money at that level, and the lengths to which some players will go to get top dollar are appalling.
718423
If he FINALLY makes up his mind, I hope he comes back to the Bosox. Then if Wellsy acts weird or is too hurt, he can retire. OH! What FUN to knock the Yanks around again!!!
174426
myself I think the deal about juicing has NEVER been proved. I mean come on people we are talking about a man that has played 20 years and has compiled some of the best stats EVER, and people want to trash everything he has done on whispers. Damn he started out on a crap team and lead it to be a contender. I think he has every god given right to be in the HOF. Look at some of the old timers in the hall... drunks, wife beaters, gamblers, I need not go on. I by far don't hate Barry and if most of the baseball public would get their heads out of their a$$es and get off the holier than thou seat they wouldn't either. Last I know he played in America ... ya know innocent until PROVEN guilty, and I don't mean people trying to make a quick buck with "tell all" books. Just my thoughts.....
1096165
Yes, at this point, it's too late to do anything about it. \n\nHowever, I feel that the person who failed to tag the runner should have told the ump that he/she didn't tag the runner upon hearing the "out" call. That would have been the honorable thing for him/her to do. I would rather lose a game than lose my integrity any day. There is no joy in winning a game if the win is not honest. To me anyway.
934618
Oh man, Georgie, that'd be sweet!  \nI hate that S.O.B. so much I'd be jumping for joy if he retired ! ! ! ! !\nBut you better be careful . . . \nthem's fightin' words!
1103339
Yes he should because he played the game. He was wrong not to turn the others in BUT that shouldn't keep him out of the Hall. He should have been kept out of the game, forced to retire. The ones who were cheating should have been kept out of the Hall. Bonds isn't IN THE HALL for the record. Neither is Big Mac, who proably won't get in. I'm sure he is pissed that Bonds hasn't retired because Bonds is a reminder of that era and it will make the voters vote against him as a punishment to what he likely did. Until they are in you can't compare the two situations.
62300
I like your technical objection. I assume you are talking about the '61 Yankees. Berra (22 HRs) only played 15 games behind the plate. Elston Howard (21 HR) was the primary catcher, and Johnny Blanchard (21 HR) was the main backup catcher and pinch-hitter.
587926
It would be a really cool thing, but then there will come out of the woodwork calls to retire other players' numbers for reasons almost as altruistic as what Clemente did. Pretty soon, we'll be back to having no numbers on uniforms.\n\nIn all things, moderation. He has an award named after him, so perhaps we should leave it at that.
143023
Yes, Barry Bonds should retire. Basseball is a team sport. It seems that Bonds is only intrested in breaking the homerun record and not the welfare of his team. He is over rated.