WHY IT'S ABOUT THE STRUGGLE

Bernie Williams. You know, he's not retired, just temporarily sidetracked with a terrific music career. There is a chance he could show up at spring training this year and try out. You know that right? OK, so the chances are enormously slim, but never say never.

Bryan Hoch writes in Bombers Beat a thoughtful piece on Bernie that's a must read...HERE. An obsessed Bernie fan I know, my friend Jared, insisted I read the article and stop what I was doing. So I left my baby unattended and started reading.

The most amazing part of the piece are 2 nuggets.

• #1: Bernie's last at-bat was in 2006. Jeez, time flies.
  


• #2: Bernie will be on the Hall of Fame Ballot this year. I love that. In another debate at another time we'll talk about how much more qualified someone like Bernie is than Don Mattingly. (There are many still upset Donnie isn't in yet).
  

Bernie talked about how difficult it is to say it's over after a long career in baseball. It's obviously almost mirroring how Andy Pettitte is dealing with everything right now. And who could forget how Jorge is being handled with a new role of DH. It's a tough pill to swallow. A diminished role with a ball club or just waking up one morning realizing home is where you belong OR wondering if your legs can get you through a whole season, one more time. Like Andy, the struggle is ridiculously hard. Ultimately you side with family, but you don't want to let the fans down either. It's tough.

Bernie talked about how it was tough being part-time at the end of his career because he didn't know when the next opportunities were going to come if he did not succeed. Hoch quotes Bernie: "At the same time, you're a professional player and it is your responsibility to be at the best of your game whenever the team needs you. That's what you sign your contract for, so that's the way you've got to approach it. And at the end of the day, if the team wins, it's great. You're part of a winning team. You have a part of a situation in which you can contribute to that success, that's all that matters." I love Hoch and reading him only made me think of Andy nonstop. I know that was Hoch's intention even though he was checking with Bernie. It had to be. In this boring holding pattern waiting on Andy to decide, there's no news, just recycled articles. At least Hoch is clever in writing this subliminal piece.

I love the way Bernie speaks about the Yankees by the way, what a stand up guy. I hated the way the Yankees handled Bernie at the end of his career, but I know it was just business. They wanted younger and faster and at the time, it was hard to see a class act go, but the Yankees were just trying to better their team. That was the intent anyway.

Andy, Ol' Reliable on the other hand, is being chased by the Yanks, but all of this connects. Andy's struggling wondering what to do. The Yanks will struggle if Andy doesn't come back. It's a whole web of retirement, need, want and confusion. At the end of the day, Yankees fans are thankful to check in with Bernie but still feel empty waiting for Andy. Hopefully Andy's not OK with sitting this one out, unless he has a musical instrument we all don't know about.

Day 92 Andy. Where are you?

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