ONE PLAYER WAS MISSING FROM YESTERDAY'S OPENING DAY...

Bernie Williams.

There are many wonderful things that have happened in Yankees history, and in recent history, there have been terrific players that still come around.  But for some odd reason, when the words "Core Four" are spoken, Bernie Williams isn't attached to it. In fact, many times he's left out.

Now I need to be honest, I liked how the Yankees handled Opening day.  But to many of us, true Yankee fans, we remember another guy who gave us so much and played with Derek Jeter almost as much as Mariano, Andy, Jorge and Derek.  That guy was Bernie Williams.  He won 4 championships, remember?

Bernie is the guy that I always think of as overlapping Don Mattingly and Derek Jeter, playing with 2 greats and getting rings along the way.  He was a good soldier. No. He was a great soldier and it never sat right with me the way it all ended at the conclusion of the 2006 season. Bernie Williams didn't come back to New York.

Whatever happened between the Yankees and Bernie, we will never truly know, but it was clear that the Yankees moved on after Bernie's contract was up. Bernie was probably annoyed and probably had his feelings hurt, but he was still a Yankee true and true and luckily for him, he had a hobby that developed into something big. Music.

There was no question in my mind though, that Bernie could still play in 2007, but the Yankees moved into another direction. The separation was strange, but as I thought about it yesterday, I also thought about the fact that since then, he's still been around, be it Yankee events, and foundation dinners, and signings.

Bernie Williams is still a Yankee and while yesterday was great for Derek Jeter and the Yankees fans, it would have greater to see Bernie Williams standing with Jorge Posada at home plate catching Mariano and Andy. And then, after the ceremonial first pitches were thrown, a big photo op with all five of them on the mound would have made much more sense. Applause would have been thunderous. The ovation wouldn't have ended. 

I'm not sure what the Yankees have in store for the Derek Jeter Farewell Tour this season.  I mean sure, there will be more surprises as the season goes on. I'm sure many more Yankee greats will show up, and maybe, maybe Bernie is in their plans. But if you ask me, I almost feel as though Bernie was forgotten.  We can speculate as to whether or not there's a rift between Bernie and the Yankees, but that would be a silly exercise.

What I do know, is that it was very strange not to see Bernie at Yankee Stadium with his former teammates yesterday... and I know, I'm not the only one that thinks so, am I?

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