Bernie Figeroa Williams
Bernie Williams
2003 Highlights:
Hit .263 (117-for-445) with 15HR and 64RBI in 119 games
(113 starts in center field and three at designated hitter)...made his 11th
straight Opening-Day start for Yankees (1993-'03) on 3/31 at Toronto and his
10th in center field (1993-99, 2001-'03), surpassing Earle Combs for second most
of any center fielder in franchise history (behind only Mickey Mantle, 13)...has
1,950 hits for sole possession of eighth place on the Yankees' all-time list;
has 241 career home runs for sole possession of seventh place and needs 9 to tie
Graig Nettles (250) for sixth place; has 1,062 RBI for sole possession of ninth
place; has 372 career doubles for sole possession of fifth place and needs 17 to
tie Joe DiMaggio (389) for fourth place...recorded 1,000th career RBI
cont'@mlb.com
2001 Highlights:
Hit .307 and established career high with 31 HR and 121 RBI in 141 games (136 start in center field and four at DH) ... Collected 100 RBl and scored 100 R and 100 RBI - Lou Gehrig (14) times, Babe Ruth (11) and Joe DiMaggio (eight) ... Along with teammate Derek Jeter, reached the 100-run plateau in 2000 for the fifth straight season (1996-2000) - it is only the third time since 1900 that teammates have each scores 100 or more runs in at least five consecutive season - the Yankees' Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Earl Combs each did it for seven straight years from 1926-32 and Cincinnati's Joe Morgan and Pete Rose did it five straight times from 1972 -76 - also joins Jeter as the only Yankees to score 100 runs in five consecutive seasons since Mickey Mantle scored 100 R in nine straight seasons (1953-61) ... Was top vote-getter among AL outfielders and was elected to his first all-star Game (fourth overall) - was 0-for-3 ... Was DH for season's first three games (at Anaheim) because of sour right shoulder ... Homered from both sides of the (#5,6) and was 3-for-4 with 5 RBI and 1 BB on 4/23 win at Toronto, along with C Jorge Posada, became the first pair of players in major-league history to hit switch-hit home runs in the same game, he has now hit switch-hit home runs six times in the regular season (has done it twice in post season play) ... Batted second in the Yankees line-up for the first time in 2000 on 5/17 vs. Chicago and hit solo-HR (#9) and grand Bernie Williams-slam (#10) - was his 11th two-home-run game of his career and second of the season (also 4/23 at Toronto), was hi eighth career grand lam and the second by a Yankee in '00 (also Brosius in 5/7 vs. Baltimore) ... Hit 2-run HR (#13)- established season highs with 4 H and 7 RBI and was 4-for-4 with 3 R and 2 doubles on 6/17 vs. Chicago ... Scored at least one run in 13 consecutive games from 6/19-7/2, the streak fell five shy of the Yankee and major-league record of 18 games with a run scored by Red Rolfe in 1939 and Kenny Lofton in 2000 ... Homered in three consecutive games on 6/20-22 at Boston ... Hit second grand slam of season (#22) and was 2-for-5 with 2 R and 5 RBI in 7/25 win in Baltimore ... Tied a career-high with 3 doubles (now done three times) in 8/5 loss vs. Seattle ... With solo-HR on 8/6 vs. Seattle, reached the 100 RBI plateau for the second consecutive season and fourth time in his career, accomplished in Game No. 106, it equaled the fastest to 100 RBI by a Yankee since 1948 when Joe DiMaggio reached 100 RBI in the club's 105th Game, Williams, Roger Maris (1961) and Tino Martinez (1997) reached the century mark in the club's 106th game
Personal:
Was signed by Fred Ferreira and recommended by Roberto Rivera ... attended the University of Puerto Rico, working toward a degree in biology ... graduated from Escuela Libre de Musica H.S. in San Juan ... won four gold medals at the age of 15 at an international track meet ... was one of the world's top 400-meter runners for his age group ... played Little League and Babe Ruth League as a youngster, playing against Juan Gonzalez and Ivan Rodriguez ... enjoys playing classical guitar and listening to jazz ... took over for Don Mattingly as the Yankees' representative for the Children's Health Fund in 1997, donating and raising money for each home run he hits ... established by singer Paul Simon, the Fund provides health care for underpriviledged and homeless children nationwide.
Other Bernie Williams Sites
baseball-reference.com
bigleaguers.yahoo.com