BY ISAAC HOWSON
New York Yankees fans enjoyed a dynasty during the late 1990s and early 2000s. From 1996 to 2004, the Yankees won four World Series along with 887 regular season games and 72 postseason games.
Those teams were headlined by the “Core 4,” a group consisting of Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera. Other names on those Yankees teams include Roger Clemens, Paul O’Neill, David Cone and Tino Martinez.
Jeter and Rivera are considered two of the most important pieces of that Yankees dynasty, and it makes sense as they are both in the Hall of Fame and are considered two of the greatest players of all time at their position. While Rivera was the team’s best pitcher during the dynasty, there was another player who was important offensively.
That player would be Bernie Williams, the Yankees’ center fielder. Williams’ important play was often overlooked due to the stars on his own team, like Jeter, and by other great center fielders around the league.
When comparing Williams to Jeter, it’s easy to see how good Williams was during his prime. From ‘96 to ’04, Williams’s average wRC+ was 137 to Jeter’s average of 125. Then compare their OPS+, Bernie still has him beat with an average OPS+ of 136 to Jeter’s 121. However, through that same time period, Williams only placed in the top 10 in MVP voting once. Jeter on the other hand would land in the top 10 on 4 different occasions.
Bernie’s other problem is his notoriety. Jeter played his rookie season in ‘96 and became a star almost right away. The fans loved Jeter, and as a result his play on the field along with the Yankees success made him a star. It makes sense why he’s viewed so highly, he’s the face of that dynasty. No matter what other great shortstops played during his time, Jeter was always more well known.
Williams didn’t have that; in fact, he had the opposite. While Yankees fans know his greatness, shown by the team retiring his number 51 back in 2015, he still didn’t have that same love around the league. Bernie played in an era that had the likes of Ken Griffey Jr., Kirby Puckett, Kenny Lofton, Jim Edmonds and Andruw Jones. Those are all great players with two in the HOF and Griffey being one of the best players in the history of the sport. Williams finished his career with 49.6 WAR and would collect five All-Star selections. He was a four-time gold glove winner and one-time silver slugger winner. Even with all that, Williams should be better recognized as one of the core contributors to those championship teams and as the best bat the Yankees had during that time.
howsonid21@bonaventure.edu
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