 Becoming
a Yankee Legend
Season after season, Bernie keeps
piling up huge offensive statistics, partly explaining
why he's becoming a Yankee legend. It also doesn't
hurt that he plays a solid center field in mythic
Yankee Stadium and provides quiet though steady
leadership to the clubhouse. He also has been
a member of four world championship Yankee squads,
as well. Bernie outdid himself a bit in 2002,
posting career bests in at-bats (612) and hits
(204) on his way to hitting at a .333 clip, third
best in the AL. Bernie smoked 37 doubles, 19 homers
and collected 102 RBI, the fifth time he's gone
over 100 in the latter category. He accomplished
all that despite battling shoulder pain throughout
the season.
Bernie is the picture of consistency, hitting
more than .300 the past eight seasons and scoring
over 100 runs the previous seven. The perennial
all-star (six times) can also handle the glove,
winning four straight Gold Gloves (1997-2000).
His career numbers are rapidly piling up into
something quite special, as he boasts 1,833 hits,
1,066 runs, 353 doubles, 226 home runs and 998
RBI while hitting .308.
Bernie grew up in Puerto Rico and played Little
League ball against current Texas Rangers Juan
Gonzalez and Ivan Rodriguez. As a teenager, Bernie
also was one of the world's top 400-meter runners
for his age group.
Courtesy of BigLeaguers.com
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