Bernie Williams and the Double Standard

We like Bernie Williams.  Always have. Ever since Bernie started showing his face around the Yankees in 1991, people liked Bernie.  They liked his quiet manner.  They liked his gracefulness when he ran from first to third.  They liked that he came across as a dignified gentleman at a time when the bombastic athlete was quickly becoming the norm. Alex Rodriguez never gave Yankee fans those feelings.  Sure, it's a bit more difficult, having not come up through the Yankee system, granting him the "one of us" pedigree that Bernie received.  Then again, neither did David Cone.  Or Catfish Hunter.  Or Paul O'Neill. The difference between A-Rod and all of those players is that A-Rod has never displayed an ounce of modesty.  We as fans don't want to hear from the athletes themselves how great they are.  It's our job to decide who is great.  It's the athletes job to provide the argument. A-Rod isn't capable of that approach.  He's so taken by his own success and need for recognition that he's too afraid to let his career do the talking rather than his own awkward voice.  People sense his uneasiness, his need to prove what he is, his desire to make sure we're impressed, all the while afraid to allow people their own conclusions.  It's what makes Bernie Williams likable and Alex Rodriguez unlikable. So when a story like this comes out, it's pretty obvious where opinions will fall:

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)—A woman filed a complaint against former Yankees center fielder Bernie Williams for allegedly hitting her at a nightclub while she took his picture. Officer Angel Nazario said the woman claimed Williams snatched the camera, damaged it and hit her in the face. The incident allegedly happened around 2:30 a.m. Thursday at a San Juan nightclub, hours after the Puerto Rican team beat the Netherlands 5-0 in the World Baseball Classic. Williams, who is playing for Puerto Rico, left with the team on Thursday for Miami. It will play the United States in the tournament’s second round. Officer Marisol de Jesus said police are investigating.

My initial response when I heard this was, "that must be wrong."  In fact, a lot of Yankee fans probably think that this woman is trying to get into Bernie's wallet. That left me wondering: why are we so quick to believe in Bernie Williams and not in Alex Rodriguez? Let's not recount the whole A-Rod-steroid mess.  I understand that it's difficult to believe A-Rod now after he's backtracked, changed his story and said slanderous things about Selena Roberts only to recount them a few days later. I'm not asking you to consider that judgment.  I want you to think about your first reaction when you heard A-Rod had been accused of steroids.  Mine was, "oh no."  I didn't doubt that he did it.  I just wished he hadn't. Many people felt the same way.  Most of us have a general dislike for A-Rod.  We admire him as an athlete, so much so that he's been regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation and, before a few months ago, possibly of all time.  And yet, we all live to tear him down, which makes believing whatever negative stories come out that much easier.  Somehow, as penance for the huge contracts, the Scott Boras buffoonery, the stupid comments at the expense of Derek Jeter, we all feel a little bit of justice is served every time A-Rod looks foolish. With Bernie Williams, it's an entirely different approach.  We don't want to believe any negative press we read about Bernie because we don't

want

any negative press about Bernie.  Bernie resides in the opposite place of our psyche, where we've elevated a person to near saint status, based solely on our perception of who he might be.  Fifteen years in New York may give us some context on which to draw, but really, how well have you ever gotten to know someone through a television or newspaper?  We know Bernie as the person we want him to be, not necessarily the person that he is. So while I look at this story about Bernie Williams breaking a woman's camera and hitting her in the face and think that the scenario seems almost impossible, I have to ask myself why I believe that.  I don't know Bernie Williams any better than I know the woman who says she was hit.  Should I give Bernie the benefit of the doubt because he plays centerfield and the guitar? I don't want this story to be true and hopefully over the coming weeks we'll find out that it wasn't.  In the mean time, I guess I'm going to give a complete stranger the benefit of the doubt.  He seems like a nice enough guy.