RealGM Baseball: Classics - Bernie's Play In WBC Won't Affect HOF Eligibility

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Bernie's Play In WBC Won't Affect HOF Eligibility

20th January, 2009 - 11:45 am

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By Christopher Reina

With Bernie Williams' presence on Puerto Rico's 2009 World Baseball Classic roster, the question that immediately came into my mind was how will this affect his Hall of Fame eligibility?

Williams' final big league game was on October 6th, 2006 in Game 3 of the ALDS at Detroit. He went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and after Williams could not get the Yankees to guarantee a contract for 2007, he went away from baseball more than he actually retired.

In order to get some clarification on whether or not Williams' participation in the WBC will affect his five-year HOF waiting period, I reached out to Samantha Carr who is in Media Relations with the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

"The World Baseball Classic will not affect Bernie Williams' eligibility clock," said Carr. "A player's eligiblity clock restarts only if he appears in a Major League Baseball game."

Whether or not Williams deserves to make the Hall of Fame is up for debate, but he will certainly receive votes and is still slated to be eligible in 2011.

Williams had a career .297 batting average with 287 homers, 2,336 hits, 22 career postseason homers and four World Series rings with the Yankees.

- Chris Reina is the executive editor of RealGM

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