On Bernie Williams day: Remembering his greatest slide

The Yankees are retiring Bernie Williams' No. 51 on Sunday, so let's remember the time he let his hair down and made perhaps the coolest slide in World Series history -- Game 4 of 1996 against the Braves -- aside from the Pete Rose head-first deal in '75.

The Yankees are honoring Bernie Williams on Sunday night by retiring his No. 51. A big ceremony for an understated, but hard-working and deserving player. More substantive than stylish over the course of his 16-year career, Williams reliably got the job done for the Yankees without being flashy. Usually. One notable exception caught on film: A big run Williams scored in Game 4 of the 1996 World Series — known to some as the "Jim Leyritz Game."

Check out — and thanks to @ImNotAHRHitter on Twitter for preserving it for history — how Williams slid into home in the sixth inning:

Whee! A real whirling dervish. Something you'd expect from Deion Sanders more than Bernie Williams. Grades out to a perfect 6.0 in the Olympics of High Fives (or Tens). Williams not only pirouetted perfectly through the plate, but he also was squared up with Derek Jeter for a congratulatory greeting. Jeter wouldn't have twirled were the situation reversed.

Within the context of the game, the slide was was easy to miss, even at the time. The Yankees were trailing the Braves by six runs, and were down 2-1 in the Series, and hadn't gotten much going against Denny Neagle. But they got second life after nobody among a trio of Braves defenders — Fred McGriff, Mark Lemke and Jermaine Dye — was able to catch a pop foul by Jeter. And he made them pay by fighting off a subsequent pitch into right field for a single. Williams drew a walk, and Cecil Fielder (!) lined a single to right that Dye misplayed in two ways (on the hop and the cut-off throw), enabling two runs to score. Note the strong third-base coaching by Willie Randolph (who probably should be somebody's manager right now).

The entire game — one of the biggest comebacks in World Series history and in Yankees history — is worth watching if you get time. The Fox Sports broadcast is on YouTube in its entirety. Joe Buck, Bob Brenly and Tim McCarver on the call. Your favorites. But here's the moment in Game 3 that started to turn the Series around:

Perhaps Williams knew in his bones it was a big moment and that's why he went Bernie Style into home. Regardless, a fun moment in Bernie Williams history, sure to be loathed by Braves fans (and perhaps anyone else).