For Bernie Williams, picking up a bat was easy. He would bring out the same trusty 34 1/2-inch, 33-ounce Rawlings model for all occasions during his career with the New York Yankees, whether in spring training or the playoffs, whether he faced a flamethrower or a knuckleball .
The music, however, is different.
“Choosing a guitar is all about the gig,” Williams said. “It’s about the sound you want to create and the music you’re going to play. “You need the right instrument for the right gig, and that varies over time.”
That’s what bothers the former outfielder as he prepares for a second major league debut, this time in the arts. Williams will play guitar for the first time with the New York Philharmonic at Wednesday’s Spring Gala, an epic milestone for a five-time All-Star and four-time World Series champion now in his second act. of the.
So what guitar? The acoustic steel string? The arc? Williams said a few weeks ago that he might even go electric “for that kind of Santana-like sound,” though he added that “it might be too over the top for that environment.”
Williams, who spent his entire career with the Yankees from 1991 to 2006, has redefined himself as an accomplished musician, commanded with a Latin Grammy nomination and critical acclaim. Still, at 55, the thought of being the center of attention at another New York hallowed venue (think Yankee Stadium, but with better acoustics) gives Williams butterflies.
On Wednesday he will play a selection, his 2009 piece “Moving Forward,” newly arranged by jazz artist Jeff Tyzik. The famous conductor Gustavo Dudamel will be at the helm.
“I expect to be more nervous than I’ve ever been in any type of scenario,” Williams said. “But I think it won’t be any different than playing in a seventh game of the World Series, you know?”
To answer the last question: No, Mr. Williams, whose know. There is no one else in baseball history who can compare the experience of baseball’s Fall Classic and the Philharmonic’s Spring Gala. No one else has played in “The House That Ruth Built” and in the concert hall that Leonard Bernstein named as its director on opening night in 1962.
Williams’ distinction means a lot of gnashing of teeth for the president and CEO of the New York Philharmonic. Gary Ginstling is an avid Mets fan.
“I have to say, this is a deeply difficult decision for me,” Ginstling joked during a phone interview. “I scoured the landscape looking for retired Mets. But no one could compare to Bernie Williams.”
Bernie Williams has performed the national anthem before baseball games since he retired. Here he is in 2021 in a game between the Oakland Athletics and the Minnesota Twins. (Darren Yamashita/USA Today)
This experience is enough to give Williams memories of his first major league at-bat. The switch-hitter was 22 years old when he stepped up to the plate in the third inning at Yankee Stadium against left-handed junkballer Jeff Ballard on July 7, 1991. It wasn’t a sky-high starting note. Tea Baseball Benchmark Score He immortalized the moment this way: Groundout: 3B-1B (weak 3B).
The output improved. Williams drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth and scored another run with a infield single in the ninth.
“I remember being very nervous,” Williams said of that start. “I remember being in this place where there was a lot of uncertainty about my career and my own ability to stay in the big leagues. “All I wanted to do was have the opportunity to be able to show people what I can do.”
A week later, Williams hit his first home run at Anaheim Stadium against the California Angels. He hit a fastball thrown by Chuck Finley over the left-center field wall. He continued to advance from there: a .297 batting average with 287 home runs and 147 stolen bases in 16 seasons.
July 14, 1991
Bernie Williams hits first home run of his career pic.twitter.com/nYIteNuXlL– New York Yankees Throwbacks (@yankeethrowback) February 19, 2022
Williams helped the Yankees win four World Series titles, including three straight from 1998 to 2000. His 22 career postseason home runs rank third all-time behind Manny Ramírez (29) and José Altuve ( 27).
That summary has been applied, at times, to his music career, in part because it would be easy to dismiss Williams as just another retired athlete with an expensive new hobby. But the musical journey of his life is part of what attracts the New York Philharmonic. The Spring Gala, to be held at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ David Geffen Hall, aims to raise funds for music education. Ginstling wants younger people to be inspired by Williams’ scholarly dedication to his craft.
Williams’ first instructor was his father. Bernabé Williams, a Merchant Navy sailor, returned from Spain with a gift for his 7-year-old son. It was a guitar he never put down. The family then found a guitar teacher in their neighborhood in Puerto Rico, and by the time Bernie was 9, he had already performed on a local radio station with other top students.
“The guitar teacher had all the little kids who were taking lessons with him, the ones who stood out,” Williams recalled. “He would give them the opportunity to play one or two songs on that radio show. … It was a great experience and he set the stage for everything that came after.”
Williams continued to play throughout his baseball career, especially while grieving the loss of his father. who died of lung disease in 2001. The former beating champion then studied guitar and composition for a year at the State University of New York at Purchase in preparation for his first album, “Moving Forward.” That release strengthened his bona fides thanks to 14 solid tracks including collaborations with Bruce Springsteen, Jon Secada and Dave Koz.
Bernie Williams and musician Jon Secada performing during the SoundCheck Grammys on April 17, 2009 in New York City. (Joe Kohen/WireImage)
But Williams finally formalized his experience. She enrolled at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music en route to earning a bachelor’s degree.
“I’ll tell you what, none of the home runs I hit in the postseason helped me there,” Williams said. “I had to really reinvent myself. And in a very strange way, I had to earn the admiration of the kids I played with, because they were all virtuoso on their own instruments by the time they got to the Manhattan School of Music.
“I was the old man in the back of the room. He was asking all the questions and asking that no one erase the board until he finished writing all the notes.”
Williams was not pursuing a diploma for the sake of the newspaper. The experience meant his graduation from ballplayer to artist.
“I think school gave me a great perspective on the reasons why I wanted to be a musician and the responsibility we have as music creators to make sure we make this world a better place,” he said. “The joy and power of music is an incredible thing that we can use for the good of the world.”
Therein lies the message of the Spring Gala and it underscores why even a Mets fan like Ginstling embraces a Yankee at home. Wednesday’s eclectic lineup is designed to introduce the Philharmonic to new audiences. Selections range from a suite from Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier” to two pieces by rapper Common and an aria called “Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5,” sung by South Korean soprano Hera Hyesang Park.
“I think that’s what I’m so excited about,” Ginstling said. “We’ll have a lot of Bernie Williams fans at the house that night who will probably hear the New York Philharmonic for the first time. It will be great for them to hear Bernie, but we want them to hear the orchestra play Strauss. And we want you to hear the orchestra play Nina Shekhar, this up-and-coming composer whose piece we’re playing.
“We hope they get hooked not only on Bernie, but on this entire repertoire, and that they come back.”
Until then, Williams sometimes wakes up unexpectedly at 2:30 a.m. and grabs his guitar. Still half awake, he will strum until the notes sound like they should before allowing himself to fall asleep again.
“That’s the level of preparation you need for an event like this,” he said. “Because when nerves arise, you want to remain in control and not be paralyzed when the situation arises. The only antidote to this is to be well prepared.
“That goes for anything that requires attention, high expectations and high pressures.”
Williams is certainly the first player to make headlines with his music. Back in 1964, a Yankee bus trip became tense when Yogi Berra grew tired of hearing “Mary Had a Little Lamb” played on the harmonica by an infielder named Phil Linz.
But that was the “New York Phillies harmonica.” The New York Philharmonic is a completely different ballgame.
“If anything,” Williams said, “baseball taught me how to be able to perform under pressure, and this will definitely put that to the test.”
(Top photo: Mychal Watts/Getty Images)
