In case you’ve missed it, former New York Yankees center fielder Bernie Williams is a favorite here at ESNY. We’ve spoken with him twice before, usually on Rare Disease Day, to discuss his recent Tune In To Lung Health initiative with Boehringer Ingelheim.
This is something near and dear to Williams, whose father passed away from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in 2001.
Sure enough, I had the pleasure of speaking with Bernie Williams once again this past Saturday. Except the circumstances were different. I met him and several others at the Ridgefield Playhouse in Ridgefield, Connecticut for his eighth annual Bernie Williams Day Celebrity Softball Game & All-Star Concert.
In a nutshell, the day goes as follows: Two teams composed of everyday people, retired players, and even current beat writers participate, there’s a cookout afterwards, then Williams plays a concert with his band.
For example: MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch and Mark Feinsand played, as did former New York Mets ace Dwight “Doc” Gooden and even former Knicks legend John Starks. Jeff Nelson and Jake Peavy were also participating, as was former Giants punter Sean Landeta.
“Every year gets stronger,” Williams told me shortly after the first pitch. It’s a win-win for the community. Arts, music, education, sports, what can go wrong?”
In a way, it truly is a recreation of his childhood days growing up in Puerto Rico. He and his teammates would play a Little League game and then have a team meal afterward.
“Little League, right after the game? We always had a cookout somewhere,” he reminisced with a smile. “It’s just a way to bond with your teammates. It was always a great thing for us as kids.”
The rest of us got to watch it all play out in real time. Peavy hit a classic softball inside-the-park home run. Gooden pitched before holding court in the dugout. All of the adults joined in with their children’s laughter, everyone looking a bit like children themselves playing the classic children’s game.
Bernie Williams is at the center of it all, quietly taking it all in with a stoicism masking youthful exuberance.
“We do this every year, and every year it comes out a little bit different,” he says proudly. “We never knew that things like this could happen. We’re very fortunate to be in a position to do this right now.”
The concert was all the better. From original tunes to covers, the Bernie Williams & Friends band brought the house down. There was even a tender moment when Cheryl, an attendee living with sarcoidosis, had the band’s rendition of “The Wind Beneath My Wings” dedicated to her sister and caregiver, Vera.
But at the end of the day, Bernie Williams is doing this for one man: His father, Bernabe Williams Sr. The man who taught him his first chords on the guitar while also training him on his path to becoming one of the most beloved Yankees players of his generation.
So, that means Bernie Sr. surely would have enjoyed the show, right?
“He would have probably said ‘Hey, you missed a note here,’” Bernie laughed after we met backstage. “He would have been so proud for sure, because we are raising awareness about something that really impacted his life. I know he’s looking down right now and hopefully he’s proud of what we do.”
FOR FULL STORY ON STANDARD WEBSITE: Once again, Bernie Williams masterfully blends sports with music | Elite Sports NY