NEW YORK (Reuters) – For most men, winning four baseball World Series titles would be life’s crowning achievement.
But Bernie Williams has another field of dreams — music. “Winning the World Series was obviously a great experience but the challenge of playing music and writing songs is something else entirely,” he told Reuters in an interview. “It would be a great thrill to have a Number One record that would be something amazing considering it’s such a competitive field,” said guitarist Williams, the long-time New York Yankees outfielder, who retired from baseball in 2006. He’s already close to realizing that dream. His second album, “Moving Forward,” was sitting at Number 2 in the Billboard contemporary jazz chart this week. “I’m behind Chris Botti and ahead of Boney James,” Williams joked. The history of American popular culture is littered with successful sportsmen who tried, many of them unsuccessfully, to become music stars after their careers ended. The jock-to-rock list includes boxer Oscar de la Hoya who made a Latin pop album in 2000 — his last.
U.S. World Cup soccer icon Alexei Lalas cut a disc of mostly forgettable rock, while tennis great John McEnroe used to dabble in rock guitar. And who can forget basketball star Shaquille O’Neal’s five rap CDs, including his debut “Shaq Diesel,” which went platinum