Bernie Williams

Bernabé Williams Figueroa Jr. (born September 13, 1968) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player and musician.

At the 1984 Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships in Athletics in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Williams won gold in the 200 metres (m), 400 m, 4 × 100 m relay, and 4 × 400 m relay events for competitors under the age of 17, and the silver medal for the 4 × 100 m relay among competitors younger than 20.

In 1985, Roberto Rivera, a scout for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB), discovered Williams and Williams' friend, Juan González.

Though Rivera was not interested in González, who he perceived as not taking the game seriously, he wanted to sign Williams.

Although viewed as a great prospect by Yankee management, his rise to the majors was delayed by the solid outfield — Roberto Kelly, Danny Tartabull, and Jesse Barfield — that the team had developed in the early 1990s.

Throughout the early 1990s, Williams hit in the middle of the order as management tried to figure out where his best fit was.

He played his entire 16-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the New York Yankees from 1991 through 2006.

A center fielder, Williams was a member of four World Series championship teams with the Yankees.

He ended his career with a .297 batting average, 287 home runs, 1,257 runs batted in (RBI), 1,366 runs scored, 449 doubles, and a .990 fielding percentage.

Williams managed to break into the majors in 1991 to replace the injured Roberto Kelly for the second half of that season.

He batted .238 in 320 at bats.

He was demoted to the minors until Danny Tartabull was injured, and Williams earned his stay at center by putting up solid numbers.

Williams had become the regular Yankees center fielder by 1993.

However, Williams got off to a slow start that season, and Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner, impatient with Williams, insisted that Gene Michael, the team's general manager, trade him.

Michael discussed trading Williams for Larry Walker with the Montreal Expos, but did not make the trade.

In his first full season with the Yankees, Williams had a .268 batting average.

Manager Buck Showalter helped keep Williams with the Yankees through 1995, when Steinbrenner became frustrated by the team's difficulty in placing Williams in any of the traditional baseball player molds.

He had good speed, but rarely stole bases.

In center, he was highly capable at tracking down fly balls and line drives, but had a weak throwing arm.

He was a consistent hitter but only had mild home run power.

In 1995, Steinbrenner again considered trading Williams, this time to the San Francisco Giants for Darren Lewis.

The Yankees kept Williams, who went on to have a breakout season.

He hit 18 home runs and led the team in runs, hits, total bases and stolen bases.

He was a five-time All-Star and won four Gold Glove Awards, a Silver Slugger Award, the American League (AL) batting title in 1998, and the 1996 AL Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award.

Known for his consistency and postseason heroics, Williams is one of the most beloved Yankees.

He was nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2009.

Bernabé Williams Figueroa Jr. was born to Bernabé Williams Sr., a merchant marine and dispatcher, and Rufina Figueroa, a retired principal and college professor.

The Williams family lived in the Bronx until Bernie was one year old, when they moved to Puerto Rico.

Growing up, Williams played classical guitar as well as baseball.

He was also active in track and field, winning medals at an international meet at the age of 15.

The team honored him by retiring his uniform number 51 and dedicating a plaque to him in Monument Park in May 2015.

Williams is widely regarded as one of the greatest switch-hitting center fielders in history.

Williams is also a classically trained guitarist.

Following his retirement from baseball, he has released two jazz albums.

However, Williams was a few months shy of his 17th birthday, when he would become eligible to sign with an MLB team.

The Yankees put Williams in a training camp in Connecticut near the home of scouting director Doug Melvin who later had Juan Gonzalez on his Texas Rangers teams.

After playing a few games in the Greater Hartford Twilight Baseball League on the Katz Sports Shop team, Williams was officially signed by the Yankees on his 17th birthday.

While playing in Minor League Baseball, Williams took a course on biology at the University of Puerto Rico, and considered undertaking a pre-medical track as an undergraduate student.

Deciding that he could not excel at baseball and medicine at the same time, Williams decided to focus on baseball.

Playing for Double-A Albany-Colonie Yankees, he continued to develop his athletic skills – particularly as a switch hitter.