Bernie Williams has won just about everything a ballplayer can: a batting title, four World Series rings and four Gold Gloves. Could a Grammy be next?

	Bernie Williams is an impresario with the bat, and a guitar.

A blossoming classical guitarist whose music prompted Paul McCartney to say he was "blown away," Williams released his first CD, "The Journey Within," on GRP records July 15. The disc features appearances by Bela Fleck and Ruben Blades, and has Williams playing on every track, including seven the Yankee wrote himself.

I sat down with Williams to talk about his music, meeting Paul Simon and Bruce Springsteen, and Derek Jeter's, uh, "voice."

Question: What's the hardest part about making a CD?
Williams: I didn't know it was going to take so much time. It was like a season -- working every day. It took three weeks in December. I wrote seven of the songs and played in all the them, in three- and four-hour sessions. But to do that I had to play a lot at home so when I showed up at the studio I knew what I was doing. I had to develop the improvisations and the solos and all the melodies. I had to make sure they were nice and crisp.

Question: Was it a way to express emotions that you can't while playing for the Yankees?
Williams: They're sketches of things that are special in my life. Some of the feelings are thank-you, some is letting out frustration. Just the way I look at things in the form of music and melodies. When things happen in my life I think of a melody for it. I wrote a song about my dad when he passed away (two years ago). I wrote a song that I dedicated to my wife. I dedicated one to my son that I wrote a long time ago. The first tune is called "La Salsa En Mi", and it's a tribute to where I grew up in Puerto Rico. It's kind of a celebration of all the musical influences in my life. It has that nice, catchy salsa rhythm.

Question: Paul McCartney has said that he was "blown away" by your talent. Was that a little shocking?
Williams: Not a little -- a lot. When you have one of the greatest songwriters in modern history saying something like that about my music, it's just incredible. It gives so much support to the project, and an enormous amount of credibility.

Question: You've talked music with Paul Simon and Bruce Springsteen. What was that like?
Williams: I talked to Mr. Simon the most. He talked with me about his approach to melody, and the chords. His mind, and the way he approaches the whole creative process was just amazing. You can understand and appreciate how he's been able to do it for such a long time. Bruce, it was a more brief conversation. It was more about baseball than anything else. He was in the clubhouse at Yankee Stadium, and I happened to have one my guitars there, my Telecaster. He signed it for me. So I can't play that one anymore. That one's retired.

Question: Some teammates say you look more natural with a guitar in your hands than a bat.
Williams: I think they're probably joking that I sometimes look awkward out there playing the game. I love music and love playing guitar. I realize, however, that it's not gonna pay the bills. Baseball is a big priority in my life, and I've been able to play at a very high level for a number of years. Baseball is first. But music will always be there, no matter what.

Question: What does a corked guitar sound like?
Williams: Good question! Probably a little softer, right?

Question: How does playing music compare with playing baseball? We use some of the same words to describe it, like "perform."
Williams: Music and sports, in my case playing the guitar and baseball, have a lot of similarities. The discipline in how I have to really throw myself in 100 percent in the music, in the skill that I'm trying to accomplish, whether it's hitting or fielding, or chords or melodies -- it takes so much focus. And when you play the guitar live, you have one shot. There are no do-overs. The same thing holds true when I'm at the plate. There's no second chance. You get three strikes, and you try to make something happen. You have to be at the top of your game and focus.

	Zito

Question: Barry Zito plays guitar too, and has told me that while he's never nervous on the mound, his hands "feel like jelly" on stage. Do you feel the same way?
Williams: Yeah. Baseball, even though there's no one who can help you at the plate, you realize that you've done it for a long time. You practice every day and this is how you make your living. I don't get to play music that often so I'm more nervous there. When I was a kid, like 15 or 16, I was playing a Brazilian piece and I forgot how to play it right in the middle. It was so embarrassing. You play live, anything can happen. It's hilarious now, but back then it wasn't that funny. The whole school is looking at you.

Question: Does guitar help pass the time on road trips?
Williams: I don't always bring my guitar on the road. I have to really be wise when it comes to that because it can be very distracting for me. I get really into it and my focus starts shifting away from baseball. It's that serious. When everything seems to be flowing the right way I'll bring it and play the things that I know, just to relax.

Question: You occasionally play by your locker in the Yankee clubhouse. One time Derek Jeter came over and started singing Prince's "Purple Rain." How did that sound?
Williams: Derek is a great baseball player.

Question: So many players today choose a song to play over the loudspeakers when they come to the plate, but you've insisted on nothing, right?
Williams: When I hear music, it's distracting. I need to focus on what I have to do, and it's just me and the pitcher, that battle. I don't want any music being in the middle of that. But you know, silence can be very musical at times.

Question: When you retire, will you try being a professional musician? Can it be a second career, not just a hobby?
Williams: I don't know. I probably won't need for it to be a career -- when I'm finished playing this game I will have a lot of choices with what I want to do with the rest of my life, and hopefully working won't be one of them. But I would like to maximize all the musical potential that I have in me. It's the same approach I have in baseball and how I made sure to become the best possible player I could. I'll make sure that I become the best guitar player I can possibly be.

Alan Schwarz is the senior writer of Baseball America magazine and a regular contributor to ESPN.com.