Bernie Williams' well-earned Carnegie Hall debut was offseason Yankees tour de force

Bernie Williams played Carnegie Hall on Tuesday night, sharing the stage with dominant tenor Jonathan Tetelman, not because he was a five-time All-Star and a dynastic New York Yankees icon. He played a versatile guitar for two enrapturing hours on the Carnegie Hall stage, keeping up with varying genres from operatic grace to samba rhythms to Broadway standards, and just so happened to have played a little baseball back in the day. He earned the night based entirely on his own merit, and kept the audience's attention with repeated displays of that skill.

As event organizer Adam Unger noted, to raucous applause towards the conclusion of Tuesday's show, Williams is "the greatest athlete musician of all time". This was indisputable prior to the concert; it has now been wrought in iron, baked into the foundation of New York City's most iconic venue.

The crowd certainly was different from a typical Carnegie Hall audience, from the sprinkled-in "Williams 51" pinstriped jerseys to the group-wide gasp of recognition as Tetelman launched into "La donna è mobile," almost aghast that they were actually familiar with some of the opera selections. Even, um, certain authors thought they could get away with wearing an expensive Italian wool sweater when the rest of the environment seemed to dictate that suiting up would've been a more appropriate call.

But Williams had more than enough familiarity with the material, and decades-honed natural ability, to make the pairing feel as seamless as the audience felt incongruous.

New York Yankees legend Bernie Williams is both a should-be Hall of Famer and a virtuoso guitarist. He played Carnegie Hall on Tuesday.

Joined by other notables like Katia Lindor on violin, Haley Swindal (granddaughter of George Steinbrenner) singing strong at center stage, and Darren Rovell handling the transitions, Williams was also cheered on by teammates like David Cone and Willie Randolph, and peers Stephon Marbury and Jose Reyes.

He deftly navigated the crowd to intermission from his perch near the piano, then took the performance to new heights in the second act when he launched into and led a jazzified rendition of the Beatles classic "Can't Buy Me Love," which he arranged. The work was inspired. His accompaniment was jaw-dropping; the drum solo grounded the crowd to a halt, followed by an explosion.

There may not be another All-Star Encore because there certainly isn't another Bernie Williams; the show functions, totally and completely, due to his enthusiastic participation. The main takeaway from the night was how stunningly natural he was in the spotlight, even as he humbly tried to shake it off somewhat with every bow. Williams put a bow on his passionate second career last night. And he can return to his newfound place of honor whenever he'd like.

And then someday, when he gains election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, a certain sect of fans might ask what on earth an esteemed classical guitarist is doing there.