37 — and by retiring his number 51.

And yet, despite his monumental success in the sport of baseball, it didn’t stop Williams from pursuing another passion in his life: musical performance. He was a talented jazz guitarist, and even released an album during his playing career (The Journey Within, in 2003), which went to No. 157 in the US music charts, and No. 3 in the US jazz charts.

He released a second album in 2009, after his retirement from baseball, which went to No. 178 in the US music charts, and No. 2 in the US jazz charts.

But two successful LPs wasn’t enough for Williams. His dedication to the medium of music compelled him to take it a step further:

I think to be successful, you need to havehis mother — an educator of 40 years in his native Puerto Rico — about the importance of academics, it was these raw motivations that brought him back to school. Music school, that is.

More specifically, the Manhattan School of Music — an institution a mere hour from his home in White Plains. After passing an audition to enroll into the school, Williams spent four days a week, for four school years, going to four or five classes per semester.

By many accounts, it wasn’t even a distraction for the school, itself — to pretty much everyone at the school, Williams was simply a 47-year-old with a passion for guitar that was going for a long-awaited bachelor’s degree. The music institute housed a diverse population, full of international students who