Music and Sports Collide at the Mount Pleasant Library

When professional athlete and musician Bernie Williams decided to return to school to prepare for the release of his second album, he reached out to Bob Thompson, Dean of Music at SUNY Purchase.

Thompson, in turn, called Dave Gluck, an associate professor of music at Purchase, and asked him about the possibility of taking on another student.

Gluck was reluctant.

“Bob, you know my schedule’s tight.”

“Well, his name is Bernie Williams,” Thompson informed him.

“What a coincidence," was Gluck's reply. "He has the same name as one of my favorite baseball players of all time”.

“Well, it is Bernie Williams,” said Thompson.

The Bernie Williams Thompson was referring to played center field for the New York Yankees from 1991 to 2006. He was a five time All-Star winner, a four time World Series champion and a four time Golden Glove Award winner.

He also happens to be a Latin Grammy-nominated musician.

Needless to say, Gluck found time in his schedule to give Williams music lessons.

During this time, the two would get into philosophical discussions about the parallels between musical and athletic performance; the ability to perform under pressure and the physical, mental and emotional preparedness required for both professions.

These discussions were so interesting that Gluck and Williams thought it would be beneficial to share them with the Purchase community.

“We did a live interview/conversation in front of a packed recital hall at Purchase during one of the homecoming family weekends,” Gluck explained. “And that went really well. After that we started talking about what it would be to embark upon writing a book.”

The idea became a reality when Rhythms of the Game, co-authored by Gluck, Thompson and Williams, was released this month by the Hal Leonard Corporation.

On Tuesday, Thompson visited the to talk about the book.

“So why a book about music and baseball?” Thompson began. “What’s the connection? Well, Bernie and I sat down and he said to me, ‘I always thought there is this innate musical rhythm to baseball.’ We started analyzing double plays and there is actually a rhythm to a double play and it’s pretty much the same in any double play. So there’s actually a musicality—a lyricism to the game.”

There is also the acoustics of baseball, explained Thompson, where players can detect the direction of a ball and how far it will go based solely on the sound of the bat hitting the ball.

Another connection Thompson made is the "matrix moment"—that Zen-like moment when time slows down creating the ability to hyper-focus and intuit what will happen a split-second before it happens.

He went on to explain musicians and athletes share this heightened sense of intuition, which emerges from a mastery of their craft and from the depths of their experience.

He also talked about the "success of failing."

“Elite musicians and athletes also understand the success of failure.  They focus on how to learn from their mistakes so that they can do better next time," he stated.

Lastly, Thompson talked about parents fostering a strong sense of self in their children and that self-esteem is based on who a person is and not what they do. He also said that being skilled in multiple areas can be an asset, as was true for Williams. 

Said Williams, “It’s about positively managing change and transition. I’ve been extremely blessed in transitioning out of baseball—in part because of my supportive family, but also because music has always been a big part of my life—and now I get to do it full-time.”

Rhythms of the Game is available for purchase on Amazon.com.