For the National League outfielder, see Bernie Williams.
Bernabé "Bernie" Williams Figueroa (born September 13, 1968, in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a Major League Baseball outfielder and a guitar-playing jazz recording artist.
A switch hitter, Williams has played his entire career (1991-2006) with the New York Yankees.
As of December 2006, he is 9th of all active players lifetime in doubles (449), and 10th in runs scored (1,366), singles (1,545), and times on base (3,444). He is Major League Baseball's all-time leader in postseason home runs (22) and runs batted in (80). He trails only Lou Gehrig's 534 for lifetime doubles as a Yankee.
Williams is currently a free agent.

Early life and career
Williams had become the regular Yankees center fielder by 1993. Buck Showalter helped keep him with the Yankees through 1995, when George Steinbrenner sought to trade him. Steinbrenner was frustrated by the team's difficulty in placing him 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 lacked home run power. Throughout the early 1990s he hit in the middle of the order as management tried to figure out where he fit in.
1995 was a breakout season for Williams. He hit 18 home runs and led the team in runs, hits, total bases and stolen bases. Bernie continued his hot hitting into the postseason, leading the Yankees with a .429 batting average in the ALDS against Seattle.
After continuing to improve in 1996, Bernie again showcased his skills to the baseball world in the postseason. He batted .467 in the ALDS against Texas and played a sparkling center field. He picked up where he left off in the ALCS against Baltimore, belting an 11th-inning walk-off homer in Game 1. Ending with a .474 ALCS average and two homers, Bernie was named the ALCS MVP. Bernie collected just four hits in the 1996 World Series but his 4 RBI led the Yankees and a clutch homer in the 8th inning of Game 3 got the Yankees their first of four consecutive wins to capture the team's first championship since 1978.
During the 1998 season, in which the Yankees went 114-48 to set an American League record, Williams finished with a .339 average, becoming the first player to win a batting title, Gold Glove award, and World Series ring in the same year.
After that season, Williams inked a 7-year, $85-million contract with the Yankees, one of the largest in baseball at the time. The Boston Red Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks were the main contenders for Bernie's services. For the length of the contract, the Yankees made the playoffs every single year, and as a result Bernie continued to add to his postseason statistics, placing in the top 10 of various career postseason categories. He also climbed the Yankee record books, placing him in the elite company of former Yankee greats.
The last year covered by his contract, 2005, proved to be a difficult one. He started 99 games in center field and 22 games as designated hitter, but his already weak arm was highlighted as his fielding and batting abilities considerably weakened. He had a career-worst .321 OBP and batting average on balls in play (.274). As expected, the Yankees announced on August 2, 2005, that they would not pick up the $15 million option on Williams' contract for the 2006 season, opting to pay a $3.5 million buyout instead. In December Williams was offered arbitration by team general manager Brian Cashman to allow an additional month for negotiation. On December 22, the Yankees re-signed Williams to a 1-year, $1.5 million contract.
In 2006, Williams saw a good amount of playing time in the corner outfield spots with both Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield out with wrist injuries, and did spot duty in center field on days when starting center fielder Johnny Damon was given time off to rest, playing more than was expected when he signed his 1-year extension with the Yankees in 2006.
Williams was one of the Puerto Rican players to agree to play for Puerto Rico in the 2006 MLB World Baseball Classic, joining Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltrán, Mike Lowell, Javier Vázquez, and José Vidro amongst others representing the US Territory Island Nation in a team managed by St. Louis Cardinals third base coach Jose Oquendo.
On July 26, 2006, Williams got his 2,300th career hit, becoming the 11th active player in the Majors with 2,300 or more career hits. Bernie continued to climb the NY Yankees record books by hitting his 443rd career double on August 16, 2006. This surpasses his bench coach Don Mattingly for 2nd-most as a Yankee. For the year, he walked only 7.3% of the time, a career-worst.
Williams' contract expired at the end of the the 2006 season. He was hoping to return to the Yankees in 2007, and was willing to accept a role as a back-up outfielder and pinch hitter. The Yankees, however, were short on roster space. Their plan was to make Jason Giambi a full-time DH and use a platoon at first base with two better fielding first basemen. With Melky Cabrera earning the job as the primary backup outfileder, the Yankees did not feel the need to carry another one. The Yankees did offer Williams an invite to Spring Training as a non-roster invitee, giving him a chance to fight for a job. Williams, however, wanted a guaranteed roster spot and told several New York area newspapers in February 2007 that he would decline a non-roster invitation to the Yankees 2007 Spring Training. Boras has insisted that his client is not retired and would return to play this year, but only for the Yankees. Williams called Torre before the season opener to wish him and the team good luck for the upcoming season. Speculation regarding a return to pinstripes has died down as the season has progressed.

Baseball career

Made his major league debut on July 7, 1991
5-time All-Star (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001)
1996 ALCS MVP
4-time Gold Glove Winner (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000)
1998 AL Batting Champion (.339 avg)
4-time World Series Champion (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000)
In 1999 led American League in IBB (intentional walks) with 17
Switch-hit home runs by teammates, one game Jorge Posada & Bernie Williams @ Toronto on April 23, 2000
First and only player in MLB history to hit a home run from both sides of the plate in a postseason game- And he had done it twice (1995 ALDS and 1996 ALDS) Career highlights

Second on the all-time doubles list for a Yankee, behind Lou Gehrig.
Second on the all-time singles list for a Yankee, behind Derek Jeter.
Third on the all-time at bats list for a Yankee, behind Lou Gehrig and Mickey Mantle.
Fifth on the all-time runs list for a Yankee, behind Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig, and Babe Ruth.
Most hits by a switch-hitter in a single season - 204 (2002) Yankee team records
In addition to his accolades on the baseball field, Bernie is also a critically-acclaimed musician. He was forced to choose between music and baseball. Growing up, Bernie wanted to be a professional musician. A classically trained guitarist, playing and composing music is Bernie's first true passion with influences that include jazz, classical, pop, Brazilian, and Latin sounds.
His major label debut, The Journey Within, was released in 2003. In addition to playing lead and rhythm guitar, Williams composed seven songs for the album. Tracks like "La Salsa En Mi" and "Desvelado" mix Bernie's love of jazz with the sophisticated Latin rhythms of his Puerto Rican heritage. The first single was a remix of his "Just Because", featuring David Benoit. Other highlights include Williams' heartfelt tribute to his father, "Para Don Berna", a reworking of the Baden Powell song, "Samba Novo", and "La Salsa En Mi", featuring background vocals from 2003 Grammy Winner Ruben Blades and salsa legend Gilberto Santa Rosa. Also joining Williams is an all-star ensemble of musicians including multiple Grammy-winning banjo player Bela Fleck, keyboardist David Sancious, percussionist Luis Conte, bassist Leland Sklar, guitarist Tim Pierce, and drummers Kenny Aronoff and Shawn Pelton, among others.
He played in the clubhouse with retired Yankee outfielder Paul O'Neill, who plays the drums.

Career statistics

Top 500 home run hitters of all time
List of major league players with 2,000 hits
List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
List of Major League Baseball batting champions