Bernie Williams, Going to Bat Against Hunger

"It was great. I mean, I play different stuff than rock 'n' roll, but they made me feel right at home up there. It's what I love about music. I can adjust to other situations than I'm used to being in. That's music. Whatever the groove, it's fun to adjust."

It's the morning after former New York Yankees legend Bernie Williams played onstage at the Anaheim Convention Center with The Band From TV, the popular group of musicians made of stars including Hugh Laurie, James Denton and Greg Grunberg, among others (players that night included Grunberg along with Adrian Pssar, Jesse Spencer and Bob Guiney).

The group, created to fund charities around the world, performed at the NAMM music trade show before a packed house and had invited Williams, a popular musician in his own right, to guest-gig.

"They do so much charity work, that's another reason it was satisfying. We all share the feeling of wanting to help," Williams continued.

Williams, who was nominated for a Latin Grammy for his 2009 album, "Moving Forward," was always considered a class act on the field.

Off the field, it's no different.

On Jan. 29, Williams' charity, the Hillside Food Outreach, will be holding its ninth annual "Neighbors Helping Neighbors" dinner and auction. (He will host the event, and his special guest this year will be Yankees catcher Jorge Posada.)

Hillside was created to provide food to those in need throughout Westchester and Putnam counties near Williams' home in New York. The nonprofit delivers food to people who are, for whatever reason, unable to access local food pantries, and also puts together food bags for people who need special diests, such as those with diabetes.

"There are so many people in need now," Williams told AOL News. "Working with Hillside helps me help the community I live in, which is important to me. Sometimes there are misconceptions about this part of (upstate) New York, that there are no people going hungry, but that could not be further from the truth."

Williams, who also plays guitar in the church band where he attends each Sunday, is staying very busy since retiring from baseball, working on many charitable causes and playing lots of jazz guitar.

"I started music when I was about 8, just like baseball," the soft-spoken Williams said. "My dad started teaching me how to play, and my love of music never left me. I always had a guitar on the road when I played baseball.

"At the old Yankee Stadium there was a utility room full of paint cans and stuff. There was an old drum kit that former pitcher Ron Guidry left there from the '70s. Paul O'Neill played a little bit of drums, so during rain delays we'd sometimes go in there to jam a little bit."

Does Williams see a similarity in the relationship he had with his bat and the one he has with his guitar?

"It's different," he said. "Guitars are more intimate than bats The strings, the tunings -- bats break so often, it's hard to get attached. But with guitars, it's a lifelong relationship."

On "Moving Forward," Williams performs an elegant version of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." Baseball rears its head once more on the album when Bruce Springsteen joins Williams for a cover of the Boss classic "Glory Days."

"It's so funny," Williams reminisced. "About 10 years before I stopped playing, Bruce came into our clubhouse at Yankee Stadium. I think Paul O'Neill brought him in. I had a Fender Telecaster guitar in my locker, kind of like the one he plays, and I asked him to sign it. He wrote, 'To Bernie, if you ever get tired of baseball ...' Ten years later, we played on the same stage and then he appeared on my album.

"Can you believe that? I am a very fortunate man."

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