Former New York Yankee Rick Cerone is a beloved figure who grew up in Newark and famously worked to bring minor league baseball back to the city in the 1990s.

What few people know about him though is that he had a brief singing career.

News 12 New Jersey's Brian Donohue ran into Cerone on the Boardwalk and couldn't resist having a little fun.

Cerone played 18 years in the MLB for eight different teams. The Essex County and Seton Hall grad is mostly identified as a beloved Yankee. He even famously told off George Steinbrenner.

Thanks to a recent episode of the podcast "New Jersey is the World," something new about Cerone was revealed after the hosts did some digging.

It turns out he had a brief singing career. In the winter of 1981 after one of the best seasons of his career, Cerone recorded a country western record called "A Long Run Home," a wistful ballad about a ballplayer going from Newark to Yankee Stadium on a snowy day and thinking about his lost love. The song sold very few copies and disappeared into history until it was recently found online.

Playing the tune on the Boardwalk, Cerone couldn't believe what he was hearing. His reaction was warm and wonderful. He said the song got some airtime in Syracuse and became No. 1 there.

Looks like Cerone is No. 1 these days in a place that means a little more to him -- the Boardwalk in Long Branch.