Dave Winfield
Encyclopedia
David Mark Winfield is an American former Major League Baseball
outfielder
. He is currently Executive Vice President/Senior Advisor of the San Diego Padres
and an analyst for the ESPN
program Baseball Tonight. Over his 22-year career, he played for six teams: the San Diego Padres, New York Yankees
, California Angels
, Toronto Blue Jays
, Minnesota Twins
, and Cleveland Indians
. In 2004, ESPN
named him the third-best all-around athlete of all time in any sport. He is a member of both the Baseball Hall of Fame and the College Baseball Hall of Fame
.
hit his pennant-winning home run for the New York Giants
, known as "the shot heard 'round the world
", and grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota
. His parents divorced when he was three years old, leaving him and his older brother Stephen to be raised by their mom, Arline, and a huge extended family of aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins and mentors.
The Winfield brothers honed their athletic skills in St. Paul's Oxford playground, where coach Bill Peterson was one of the first to take the young Winfield under his wing. It wasn't until his senior year in high school that Winfield became a formidable 6'6" athlete.
He earned a full baseball scholarship to the University of Minnesota
in 1969, where he starred in baseball
and basketball
for the Golden Gophers. His college baseball coach was former MLB player Dick Siebert
, and his basketball coach was Bill Musselman
(who went on to serve as a head coach in the American Basketball Association
and National Basketball Association
) who would later refer to Winfield as the best rebounder he ever coached. Winfield's 1972 Minnesota team won a Big Ten basketball championship, the school's first in 53 years. During the 1972 season, he also was involved in a brawl when Minnesota played Ohio State.
Winfield also played for the Alaska Goldpanners for two seasons (1971–72) and was the MVP in 1972. In 1973, he was named All-American and voted MVP of the College World Series—as a pitcher. Following college, Winfield was drafted by four teams in three different sports. The San Diego Padres selected him as a pitcher with the fourth overall pick in the MLB draft and both the Atlanta Hawks
(NBA) and the Utah Stars
(ABA) drafted him. And even though he never played college football
, the Minnesota Vikings
selected Winfield in the 17th round of the NFL draft
. He is one of four players ever to be drafted by three professional sports (the others being Mickey McCarty, Dave Logan
, and Charlie Ward
) and the only athlete drafted by four leagues.
.277 in 56 games his first season.
For the next several years, he was an All-Star player in San Diego, gradually increasing his power and hits totals. In 1977, he appeared in his first All-Star game at New York's Yankee Stadium and he burst into national stardom. In 1978, he was named Padres team captain and in , he batted .308 with 34 home runs and 118 RBI. He played one more season with the Padres before becoming a free agent.
owner George Steinbrenner
made headlines by signing Winfield to a 10-year, $23 million ($ today) contract, making him the game's highest-paid player. Steinbrenner mistakenly thought he was signing Winfield for $16 million ($ today), a misunderstanding that led to the most infamous public feud in baseball history.
Winfield was one of the best players in the game throughout his Yankee contract. He brought the Yankees to the 1981 American League pennant, but then had a poor World Series
, which the Yankees lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers
in six games. After getting his only series hit, Winfield jokingly asked for the ball. Steinbrenner didn't find this humorous, and criticised Winfield at the end of the series. Many commentators have since noted that Winfield’s post-season doldrums were somewhat overstated when compared to those of his teammates. In the exciting 1981 American League Division Series
, Winfield batted .350 with two doubles and a triple and made some important defensive plays helping the Yankees to victory over the Milwaukee Brewers
. Four of his seven hits came in games won by the Yankees. The team's offense for the most part was inconsistent, and they were also set back by key injuries to Reggie Jackson
and Graig Nettles
.
Winfield did not let Steinbrenner's antics affect his play. He hit 37 home runs in a spectacular season. On August 4, , Winfield accidentally killed a seagull by throwing a ball while warming up before the fifth inning of a game at Toronto's Exhibition Stadium
. Fans responded by hurling obscenities and improvised missiles. After the game, he was brought to the Ontario Provincial Police
station and charged with cruelty to animals. He was released after posting a $
500 bond. Yankee manager Billy Martin
quipped, "It's the first time he's hit the cutoff man all season." Charges were dropped the following day. In the off-season, Winfield returned to Toronto and donated two paintings for an Easter Seals auction, which raised over $60,000. For years afterward, Winfield's appearances in Toronto were greeted by fans standing and flapping their arms—until he became a fan favorite when he joined the Blue Jays in 1992.
In , Winfield was in a memorable race for the batting title with teammate Don Mattingly
. Mattingly won out by .003 points on the last day of the season; Winfield finished with a .340 average. In the last few weeks of the race, it became obvious to most observers that the fans were partial to Mattingly. Winfield took this in stride noting that a similar thing happened in 1961 when Mantle
and Maris
competed for the single season home run record.
In 1985, a bitter Steinbrenner derided Winfield by saying to New York Times writer Murray Chass
, "Where is Reggie Jackson
? We need a Mr. October or a Mr. September. Winfield is Mr. May.". This criticism has become somewhat of an anachronism
as many cite the statement to Steinbrenner after the 1981 World Series
. Winfield was struggling while the Yankees eventually lost a pennant to Toronto on the second to last day of the season. The Mr. May sobriquet
lived with Winfield until he won the 1992 World Series
with Toronto.
Throughout the late '80s, Steinbrenner regularly leaked insulting (and often fictitious) stories about Winfield to the press. He also forced Yankee managers to move him down in the batting order and bench him. Steinbrenner frequently tried to trade him, but Winfield's status as a 10-and-5 player (10 years in the majors, five years with a single team) meant he could not be traded without his consent. Winfield continued to put up excellent numbers with the Yankees, driving in 744 runs between 1982 and , and was selected to play in the All-Star Game
every season. Winfield won five (of his seven) Gold Glove Award
s for his stellar outfield play as a Yankee.
In 1989, Winfield missed the entire season because of a back injury. In , the feud between Steinbrenner and Winfield had escalated to the point where Steinbrenner was "banned for life" from running the Yankees because of his connections to Howie Spira, a known gambler with Mafia
connections, whom he had paid $40,000 for embarrassing information on Winfield. However, the suspension lasted only two years. Winfield was traded mid-season to the California Angels
and won the 1990 MLB Comeback Player of the Year Award
.
as their designated hitter, and also made "Winfieldian" plays when he periodically took his familiar position in right field. He batted .290 with 26 home runs and 108 RBI, during the season.
Winfield proved to be a lightning rod for the Blue Jays, providing leadership and experience as well as his potent bat. Winfield was a fan favorite and also demanded fan participation. In August 1992 he made an impassioned plea to the reserved fans during an interview for more crowd noise. The phrase "Winfield Wants Noise" became a popular slogan for the rest of the season, appearing on t-shirts, dolls, buttons, and signs.
The Blue Jays won the pennant, giving Winfield a chance at redemption for his previous post-season futility. In Game 6 of the World Series
, he became "Mr. Jay" as he delivered the game-winning two-run double in the 11th inning off Atlanta
's Charlie Leibrandt
to win the World Series Championship
for Toronto. At 41 years of age, Winfield became the oldest player to hit an extra base hit in the World Series.
, where he continued to perform at a high level of play despite advancing age. He batted .271 with 21 home runs, appearing in 143 games for the Twins, mostly as their designated hitter
. On September 16, 1993, at age 41, he collected his 3,000th career hit with a single off Oakland Athletics
closer
Dennis Eckersley
.
During the 1994 baseball strike
, which began on August 12, Winfield was traded to the Cleveland Indians
at the trade waiver deadline on August 31 for a "player to be named later." The 1994 season had been halted two weeks earlier (it was eventually canceled a month later on September 14), so Winfield did not get to play for the Indians that year and no player was ever named in exchange. To settle the trade, Cleveland and Minnesota executives went to dinner, with the Indians picking up the tab. This makes Winfield the only player in major league history to be traded for a dinner, though official sources list the transaction as a sale (sold by the Minnesota Twins
to the Cleveland Indians
.
Winfield, who was now the oldest MLB player, was again granted free agency in October but re-signed with the Indians as spring training began in April . A rotator cuff
injury kept him on the disabled list for most of the season; thus he played in only 46 games and hit .191 for Cleveland's first pennant winner in 41 years. He did not participate in the Indians' postseason.
as a Padre — a move that reportedly irked Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner. Nonetheless, when he was inducted Winfield sounded a conciliatory note toward Steinbrenner:
In 1998, Winfield was inducted by the San Diego Hall of Champions
into the Breitbard Hall of Fame honoring San Diego's finest athletes both on and off the playing surface.
In , Winfield ranked number 94 on The Sporting News list of Baseball's Greatest Players, and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team
.
The Padres retired Winfield's #31 on April 14, 2001.
On July 4, , Winfield was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame
in its inaugural class.
In 2010, Winfield was voted All-Time Left Fielder in the National Sports Review poll and selected as one of 28 members of the NCAA Men’s College World Series Legends Team.
The Big Ten Network named Winfield its #15 ranked Big Ten Conference "Icon" in 2010.
In 2006, Winfield teamed up with conductor Bob Thompson to create The Baseball Music Project, a series of concerts that celebrate the history of baseball, with Winfield serving as host and narrator. It marked the first time a major-league baseball player had ever performed as a soloist with a symphony orchestra.
In 2008, Winfield participated in both the final Old Timer's Day ceremony and Final Game ceremony at Yankee Stadium.
On June 5, , Major League Baseball
held a special draft of the surviving Negro League players to acknowledge and rectify their exclusion from the major leagues on the basis of race. The idea of the special draft was conceived by Winfield. Each major league team drafted one player from the Negro Leagues.
On March 31, 2009, Winfield joined ESPN
as an analyst on their Baseball Tonight
program.
Winfield resides in California with his wife of 22 years, Tonya, and three children, Shanel and twins David II and Arielle.
was one of the "Winfield kids" who attended Padres games.
In his hometown of St. Paul, he began a scholarship program (which continues to this day). In 1977, he organized his efforts into an official 501(c)(3) charitable organization, known as the David M. Winfield Foundation for Underprivileged Youth, the first active athlete to do so.
As his salary increased, Foundation programs expanded to include holiday dinner giveaways and national scholarships. In 1978, San Diego hosted the All-Star game, and Winfield bought his usual block of pavilion tickets. Winfield then went on a local radio station and inadvertently invited "all the kids of San Diego" to attend. To accommodate the unexpected crowd, the Foundation brought the kids into batting practice. The All-Star open-practice has since been adopted by Major League Baseball
and continues to this day.
When Winfield joined the New York Yankees, he set aside $3 million of his contract for the Winfield Foundation. He funded The Dave Winfield Nutrition Center at Hackensack University Medical Center
near his Teaneck, New Jersey home. The Foundation also partnered with Merck
Pharmaceuticals and created an internationally acclaimed bilingual substance abuse prevention program called "Turn it Around".
The Winfield Foundation also became a bone of contention in Steinbrenner's public feud with Winfield. Steinbrenner alleged the Foundation was mishandling funds and often held back payments to the organization, which resulted in long, costly court battles. It also created the appearance that Steinbrenner was contributing to the Foundation, when in actuality, Steinbrenner was holding back a portion of Winfield's salary. Ultimately, the Foundation received all its funding and the alleged improprieties proved unfounded.
Winfield's philanthropic endeavors had as much influence on many of MLB's players as his on-field play. Yankee Derek Jeter
, who grew up idolizing Winfield for both his athleticism and humanitarianism, credits Winfield as the inspiration for his own Turn 2 Foundation
. In turn, Winfield continues to help raise funds and awareness for Jeter's Foundation and for many other groups and causes throughout the country.
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
outfielder
Outfielder
Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...
. He is currently Executive Vice President/Senior Advisor of the San Diego Padres
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego, California. They play in the National League Western Division. Founded in 1969, the Padres have won the National League Pennant twice, in 1984 and 1998, losing in the World Series both times...
and an analyst for the ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
program Baseball Tonight. Over his 22-year career, he played for six teams: the San Diego Padres, New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
, California Angels
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are a professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California, United States. The Angels are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The "Angels" name originates from the city in which the team started, Los Angeles...
, Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball 's American League ....
, Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
, and Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
. In 2004, ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
named him the third-best all-around athlete of all time in any sport. He is a member of both the Baseball Hall of Fame and the College Baseball Hall of Fame
College Baseball Hall of Fame
The National College Baseball Hall of Fame, located in Lubbock, Texas, is a museum operated by the College Baseball Foundation serving as the central point for the study of the history of college baseball in the United States...
.
Youth and collegiate career
Winfield was born the same day Bobby ThomsonBobby Thomson
Robert Brown "Bobby" Thomson was a Scottish-born American professional baseball player. Nicknamed "The Staten Island Scot", he was an outfielder and right-handed batter for the New York Giants , Milwaukee Braves , Chicago Cubs , Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles .His season-ending three-run...
hit his pennant-winning home run for the New York Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
, known as "the shot heard 'round the world
Shot Heard 'Round the World (baseball)
In baseball, the "Shot Heard 'round the World" is the term given to the walk-off home run hit by New York Giants outfielder Bobby Thomson off Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca at the Polo Grounds to win the National League pennant at 3:58 p.m...
", and grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. His parents divorced when he was three years old, leaving him and his older brother Stephen to be raised by their mom, Arline, and a huge extended family of aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins and mentors.
The Winfield brothers honed their athletic skills in St. Paul's Oxford playground, where coach Bill Peterson was one of the first to take the young Winfield under his wing. It wasn't until his senior year in high school that Winfield became a formidable 6'6" athlete.
He earned a full baseball scholarship to the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
in 1969, where he starred in baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
and basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
for the Golden Gophers. His college baseball coach was former MLB player Dick Siebert
Dick Siebert
Richard Walther Siebert was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball who had an 11-year career from 1932, 1936-1945. He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers and St...
, and his basketball coach was Bill Musselman
Bill Musselman
William Clifford Musselman was an American basketball coach in the NCAA, the ABA, the WBA, the CBA, and the NBA. He was a fiercely intense coach who once was quoted as saying "defeat is worse than death, because you have to live with defeat."-Early life:Musselman was the second of five children....
(who went on to serve as a head coach in the American Basketball Association
American Basketball Association
The American Basketball Association was a professional basketball league founded in 1967. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger in 1976.-League history:...
and National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
) who would later refer to Winfield as the best rebounder he ever coached. Winfield's 1972 Minnesota team won a Big Ten basketball championship, the school's first in 53 years. During the 1972 season, he also was involved in a brawl when Minnesota played Ohio State.
Winfield also played for the Alaska Goldpanners for two seasons (1971–72) and was the MVP in 1972. In 1973, he was named All-American and voted MVP of the College World Series—as a pitcher. Following college, Winfield was drafted by four teams in three different sports. The San Diego Padres selected him as a pitcher with the fourth overall pick in the MLB draft and both the Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are part of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association .-The first years:...
(NBA) and the Utah Stars
Utah Stars
The Utah Stars was an American Basketball Association team based in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.Under head coach Bill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround.-History:...
(ABA) drafted him. And even though he never played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
, the Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...
selected Winfield in the 17th round of the NFL draft
1973 NFL Draft
The 1973 National Football League Draft was held on January 30–31, 1973.-Player selections:-Round one:-Round two:-Round three:-Round four:-Round five:-Round six:-Round seven:-Round eight:-Round nine:-Round ten:...
. He is one of four players ever to be drafted by three professional sports (the others being Mickey McCarty, Dave Logan
Dave Logan (American football)
David Russell Logan is a former American football player. Logan played in nine National Football League seasons from 1976 to 1984, primarily for the Cleveland Browns...
, and Charlie Ward
Charlie Ward
Charlie Ward, Jr. is a retired American professional NBA basketball player, college football Heisman Trophy winner, Davey O'Brien Award winner and a Major League Baseball draftee. Ward is considered one of the best all-around athletes in the last quarter century...
) and the only athlete drafted by four leagues.
San Diego Padres: 1973–80
Winfield chose baseball, and gained another distinction when the Padres promoted him directly to the majors. Although he was a pitcher, the Padres wanted his powerful bat in the lineup and put him in right field, where he could still use his "rifle arm." He proved up to the task, battingBatting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
.277 in 56 games his first season.
For the next several years, he was an All-Star player in San Diego, gradually increasing his power and hits totals. In 1977, he appeared in his first All-Star game at New York's Yankee Stadium and he burst into national stardom. In 1978, he was named Padres team captain and in , he batted .308 with 34 home runs and 118 RBI. He played one more season with the Padres before becoming a free agent.
New York Yankees: 1981–90
In , New York YankeesNew York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
owner George Steinbrenner
George Steinbrenner
George Michael Steinbrenner III was an American businessman who was the principal owner and managing partner of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees. During Steinbrenner's 37-year ownership from 1973 to his death in July 2010, the longest in club history, the Yankees earned seven World Series...
made headlines by signing Winfield to a 10-year, $23 million ($ today) contract, making him the game's highest-paid player. Steinbrenner mistakenly thought he was signing Winfield for $16 million ($ today), a misunderstanding that led to the most infamous public feud in baseball history.
Winfield was one of the best players in the game throughout his Yankee contract. He brought the Yankees to the 1981 American League pennant, but then had a poor World Series
1981 World Series
The 1981 World Series matched the New York Yankees against the Los Angeles Dodgers, marking their third meeting in the Series in five years as well as a record eleventh Series meeting overall and last Series meeting to date...
, which the Yankees lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
in six games. After getting his only series hit, Winfield jokingly asked for the ball. Steinbrenner didn't find this humorous, and criticised Winfield at the end of the series. Many commentators have since noted that Winfield’s post-season doldrums were somewhat overstated when compared to those of his teammates. In the exciting 1981 American League Division Series
1981 American League Division Series
-New York Yankees vs. Milwaukee Brewers:-Game 1, October 6:Royals Stadium in Kansas City, MissouriMike Norris faced Dennis Leonard and the defending AL Champions in Game 1. Both pitchers were on their game and the game was scoreless through three innings. But in the top of the fourth, the A's got a...
, Winfield batted .350 with two doubles and a triple and made some important defensive plays helping the Yankees to victory over the Milwaukee Brewers
Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are a professional baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, currently playing in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
. Four of his seven hits came in games won by the Yankees. The team's offense for the most part was inconsistent, and they were also set back by key injuries to Reggie Jackson
Reggie Jackson
Reginald Martinez "Reggie" Jackson , nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the New York Yankees, is a former American Major League Baseball right fielder. During a 21-year baseball career, he played from 1967-1987 for four different teams. Jackson currently serves as...
and Graig Nettles
Graig Nettles
Graig Nettles , nicknamed "Puff", is a former Major League Baseball third baseman. During a 22-year baseball career, he played for the Minnesota Twins , Cleveland Indians , New York Yankees , San Diego Padres , Atlanta Braves and Montreal Expos .Nettles was one of the best...
.
Exhibition Stadium
Canadian National Exhibition Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, that formerly stood on the Exhibition Place grounds, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada....
. Fans responded by hurling obscenities and improvised missiles. After the game, he was brought to the Ontario Provincial Police
Ontario Provincial Police
The Ontario Provincial Police is the Provincial Police service for the province of Ontario, Canada.-Overview:The OPP is the the largest deployed police force in Ontario, and the second largest in Canada. The service is responsible for providing policing services throughout the province in areas...
station and charged with cruelty to animals. He was released after posting a $
Canadian dollar
The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
500 bond. Yankee manager Billy Martin
Billy Martin
Alfred Manuel "Billy" Martin, Jr. was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager. He is best known as the manager of the New York Yankees, a position he held five different times...
quipped, "It's the first time he's hit the cutoff man all season." Charges were dropped the following day. In the off-season, Winfield returned to Toronto and donated two paintings for an Easter Seals auction, which raised over $60,000. For years afterward, Winfield's appearances in Toronto were greeted by fans standing and flapping their arms—until he became a fan favorite when he joined the Blue Jays in 1992.
In , Winfield was in a memorable race for the batting title with teammate Don Mattingly
Don Mattingly
Donald Arthur "Don" Mattingly is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and current manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Nicknamed "The Hit Man" and "Donnie Baseball", he played his entire 14-year baseball career for the New York Yankees...
. Mattingly won out by .003 points on the last day of the season; Winfield finished with a .340 average. In the last few weeks of the race, it became obvious to most observers that the fans were partial to Mattingly. Winfield took this in stride noting that a similar thing happened in 1961 when Mantle
Mickey Mantle
Mickey Charles Mantle was an American professional baseball player. Mantle is regarded by many to be the greatest switch hitter of all time, and one of the greatest players in baseball history. Mantle was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.Mantle was noted for his hitting...
and Maris
Roger Maris
Roger Eugene Maris was an American Major League Baseball right fielder. During the 1961 season, he hit a record 61 home runs for the New York Yankees, breaking Babe Ruth's single-season record of 60 home runs...
competed for the single season home run record.
In 1985, a bitter Steinbrenner derided Winfield by saying to New York Times writer Murray Chass
Murray Chass
Murray Chass is an American sportswriter and blogger who covers baseball. He previously wrote for The New York Times and before that the Associated Press on baseball and sports legal and labor relations. In 2003 the Baseball Writers Association of America honored him with the J. G. Taylor Spink...
, "Where is Reggie Jackson
Reggie Jackson
Reginald Martinez "Reggie" Jackson , nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the New York Yankees, is a former American Major League Baseball right fielder. During a 21-year baseball career, he played from 1967-1987 for four different teams. Jackson currently serves as...
? We need a Mr. October or a Mr. September. Winfield is Mr. May.". This criticism has become somewhat of an anachronism
Anachronism
An anachronism—from the Greek ανά and χρόνος — is an inconsistency in some chronological arrangement, especially a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other...
as many cite the statement to Steinbrenner after the 1981 World Series
1981 World Series
The 1981 World Series matched the New York Yankees against the Los Angeles Dodgers, marking their third meeting in the Series in five years as well as a record eleventh Series meeting overall and last Series meeting to date...
. Winfield was struggling while the Yankees eventually lost a pennant to Toronto on the second to last day of the season. The Mr. May sobriquet
Sobriquet
A sobriquet is a nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another. It is usually a familiar name, distinct from a pseudonym assumed as a disguise, but a nickname which is familiar enough such that it can be used in place of a real name without the need of explanation...
lived with Winfield until he won the 1992 World Series
1992 World Series
-Game 1:Saturday, October 17, 1992 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, GeorgiaBraves fans had plenty to worry about in regard to both starting pitchers. Tom Glavine's post-season career had been less than stellar, including giving up eight runs in the second inning of Game 6 of the NLCS...
with Toronto.
Throughout the late '80s, Steinbrenner regularly leaked insulting (and often fictitious) stories about Winfield to the press. He also forced Yankee managers to move him down in the batting order and bench him. Steinbrenner frequently tried to trade him, but Winfield's status as a 10-and-5 player (10 years in the majors, five years with a single team) meant he could not be traded without his consent. Winfield continued to put up excellent numbers with the Yankees, driving in 744 runs between 1982 and , and was selected to play in the All-Star Game
Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers...
every season. Winfield won five (of his seven) Gold Glove Award
Gold Glove Award
The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in both the National League and the American League , as voted by the...
s for his stellar outfield play as a Yankee.
In 1989, Winfield missed the entire season because of a back injury. In , the feud between Steinbrenner and Winfield had escalated to the point where Steinbrenner was "banned for life" from running the Yankees because of his connections to Howie Spira, a known gambler with Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
connections, whom he had paid $40,000 for embarrassing information on Winfield. However, the suspension lasted only two years. Winfield was traded mid-season to the California Angels
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are a professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California, United States. The Angels are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The "Angels" name originates from the city in which the team started, Los Angeles...
and won the 1990 MLB Comeback Player of the Year Award
MLB Comeback Player of the Year Award
The Major League Baseball Comeback Player of the Year Award is presented by Major League Baseball to the player who is judged to have "re-emerged on the baseball field during a given season." The award was developed in 2005, as part of a sponsorship agreement between MLB and Viagra...
.
World Series Champion Toronto Blue Jays
Winfield was still a productive hitter after his 40th birthday. On December 19, , he signed with the Toronto Blue JaysToronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball 's American League ....
as their designated hitter, and also made "Winfieldian" plays when he periodically took his familiar position in right field. He batted .290 with 26 home runs and 108 RBI, during the season.
Winfield proved to be a lightning rod for the Blue Jays, providing leadership and experience as well as his potent bat. Winfield was a fan favorite and also demanded fan participation. In August 1992 he made an impassioned plea to the reserved fans during an interview for more crowd noise. The phrase "Winfield Wants Noise" became a popular slogan for the rest of the season, appearing on t-shirts, dolls, buttons, and signs.
The Blue Jays won the pennant, giving Winfield a chance at redemption for his previous post-season futility. In Game 6 of the World Series
1992 World Series
-Game 1:Saturday, October 17, 1992 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, GeorgiaBraves fans had plenty to worry about in regard to both starting pitchers. Tom Glavine's post-season career had been less than stellar, including giving up eight runs in the second inning of Game 6 of the NLCS...
, he became "Mr. Jay" as he delivered the game-winning two-run double in the 11th inning off Atlanta
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
's Charlie Leibrandt
Charlie Leibrandt
Charles Louis "Charlie" Leibrandt, Jr. is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played from 1979 to 1993 for the Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers. Leibrandt was a productive pitcher throughout his 14 year career, and a member of the 1985 World Series...
to win the World Series Championship
World Series Trophy
The Commissioner's Trophy is presented each year by the Commissioner of Baseball to the Major League Baseball team that wins the World Series. Recent trophy designs contain flags representing each team in North America's top two leagues, the National League and the American League...
for Toronto. At 41 years of age, Winfield became the oldest player to hit an extra base hit in the World Series.
1993–95: Winfield for Dinner?
After the 1992 season, Winfield was granted free agency and signed with his hometown Minnesota TwinsMinnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
, where he continued to perform at a high level of play despite advancing age. He batted .271 with 21 home runs, appearing in 143 games for the Twins, mostly as their designated hitter
Designated hitter
In baseball, the designated hitter rule is the common name for Major League Baseball Rule 6.10, an official position adopted by the American League in 1973 that allows teams to designate a player, known as the designated hitter , to bat in place of the pitcher each time he would otherwise come to...
. On September 16, 1993, at age 41, he collected his 3,000th career hit with a single off Oakland Athletics
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
closer
Closer (baseball)
In baseball, a closing pitcher, more frequently referred to as a closer , is a relief pitcher who specializes in closing out games, i.e., getting the final outs in a close game. Closers often appear when the score is close, and the role is often assigned to a team's best reliever. A small number of...
Dennis Eckersley
Dennis Eckersley
Dennis Lee Eckersley , nicknamed "Eck", is a former American Major League Baseball pitcher. Eckersley had success as a starter, but gained his greatest fame as a closer, becoming the first of only two pitchers in Major League history to have both a 20-win season and a 50-save season in a career .He...
.
During the 1994 baseball strike
1994 baseball strike
The 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike was the eighth work stoppage in baseball history, as well as the fourth in-season work stoppage in 22 years...
, which began on August 12, Winfield was traded to the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
at the trade waiver deadline on August 31 for a "player to be named later." The 1994 season had been halted two weeks earlier (it was eventually canceled a month later on September 14), so Winfield did not get to play for the Indians that year and no player was ever named in exchange. To settle the trade, Cleveland and Minnesota executives went to dinner, with the Indians picking up the tab. This makes Winfield the only player in major league history to be traded for a dinner, though official sources list the transaction as a sale (sold by the Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
to the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
.
Winfield, who was now the oldest MLB player, was again granted free agency in October but re-signed with the Indians as spring training began in April . A rotator cuff
Rotator cuff
In anatomy, the rotator cuff is the group of muscles and their tendons that act to stabilize the shoulder. The four muscles of the rotator cuff, along with the teres major muscle, the coracobrachialis muscle and the deltoid, make up the seven scapulohumeral muscles of the human body.-Function:The...
injury kept him on the disabled list for most of the season; thus he played in only 46 games and hit .191 for Cleveland's first pennant winner in 41 years. He did not participate in the Indians' postseason.
Honors and awards
Winfield retired in and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in , in his first year of eligibility. He became the first player to choose to go into CooperstownCooperstown, New York
Cooperstown is a village in Otsego County, New York, USA. It is located in the Town of Otsego. The population was estimated to be 1,852 at the 2010 census.The Village of Cooperstown is the county seat of Otsego County, New York...
as a Padre — a move that reportedly irked Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner. Nonetheless, when he was inducted Winfield sounded a conciliatory note toward Steinbrenner:
In 1998, Winfield was inducted by the San Diego Hall of Champions
San Diego Hall of Champions
The San Diego Hall of Champions is an American multi-sport museum in San Diego, California. Located in the Federal Building in Balboa Park, the facility recognizes outstanding athletic accomplishments and traditions involving more than forty-two sports...
into the Breitbard Hall of Fame honoring San Diego's finest athletes both on and off the playing surface.
In , Winfield ranked number 94 on The Sporting News list of Baseball's Greatest Players, and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team
Major League Baseball All-Century Team
In 1999, the Major League Baseball All-Century Team was chosen by popular vote of fans. To select the team, a panel of experts first compiled a list of the 100 greatest Major League Baseball players from the past century...
.
The Padres retired Winfield's #31 on April 14, 2001.
On July 4, , Winfield was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame
College Baseball Hall of Fame
The National College Baseball Hall of Fame, located in Lubbock, Texas, is a museum operated by the College Baseball Foundation serving as the central point for the study of the history of college baseball in the United States...
in its inaugural class.
In 2010, Winfield was voted All-Time Left Fielder in the National Sports Review poll and selected as one of 28 members of the NCAA Men’s College World Series Legends Team.
The Big Ten Network named Winfield its #15 ranked Big Ten Conference "Icon" in 2010.
Life since retirement
In 2008, Winfield participated in both the final Old Timer's Day ceremony and Final Game ceremony at Yankee Stadium.
On June 5, , Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
held a special draft of the surviving Negro League players to acknowledge and rectify their exclusion from the major leagues on the basis of race. The idea of the special draft was conceived by Winfield. Each major league team drafted one player from the Negro Leagues.
On March 31, 2009, Winfield joined ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
as an analyst on their Baseball Tonight
Baseball Tonight
Baseball Tonight is a program that airs on ESPN. The show, which recapitulates the day's Major League Baseball action, has been on the air since 1990.-Air times:...
program.
Winfield resides in California with his wife of 22 years, Tonya, and three children, Shanel and twins David II and Arielle.
The Winfield Foundation
Well known for his philanthropic work, Winfield began giving back to the communities in which he played from the beginning of his professional athletic career. In 1973, his first year with the Padres, he began buying blocks of tickets to Padres games for families who couldn't afford to go to games, in a program known as "pavilions." Winfield then added health clinics to the equation, by partnering with San Diego's Scripps Clinic who had a mobile clinic which was brought into the stadium parking lot. When Winfield joined the Toronto Blue Jays, he learned teammate David WellsDavid Wells
David Lee Wells , nicknamed "Boomer", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Wells was considered to be one of the game's better left-handed pitchers, especially during his years with the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays. He pitched the fifteenth perfect game in baseball history...
was one of the "Winfield kids" who attended Padres games.
In his hometown of St. Paul, he began a scholarship program (which continues to this day). In 1977, he organized his efforts into an official 501(c)(3) charitable organization, known as the David M. Winfield Foundation for Underprivileged Youth, the first active athlete to do so.
As his salary increased, Foundation programs expanded to include holiday dinner giveaways and national scholarships. In 1978, San Diego hosted the All-Star game, and Winfield bought his usual block of pavilion tickets. Winfield then went on a local radio station and inadvertently invited "all the kids of San Diego" to attend. To accommodate the unexpected crowd, the Foundation brought the kids into batting practice. The All-Star open-practice has since been adopted by Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
and continues to this day.
When Winfield joined the New York Yankees, he set aside $3 million of his contract for the Winfield Foundation. He funded The Dave Winfield Nutrition Center at Hackensack University Medical Center
Hackensack University Medical Center
Hackensack University Medical Center is a 775-bed non-profit, research and teaching hospital located seven miles west of New York City, in Hackensack, New Jersey, providing tertiary and healthcare needs for northern New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area...
near his Teaneck, New Jersey home. The Foundation also partnered with Merck
Merck & Co.
Merck & Co., Inc. , also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme or MSD outside the United States and Canada, is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. The Merck headquarters is located in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, an unincorporated area in Readington Township...
Pharmaceuticals and created an internationally acclaimed bilingual substance abuse prevention program called "Turn it Around".
The Winfield Foundation also became a bone of contention in Steinbrenner's public feud with Winfield. Steinbrenner alleged the Foundation was mishandling funds and often held back payments to the organization, which resulted in long, costly court battles. It also created the appearance that Steinbrenner was contributing to the Foundation, when in actuality, Steinbrenner was holding back a portion of Winfield's salary. Ultimately, the Foundation received all its funding and the alleged improprieties proved unfounded.
Winfield's philanthropic endeavors had as much influence on many of MLB's players as his on-field play. Yankee Derek Jeter
Derek Jeter
Derek Sanderson Jeter is an American baseball shortstop who has played 17 years in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees. A twelve-time All-Star and five-time World Series champion, Jeter's clubhouse presence, on-field leadership, hitting ability, and baserunning have made him a central...
, who grew up idolizing Winfield for both his athleticism and humanitarianism, credits Winfield as the inspiration for his own Turn 2 Foundation
Turn 2 Foundation
The Turn 2 Foundation is a charity organization founded by New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter in 1996. The Foundation was established to help children and teenagers avoid drug and alcohol addiction, and to reward those who show high academic achievement and adopt healthier lifestyles.Members of...
. In turn, Winfield continues to help raise funds and awareness for Jeter's Foundation and for many other groups and causes throughout the country.
Quotes
- Now it's on to May, and you know about me and May. —after setting an American League record for RBI in April, 1988.
- I am truly sorry that a fowl of Canada is no longer with us. —to the press after being released following the 1983 bird-killing incident.
- These days baseball is different. You come to spring training, you get your legs ready, your arms loose, your agents ready, your lawyer lined up.—at spring training, 1988, in response to his on-going feud with Steinbrenner
See also
- List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters
- 3000 hit club3000 hit clubIn Major League Baseball , the 3,000 hit club is a term applied to the group of batters who have collected 3,000 or more regular-season hits in their careers. Cap Anson was the first to join the club on July 18, 1897, although his precise career hit total is unclear. Two players—Nap Lajoie and...
- Major League Baseball Player of the Month
- List of Major League Baseball RBI champions
- 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 leaders in career stolen bases
- List of Major League Baseball Home Run Records
- Hitting for the cycleHitting for the cycleIn baseball, hitting for the cycle is the accomplishment of one batter hitting a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. Collecting the hits in that order is known as a "natural cycle". Cycles are uncommon in Major League Baseball , occurring 293 times since the first by Curry...
- List of Major League Baseball retired numbers
- List of athletes on Wheaties boxes
- List of multi-sport athletes