Dave Winfield

David Mark Winfield stood 6'6", threw out runners from right field with an arm that scouts compared to a cannon, and in 1973 became the only athlete in professional sports history drafted by teams in four leagues in the same year. The San Diego Padres selected him fourth overall. The Atlanta Hawks drafted him in the NBA. The Utah Stars drafted him in the ABA. The Minnesota Vikings drafted him in the NFL, projecting him as a tight end despite the fact that he never played a down of college football. He chose the Padres, skipped the minor leagues entirely, and spent the next 22 years collecting 3,110 hits, 465 home runs, and 1,833 RBI across six franchises. In the 11th inning of Game 6 of the 1992 World Series, at 41 years old, he hit a double down the left field line that scored two runs and won the championship for the Toronto Blue Jays. "This is the most fun I've ever had playing professional baseball," Winfield said afterward. The BBWAA elected him to the Hall of Fame in 2001 with 84.5% of the vote, the first player inducted wearing a San Diego Padres cap.

St. Paul

Winfield was born on October 3, 1951, in St. Paul, Minnesota. His father Frank, a World War II veteran, worked as a Pullman porter and later as a skycap for Western Airlines. His mother Arline raised Dave and his older brother Stephen on Carroll Avenue. Frank was largely absent during Dave's childhood, and the two did not reconnect until after Arline's death from breast cancer in October 1988.

Winfield won all-city and all-state honors in baseball and basketball at St. Paul Central High School and accepted a baseball scholarship to the University of Minnesota. He played both sports there. On the basketball court he averaged 9.0 points and 5.8 rebounds as a forward and helped lead Minnesota to its first outright Big Ten championship in 53 years. Coach Bill Musselman called him "the best rebounder I ever saw."

On the baseball diamond Winfield was dominant. As a senior in 1973 he went 9-1 as a pitcher with a 2.74 ERA and 109 strikeouts in 82 innings while batting .385. The College World Series named him MVP after he pitched a 1-0 shutout with 14 strikeouts against Oklahoma. In the semifinal against USC, he struck out 15 batters through eight innings before tiring. USC won 8-7 and went on to beat Arizona State for the title.

San Diego

The Padres selected Winfield fourth overall in the June 1973 draft. He used the basketball offers as leverage in negotiations, signed for $15,000, and reported directly to the major league roster. "I used basketball to negotiate," Winfield recalled. "It meant I never had to go to the minors."

Winfield hit .277 in 56 games as a rookie and established himself as the Padres' best player by 1977, when he earned his first of 12 consecutive All-Star selections. In 1978 the franchise named him its first team captain. He hit .308 with 24 home runs and 97 RBI in 1979 and won back-to-back Gold Gloves in 1979 and 1980. In 1977, after a contract dispute, the Padres donated $100,000 in disputed salary to buy game tickets for underprivileged youth, creating what became the Dave Winfield Foundation. It was the first charitable foundation established by an active professional athlete. Derek Jeter later credited Winfield's foundation as the model for his Turn2 Foundation.

New York

Winfield signed with the New York Yankees as a free agent before the 1981 season for $23.3 million over 10 years, at the time the richest contract in professional sports. The deal included an escalator clause that owner George Steinbrenner later claimed he did not understand, adding roughly $7 million to the total. The relationship between owner and player deteriorated from there.

Steinbrenner labeled Winfield "Mr. May" in September 1985, a dig contrasting him with Reggie Jackson's "Mr. October" reputation. Steinbrenner withheld payments to the Winfield Foundation despite three court orders. In 1990, Commissioner Fay Vincent banned Steinbrenner from the Yankees' daily operations after discovering he paid a gambler $40,000 for damaging information about Winfield. The two men reconciled in 1998. "All of that never should have happened," Steinbrenner said. "What part of it is me, I'll take the blame."

On August 4, 1983, at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Winfield killed a seagull with a warmup throw between innings. Canadian authorities arrested him on a charge of animal cruelty. He posted a $500 bond. The Crown attorney announced the next day that he would move to dismiss, finding no criminal intent, and the charges were formally withdrawn on August 12. Yankees manager Billy Martin said, "It's the first time he's hit the cutoff man all season." Winfield replied, "I am truly sorry that a fowl of Canada is no longer with us."

Winfield missed the entire 1989 season after back surgery for a herniated disk. The Yankees traded him to the California Angels in May 1990. He hit 21 home runs for the Angels, won the AL Comeback Player of the Year, and on June 24, 1991, hit for the cycle at 39, making him the oldest player to accomplish the feat at that time.

The Ring

The Toronto Blue Jays acquired Winfield before the 1992 season. Toronto reached the World Series against the Atlanta Braves, and Game 6 on October 24 reached the 11th inning tied 2-2 with two outs and Devon White and Roberto Alomar on base. Charlie Leibrandt threw a 3-2 pitch. Winfield lined a double down the left field line, scoring both runners. The Braves scored one in the bottom of the inning, but Toronto held on 4-3 and clinched the championship in six games. "I didn't exactly do a whole lot during the World Series," Winfield said. "But what I did, I did at the right time."

Winfield signed with the Minnesota Twins in 1993, returning to the state where he grew up. On September 16, 1993, in the ninth inning against Dennis Eckersley of the Oakland Athletics, Winfield singled to right field for his 3,000th hit. Kirby Puckett scored on the play. Winfield played his final season with the Cleveland Indians in 1995.

3,110

Winfield finished with 3,110 hits, 540 doubles, 465 home runs, 1,833 RBI, 223 stolen bases, and a .283 batting average across 2,973 games and 22 seasons. He earned 12 consecutive All-Star selections, seven Gold Gloves, and six Silver Sluggers. He won the College World Series MVP, the Babe Ruth Award for the 1992 World Series, and the Roberto Clemente Award in 1994. ESPN named him the third greatest all-around athlete in sports history, behind Jim Brown and Jim Thorpe. The Padres retired his number 31.

Winfield chose a Padres cap for his Hall of Fame plaque despite Steinbrenner's request that he wear a Yankees cap. He was the first player inducted as a Padre. Steinbrenner hosted Dave Winfield Day at Yankee Stadium on August 18, 2001, and the two men stood together on the field. "If my career had ended before Toronto," Winfield said, "I would not have been really happy. I feel a whole lot better now."