Frank Thomas

Winfield Notable Sports Figures
Career Statistics
Yr Team AVG GP AB R H HR RBI BB SO SB
1973 SD .277 56 141 9 39 3 12 12 19 0
1974 SD .265 145 498 57 132 20 75 40 96 9
1975 SD .267 143 509 74 136 15 76 69 82 23
1976 SD .283 137 492 81 139 13 69 65 78 26
1977 SD .275 157 615 104 169 25 92 58 75 16
1978 SD .308 158 587 88 181 24 97 55 81 21
1979 SD .308 159 597 97 184 34 118 85 71 15
1980 SD .276 162 558 89 154 20 87 79 83 23
1981 NYY .294 105 388 52 114 13 68 43 41 11
1982 NYY .280 140 539 84 151 37 106 45 64 5
1983 NYY .283 152 598 99 169 32 116 58 77 15
1984 NYY .340 141 567 106 193 19 100 53 71 6
1985 NYY .275 155 633 105 174 26 114 52 96 19
1986 NYY .262 154 565 90 148 24 104 77 106 6
1987 NYY .275 156 575 83 158 27 97 76 96 5
1988 NYY .322 149 559 96 180 25 107 69 88 9
1990 NYY .213 20 61 7 13 2 6 4 13 0
ANA .275 112 414 63 114 19 72 48 68 0
1991 ANA .262 150 568 75 149 28 86 56 109 7
1992 TOR .290 156 583 92 169 26 108 82 89 2
1993 MIN .271 143 547 72 148 21 76 45 106 2
1994 MIN .252 77 294 35 74 10 43 31 51 2
1995 CLE .191 46 115 11 22 2 4 14 26 1
TOTAL .283 2973 11003 1669 3110 465 1833 1216 1686 223
ANA: Anaheim Angels; CLE: Cleveland Indians; MIN: Minnesota Twins; NYY: New York Yankees; SD: San Diego Padres; TOR: Toronto Blue Jays.
In addition to troubles with his boss and the team,
Winfield faced personal assaults during the Yankee
years as well. In the mid-1980s a woman took him to
court for support of her daughter, of whom Winfield did
not deny paternity. He later came to establish a good relationship
with the girl. In 1985, another woman sued
Winfield, claiming he had given her venereal disease;
this was settled out of court. Around the same time, an
investigation was launched into the Winfield Foundation’s
finances, for alleged wrongdoing.
Through the troubles, Winfield continued to play his
best baseball, batting .322—the fourth highest in the
American League—in 1988. Rarely succumbing to injury,
Winfield in 1989 had surgery for a herniated disk
in his back and missed the entire baseball season. The
following year, after a decade with the Yankees, he was
traded to the Anaheim, California, Angels.
A New Lease on His Career
Winfield did well with the Angels, leading the team
in runs batted in and batting .290. Sporting News named
him “Comeback Player of the Year.” In early 1992 he
signed with the Toronto Blue Jays as a free agent. In
Game Six of the 1992 World Series, with the score tied
2-2, men on first and second and two outs, Winfield hit a
double down the third base line, bringing two men home
and helping Toronto to a 4-3 victory over the Atlanta
Braves, Toronto’s first ever World Series championship.
Winfield told Sports Illustrated that if his career had
ended before Toronto, he “wouldn’t have been really
1790
happy” with what baseball had dealt him. “I would have
had no fulfillment, no sense of equity, no fairness,” he
said. “I feel a whole lot better now about the way the
things have turned out.”
In 1993, Winfield signed with the Minnesota Twins,
returning home for a time. There he achieved his
3,000th hit. He played forty-six games for the Cleveland
Indians in 1995 but retired as a player the following
year.
Winfield was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame
in 2001, his first year of eligibility for the honor. He
chose to wear the San Diego Padres cap for his likeness
on the enshrinement plaque. In his acceptance speech,
he acknowledged Jackie Robinson, the first black player
in the major leagues, for making a career in baseball
possible for African Americans. He also had a word for
young people: “Life and baseball are littered with all
kinds of obstacles and problems. You have to learn how
to overcome them to be successful.”
Dave Winfield remained a calm, focused player
throughout his career, in spite of numerous scandals and
difficulties. In 1991, with the Anaheim Angels, he had
the first three-home run game of his career. Surprisingly
free of injuries throughout his twenty-two seasons in
baseball, he was the oldest player ever to have 100 runs
in a season, at age forty-one, with the Toronto Blue Jays.
In addition to his record-breaking playing, Winfield has
been a generous and caring member of society and one
who has passed on the gift of guidance in youth through
the Winfield Foundation.