| Name |
Dave Winfield |
| Height |
|
| Naionality |
American |
| Date of Birth |
3-October-1951 |
| Place of Birth |
St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Famous for |
Baseball Player |
Dave 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. In 1981, New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner made headlines by signing Winfield to a 10-year, $23 million ($58,796,486 today) contract, making him the game's highest-paid player. Steinbrenner mistakenly thought he was signing Winfield for $16 million ($40,901,903 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.
