53 Facts About Dave Winfield

1.

Dave Winfield is the special assistant to the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association.

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2.

Dave Winfield had the winning hit in the 1992 World Series with the Blue Jays over the Atlanta Braves.

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3.

Dave Winfield is a 12-time MLB All-Star, a seven-time Gold Glove Award winner, and a six-time Silver Slugger Award winner.

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4.

Dave Winfield wore No 31 while playing for the Yankees and Indians and wore No 32 with the Angels, Blue Jays and Twins.

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5.

Dave Winfield is a member of both the Baseball Hall of Fame and College Baseball Hall of Fame.

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6.

Dave Winfield's parents divorced when he was three years old, leaving him and his older brother Stephen to be raised by their mother, Arline, and a large extended family of aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins.

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7.

The Dave Winfield brothers honed their athletic skills in St Paul's Oxford playground, where coach Bill Peterson was one of the first to notice Dave Winfield.

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8.

Dave Winfield earned a full baseball scholarship to the University of Minnesota in 1969, where he starred in baseball and basketball for the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

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9.

Dave Winfield played college summer baseball for the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks for two seasons and was the MVP in 1972.

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10.

Dave Winfield was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in the 5th round of the 1973 NBA Draft and by the Utah Stars in the 6th round of the 1973 ABA Draft.

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11.

Dave Winfield is one of six players ever to be drafted by three professional sports and one of three athletes along with Carter and McCarty to be drafted by four leagues.

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12.

Dave Winfield chose baseball; the San Diego Padres selected him in the first round, with the fourth overall selection, of the 1973 MLB draft.

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13.

Dave Winfield signed with the Padres, who promoted him directly to the major leagues.

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14.

Dave Winfield played one more season with the Padres before becoming a free agent.

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15.

Dave Winfield was among the highest-rated players in the game throughout his Yankee contract.

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16.

Dave Winfield was a key factor in leading the Yankees to the 1981 American League pennant.

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17.

Unfortunately, Dave Winfield had a sub-par World Series, which the Yankees lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games.

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18.

Dave 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.

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19.

Dave Winfield was struggling while the Yankees eventually lost the division title to Toronto on the second to last day of the season.

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20.

Dave Winfield forced Yankee managers to move him down in the batting order and bench him.

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21.

Dave Winfield continued to put up excellent numbers with the Yankees, driving in 744 runs between 1982 and 1988, and was selected to play in the All-Star Game every season.

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22.

Dave Winfield won five Gold Glove Awards for his stellar outfield play as a Yankee.

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23.

Dave Winfield had a rusty spring training before being relegated from the field to being the designated hitter.

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24.

Dave Winfield stepped in the room and stated his refusal to be traded; the argument over whether his 10-and-5 rights overrode his list of having the Angels on his trade list failed to meet at an impasse when Angels owner Gene Autry came in with a three-year extension.

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25.

Dave Winfield proceeded to hit 19 home runs in 112 games for the Angels in the remainder of the 1990 season.

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26.

Dave Winfield was traded for Mike Witt during the 1990 season and won the Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year Award.

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27.

Dave Winfield hit for the cycle in June 1991 against the Kansas City Royals, hitting 5 for 5 in the game.

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28.

Dave Winfield recorded his 400th home run against the Twins in his hometown.

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29.

Dave Winfield was still a productive hitter after his 40th birthday.

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30.

Dave Winfield proved to be a lightning rod for the Blue Jays, providing leadership and experience as well as his potent bat.

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31.

The phrase "Dave Winfield Wants Noise" became a popular slogan for the rest of the season, appearing on T-shirts, dolls, buttons, and signs.

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32.

At 41 years of age, Dave Winfield became the third-oldest player to hit an extra base hit in the World Series, trailing only Pete Rose and Enos Slaughter.

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33.

The 1994 season had been halted two weeks earlier, so Dave Winfield did not get to play for the Indians that year and no player was ever named in exchange.

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34.

Dave 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 1995.

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35.

Dave Winfield retired in 1996 and, in his first year of eligibility, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001 as a San Diego Padre, the first Padre to be so honored.

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36.

In 1998, Dave 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.

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37.

In 1999, Dave 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.

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38.

Dave Winfield was inducted into the San Diego Padres Hall of Fame in 2000.

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39.

On July 4,2006, Dave Winfield was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in its inaugural class.

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40.

In 2010, Dave Winfield was selected as one of 28 members of the NCAA Men's College World Series Legends Team.

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41.

Dave Winfield had represented the Padres at the first All-Star Game to be played in San Diego.

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42.

In 1996, Dave Winfield joined the new Major League Baseball on Fox program as studio analyst for their Saturday MLB coverage.

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43.

In 2006, Dave Winfield teamed up with conductor Bob Thompson to create The Baseball Music Project, a series of concerts that celebrate the history of baseball, with Dave Winfield serving as host and narrator.

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44.

In 2008, Dave Winfield participated in both the final Old Timer's Day ceremony and Final game ceremony at Yankee Stadium.

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45.

On March 31,2009, Dave Winfield joined ESPN as an analyst on their Baseball Tonight program.

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46.

On December 5,2013, Dave Winfield was named special assistant to Executive Director Tony Clark at the Major League Baseball Players Association.

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47.

On July 14,2014, Dave Winfield returned to Minnesota to throw out the first pitch at the 2014 Home Run Derby along with fellow St Paul natives Joe Mauer, Paul Molitor, and Jack Morris.

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48.

In March 2016, Dave Winfield helped represent Major League Baseball in Cuba during President Obama's trip to the island in an attempt to help normalize relations.

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49.

When Dave Winfield joined the Toronto Blue Jays, he learned teammate David Wells was one of the "Dave Winfield kids" who attended Padres games.

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50.

Dave Winfield then went on a local radio station and inadvertently invited "all the kids of San Diego" to attend.

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51.

When Dave Winfield joined the New York Yankees, he set aside $3 million of his contracted salary for the Dave Winfield Foundation.

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52.

Dave Winfield Foundation became a bone of contention in Steinbrenner's public feud with Dave Winfield.

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53.

In turn, Dave Winfield continues to help raise funds and awareness for Jeter's Foundation and for many other groups and causes throughout the country.

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