Winfield Was the Star that Came Home

On October 3, 1951, Dave Winfield was born in St. Paul, MN. He honed his skills at St. Paul Central High School, and it was as a senior he truly burst onto the scene. Going to the hometown Minnesota Gophers on a full baseball scholarship, Winfield also played basketball. He was part of the 1972 Gophers team that won a Big Ten conference championship on the hardwood, and he more than held his own. After being named an All-American and the College World Series MVP in 1973, Winfield was drafted by four teams in three different sports.

The San Diego Padres made Winfield their first-round pick (4th overall) in the 1973 MLB draft as a pitcher. Despite that designation, he never appeared on the mound. The Atlanta Hawks picked Winfield in the NBA draft, with the Utah Stars drafting him for the ABA. Despite not having played football in college, the Minnesota Vikings also selected Winfield in the 17th round of the NFL draft. He’s one of only three athletes to be selected by four different leagues.

Obviously, it was on the diamond where Winfield shined brightest, and his career was one of utter dominance. Spending his first 15 years with the Padres and New York Yankees, Winfield debuted at 21 years old and blasted 357 homers in his first 2,269 games. His .839 OPS pushed him to seven All-Star game appearances. In 1979, as a 27-year-old, Winfield drove in a league-best 118 runs.
 
Playing well into his 40s, in 1993, Dave Winfield came home. Following a World Series victory with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992, Winfield joined the Twins for his age 41 and 42 seasons. He hit another 31 homers for his hometown nine, and the .760 OPS was more than impressive at this stage of his career. On September 16, 1993, Dave Winfield joined the 3,000 hit club with a single off of Oakland Athletics reliever Dennis Eckersley. While Winfield wasn’t the same player at this stage, seeing him don the Minnesota pinstripes and return to his roots was a treat for Twins fans.
 
Since his playing career ended, it’s been nothing but accolades in droves for the St. Paul native. San Diego retired his number 31, and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame alongside another Twins great in 2001. Kirby Puckett was the star of those Minnesota lineups that Winfield was in, and for them to be enshrined together will forever be among the highlights of Minnesota history.

Winfield has served in differing roles around baseball and has worked as an analyst. Now 70-years-old and living in sunny California, Winfield gets to enjoy being a living legend of the sport.
 
Keep checking back to Twins Daily throughout Black History Month as we hope to share several more stories about African Americans to don a Twins uniform over the past 62 seasons.