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Dave Winfield
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===New York Yankees (1981β1990)=== In December 1980, [[New York Yankees]] owner [[George Steinbrenner]] made Winfield the game's highest-paid player by signing him to a ten-year, $23 million contract (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|23|1980|r=1}} million in {{Inflation/year|US}}). Steinbrenner mistakenly thought he was signing Winfield for $16 million, unaware of the meaning of a cost-of-living clause in the contract,<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/28/sports/baseball/28anderson.html| work=The New York Times | title=Steinbrenner's Rule: When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Blame an Agent | first=Dave | last=Anderson | date=February 28, 2005}}</ref> a misunderstanding that led to an infamous public feud.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.espn.com/newyork/photos/gallery/_/id/9592789/image/7/steinbrenner-vs-dave-winfield-13-greatest-yankees-feuds |title=Steinbrenner vs. Dave Winfield β The 13 Greatest Yankees Feuds |publisher=ESPN |access-date=March 26, 2014}}</ref> The $2.3 million annual average value of the contract [[List of highest-paid Major League Baseball players#Salary progression|set a record]]. He more than doubled the previous record set when [[Nolan Ryan]] signed with the [[Houston Astros]] in 1979. Winfield was among the highest-rated players in the game throughout his Yankee contract. He was a key factor in leading the Yankees to the 1981 American League pennant. In the [[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]]. Unfortunately, Winfield had a sub-par [[1981 World Series|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.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=E.M. |last=Swift |url=http://si.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1067190/index.htm |title=Bringing their feud to a head, George Steinbrenner sought β 04.11.88 β SI Vault |magazine=Sports Illustrated |date=April 11, 1988 |access-date=March 26, 2014}}</ref> Steinbrenner did not find this humorous, and criticized Winfield at the end of the series. Many commentators have since noted that Winfield's postseason doldrums were somewhat overstated when compared to those of his teammates. 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]], who each only played three games with one combined RBI (the same as Winfield). [[Image:winfieldspring.jpg|thumb|left|Winfield with the [[New York Yankees]] in 1983]] Winfield did not let Steinbrenner's comments affect his play. He hit 37 home runs during the {{baseball year|1982}} season. On August 4, {{baseball year|1983}}, Winfield killed a seagull by throwing a ball while warming up before the fifth inning of a game at Toronto's [[Exhibition Stadium]].<ref name="bluejayhunter.com">{{cite web|last=Hunter |first=Ian |url=http://www.bluejayhunter.com/2011/09/acid-flashback-friday-dave-winfield.html |title=Acid Flashback Friday: Dave Winfield Hits a Seagull |publisher=The Blue Jay Hunter |date=September 9, 2011 |access-date=March 26, 2014}}</ref> Fans responded by hurling obscenities and objects onto the field. After the game, he was brought to a nearby [[Toronto Police Service|Metropolitan Toronto Police]] station and charged with cruelty to animals. He was released after posting a [[Canadian dollar|$]]500 bond. Yankee manager [[Billy Martin]] quipped, "It's the first time he's hit the cutoff man all season."<ref name="bluejayhunter.com"/> Charges were dropped the following day.<ref>{{cite news|last = Gross | first = Jane | title = Winfield charges will be dropped | newspaper = The New York Times | page = 1.29 | date = August 6, 1983 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/06/sports/winfield-charges-will-be-dropped.html}}</ref> As Winfield missed the Yankees team bus to [[Hamilton, Ontario|Hamilton]] that night to catch their flight home, he was driven to Hamilton personally by Blue Jays general manager [[Pat Gillick]].<ref name="bluejayhunter.com"/> In the offseason, Winfield returned to Toronto and donated two paintings for an [[Easter Seals (Canada)|Easter Seals]] auction, which raised over $60,000.<ref name="autogenerated1"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Field/1538/BackCat/BC50_59/winfield.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091023055058/http://geocities.com/Colosseum/Field/1538/BackCat/BC50_59/winfield.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 23, 2009|title=PROFILES: Dave Winfield|work=The Diamond Angle Archive|via=webcitation.org|access-date=December 15, 2018}}</ref> For years afterward, Winfield's appearances in Toronto were greeted by fans standing and flapping their arms. From 1981 through {{baseball year|1984}}, Winfield was the most effective run producer in MLB.<ref>{{cite web |first=Murray |last=Chass |url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-01-21/sports/8501020661_1_run-production-dave-winfield-majors |title=Winfield Really Does Produce |work=Sun Sentinel |date=January 21, 1985 |access-date=March 26, 2014 |archive-date=February 22, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222035611/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-01-21/sports/8501020661_1_run-production-dave-winfield-majors |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1984, he and teammate [[Don Mattingly]] were in a race for the batting title<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Steve |last=Wulf |url=http://si.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1122556/index.htm |title=Teammates Dave Winfield and Don Mattingly are in a tight β 09.10.84 β SI Vault |magazine=Sports Illustrated |date=September 10, 1984 |access-date=March 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222000925/http://si.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1122556/index.htm |archive-date=February 22, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> in which Mattingly won out by .003 points on the last day of the season; Winfield finished with a .340 average. In the last few weeks of the race, it became obvious to most observers that the fans were partial to Mattingly.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/in-new-york-wearing-a-dodgers-uniform-he-is-still-donnie-baseball-1.5521989 |title=Don Mattingly remains a fan favorite at Yankee Stadium |newspaper=Newsday |date=June 19, 2013 |access-date=March 26, 2014}}</ref> Winfield took this in stride, noting that a similar thing happened in 1961 when [[Mickey Mantle|Mantle]] and [[Roger Maris|Maris]] competed for the single season home run record.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats12b.shtml |title=Roger Maris 1961 Home Run Season |publisher=[[Baseball Almanac]] |access-date=August 21, 2010}}</ref> In 1985, Steinbrenner derided Winfield by saying to ''[[The New York Times]]'' writer [[Murray Chass]], "Where is Reggie Jackson? We need a Mr. October or a Mr. September. Winfield is Mr. May."<ref name="murraychass.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.murraychass.com/?p=14 |title=Murray Chass On Baseball {{!}} Sorry, Harvey |publisher=[[Murray Chass]] |date=July 19, 2008 |access-date=August 21, 2010}}</ref> This criticism has become somewhat of an [[anachronism]] as many cite the statement to Steinbrenner after the 1981 World Series. Winfield was struggling while the Yankees eventually lost the division title to Toronto on the second to last day of the season.<ref name="murraychass.com"/> The "Mr. May" [[sobriquet]] lived with Winfield until he won the [[1992 World Series]] with Toronto.<ref name="sabr.org"/> Throughout the late 1980s, Steinbrenner regularly leaked derogatory and fictitious stories about Winfield to the press.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hammill |first=Stephen |url=http://cltampa.com/dailyloaf/archives/2010/07/13/a-new-york-native-and-tampa-resident-remembers-the-george-steinbrenner-soap-opera#.UvL__P-A11s |title=A New York native and Tampa resident remembers the George Steinbrenner soap opera |work=Creative Loafing Tampa |date=July 13, 2010 |access-date=March 27, 2014}}</ref> He also forced Yankee managers to move him down in the batting order and bench him. Steinbrenner frequently tried to trade him, but Winfield's status as a 10-and-5 player (10 years in the majors, five years with a single team) meant he could not be traded without his consent. Winfield continued to put up excellent numbers with the Yankees, driving in 744 runs between 1982 and {{baseball year|1988}}, and was selected to play in the [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star Game]] every season. Winfield won five (of his seven) [[Gold Glove Award]]s for his stellar outfield play as a Yankee. In 1989, Winfield missed the entire season due to a back injury.<ref name="Chicago Tribune">{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1990/05/17/winfield-agrees-to-join-angels/ |title=Winfield Agrees To Join Angels|work=Chicago Tribune |date=May 17, 1990 |access-date=March 26, 2014}}</ref> {{baseball year|1990}} was the last year of his contract with the Yankees, but the troubles with Steinbrenner in his feud with Winfield continued to escalate. He had a rusty spring training before being relegated from the field to being the designated hitter. Further troubles led to being just the DH against left-handed pitchers. On May 11, manager [[Bucky Dent]] and general manager [[Pete Peterson (baseball)|Pete Peterson]] met in a room with the intent of stating a trade of Winfield for [[Mike Witt]] of the [[Los Angeles Angels|California Angels]]. 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. He proceeded to hit 19 home runs in 112 games for the Angels in the remainder of the 1990 season. As for Steinbrenner, he attempted to curry favor by stating to Winfield that he would welcome back Winfield openly if he had won the arbitration case; by this point in the month of May, he was already under investigation by commissioner [[Fay Vincent]] for his apparent connections to [[Howard Spira]], a known gambler with supposed [[American Mafia|Mafia]] connections, whom he had paid $40,000 for embarrassing information on Winfield. A month later, the team received a fine that required them to pay money to the league and the Angels for tampering and Steinbrenner soon received a life-time ban.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://static.espn.go.com/mlb/news/2000/0201/328408.html |title=MLB β Union challenges Rocker suspension with grievance |publisher=ESPN |date=February 1, 2000 |access-date=August 21, 2010}}</ref> However, the suspension lasted only two years.<ref name="Chicago Tribune"/>
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