Dave Winfield’s time with the Yankees was memorable — for all the wrong reasons.
The Baseball Hall of Famer spent nine of his 22 big league seasons in The Bronx, racking up awards and honors as one of MLB’s best players from 1981-90, but often sparred with owner George Steinbrenner to the point that the man known as The Boss hired an investigator to dig up dirt on his slugger.
“Those nine-plus years that I was there, there wasn’t one day that I felt the organization was on my side trying to help me promote me, move me forward,” Winfield revealed on the “All The Smoke Baseball” podcast Wednesday. “You got to go to work every day, a toxic work environment.”
He added: “One of the best things that happened for my career is when I left New York.”
It started when he was signed by the Yankees to a historic 10-year, $23 million deal ahead of the 1981 season after leaving the last-place San Diego Padres.
Winfield alleges Steinbrenner made his intentions regarding the deal clear.
“He basically told me to my face that ‘I’m not going to give you all your money and if you don’t like it sue me’,” Winfield said. “Told me that a couple times.”
Fans were likely blissfully unaware of the the behind-the-scenes turmoil, as Winfield played some of his best baseball in New York.
He was an eight-time All-Star in pinstripes, adding five Gold Glove Awards and five Silver Slugger Awards.
Winfield slashed .290/.356/.495 for the Yankees, mashing 205 homers with 818 RBIs in 1,172 games.
But even with all that success, all that Windfield wanted to do was to get out out town.
In 1990, he was granted that wish and was traded mid-season to the California Angels.
Winfield suited up for four different teams in his final six seasons, finally capturing the World Series that eluded him in New York with the Blue Jays in 1992.
He retired after the 1995 season, totaling 3,110 hits, 465 homers and 1,833 RBIs with a career slash line of .283/.353/.475 — more than enough for enshrinement in the Hall of Fame in 2001.
Winfield opted to enter wearing a Padres hat — a reminder of a time before his Yankees nightmare.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
