"The ball took a funny bounce for Yankees catcher Butch Wynegar in 1985. Starting the season as the everyday catcher, he was playing excellent defense and batting close to .300. Then came a freak accident. Wynegar was struck in the head by a batted ball while waiting in the on-deck circle. He came back from the disabled list only to go back on the DL with back problems.
'Butch played consistent baseball for us early on, before he was sidelines with injuries,' says manager Lou Piniella. The rest of the season was a struggle, but he came around just in time for the Yankees. During the last weekend of the season (after not homering since June 4), Butch hit the memorable game-tying ninth inning home run against Toronto, keeping Yankees pennant hopes alive.
Butch became a free agent at the end of the 1985 season, and after again signing with the Yankees is hoping to get the right bounces in 1986."
-The New York Yankees Official 1986 Yearbook
"The 10-year veteran shared the catching chores with Ron Hassey in 1985. Wynegar became a free agent at season's end and re-signed with the Yankees just hours before the midnight January 8 deadline for clubs to sign their own free agents.
His '85 season was marked by two stints on the disabled list: June 18-July 3 on the 15-day DL with an inner ear problem after he was struck in the helmet with a foul line drive off the bat of Willie Randolph; and July 22-August 2 on the 15-day DL with a sprained lower back.
Butch hit .233 left-handed with three home runs and 21 RBI, and .212 right-handed with two home runs and 11 RBI. His fourth homer of the season was pinch-hit on June 7 at Milwaukee off Rollie Fingers, and his fifth and final homer was a game tying ninth inning shot on October 4 at Toronto off Tom Henke- eventually leading New York to a 4-3 win [and to within] a game and a half of first place.
In 1984 Wynegar was the Yankees regular catcher, appearing in his highest number of games since 1980 with Minnesota. He had the third highest fielding percentage for catchers with 100+ games at .993. Wynegar was the Yankees' regular catcher in 1983 and his batting average never fell below .290 all season. On May 10 he suffered a ruptured blood vessel in his left arm on a tag play at the plate and missed half a month on the DL, and was hampered by a sore foot in September. Butch caught Dave Righetti's July 4th no-hitter.
His 1982 trade to the Yankees (May 12) coincided with Rick Cerone's broken thumb (May 11), but the trade had been worked out with Minnesota in advance of Cerone's injury. Wynegar was the Yankees' No. 1 catcher with Cerone on the disabled list and split the catching duties with Cerone upon Rick's return on July 15; Butch was disabled on July 25 with a viral infection. He had missed the first month and a half of the 1981 season because of a bone chip that was found in his throwing elbow and which required surgery to remove.
Butch was an All-Star selection each of his first four seasons as a professional. In 1976 he became, to that point, the youngest player (20 years, 121 days) to appear in a major league All-Star Game. He hit his first [major league] home run off Catfish Hunter. Coming into 1986, Butch has thrown out 34% of runners trying to steal on him.
He played third base until he was moved to catcher in his junior year at Red Lion High in York, Pennsylvania. Wynegar was a four-year letterman in baseball and also lettered in football, basketball and wrestling."
-1986 New York Yankees Information Guide
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