1988 AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-STAR
"Age is starting to show in this 11-time All-Star. His streak of seasons with at least 100 RBI ended at five, the longest stretch since Joe DiMaggio had seven in a row from 1936-42.
Winfield appeared to tire in the second after batting .295 with 20 home runs and 68 RBI before the All-Star break. He delivered just seven homers in his last 71 games and went from June 29 to September 15 without a game-winning RBI.
His playing time should be decreased. Winfield has lost a step on the bases and in the outfield, but is still above average defensively with a very strong arm.
Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Winfield signed a 10-year contract as a free agent in December of 1980."
-Tom Pedulla, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1988 Edition
"When the tough get hurt, the others have to keep it going. Such is life in a 162-game schedule. With superstars Don Mattingly and Rickey Henderson out at the same time for 23 games, the fate of the Yankees became the responsibility of another superstar, Dave Winfield.
At 6-6 and 220 pounds, Winfield carried the team on his shoulders by hitting .352 with seven homers and 25 RBI over that stretch. Day in and day out, the Yankees looked to Dave and he appeared in all but six games- his most in Pinstripes. The pace took its toll, and even this thoroughbred tired. He fell just three RBI short of the 100-plateau for the first time in six years, and his .295 average at the All-Star break dropped to .275 for the season. Just another Winfield type of year.
Each year he does it all: hit, throw and run. And seemingly it goes unnoticed, as great things have come to be expected from a man with such athletic ability. The consistency has added up for Dave Winfield over the years, and in 1988 look for him to break the top 15 on the Yankees all-time RBI list and move into the 10th spot on the all-time Yankee leader board for home runs."
-The New York Yankees Official 1988 Yearbook
"Although streaky in 1987, Winfield had an above average first half but a below average second half. It was the first full season since 1980 that he did not record 100 RBIs.
Winfield opened the season hitting safely in 12 of his first 14 games though April 21, going 20-for-50 (.400). In 12 games from April 22 through May 5, he went 8-for-42 (.190) with his overall average falling to .304. Dave had the first of two season-long 12-game hitting streaks from May 6 through May 19, going 15-for-48 (.313) with three doubles, four home runs and 10 RBIs. Following the streak he fell into a 16-for-80 (.200) skein, May 20-June 14, with his overall average falling from .307 to a season low of .268.
He was scalding hot the month prior to the All-Star break (June 15-July 12), going 35-for-99 (.354), including his second 12-game hitting streak from June 15 to June 27, hitting safely in 22 of 25 games with five doubles, eight homers and 26 RBIs. On June 29 in Toronto off Tom Henke, Dave hit his seventh career grand slam and drove in six runs to match his career high.
At the All-Star break he was hitting .295 in 85 games with 20 homers and 68 RBIs. Winfield was voted to start the All-Star Game for the American League- his seventh All-Star start (including the last five years) and his 11th straight All-Star Game appearance- and played all 13 innings of that game.
Through the remainder of '87 his overall batting average fluctuated in the .275-.285 range, and he went 64-for-256 (.250) in 71 games after the All-Star break with just seven homers and 29 RBIs. Dave's longest 0-for of '87 came from August 15 (last at-bat) through August 22 (first at-bat). He went 16 games without a home run from August 5 through August 23. His sacrifice bunt on August 30 at Seattle was his first since September 12, 1982 and only the 12th of his career. He had four hits on September 7 at Boston.
Dave had four two-home run games: April 23 at Cleveland, May 18 at Oakland, June 16 against Baltimore and June 29 at Toronto. In 23 games with both Henderson and Mattingly out, he went 31-for-88 (.352) with seven homers and 25 RBIs. He was 2-for-4 with three RBIs as a pinch hitter but went 6-for-28 (.214) with no homers and four RBIs as a designated hitter. He hit .351 (53-for-151) with runners in scoring position. Dave had a .989 fielding percentage.
He played in 156 games in 1987, his highest total since appearing in 162 games for San Diego in 1980, and his 27 home runs were his fourth best season total. His .275 batting average was up from .262 in 1986 but below his .286 career and .288 Yankee averages coming into '87. With 97 RBIs, Winfield fell just three short of becoming the first Yankee since Joe DiMaggio to drive in 100 or more runs for the sixth straight season (DiMaggio had 100+ RBIs for seven straight years, 1936-42).
Winfield finished 1987 with 332 lifetime homers, tied with Bobby Bonds for 43rd on the all-time home run list; Joe Adcock holds 42nd place with 336. He began '87 in 19th place on the all-time Yankee home run list with 151, but his 27 homers moved him up to 11th- he needs just five homers to break into the Yankee top 10, which would tie him with Tommy Henrich. In his six full years with New York (excluding the '81 strike season), Winfield has averaged 28 home runs per season; should he reach that sum in 1988 he will total 206 Yankee homers, becoming one of only nine Yankees to break the 200-home run barrier, and will move up to seventh on the Yankee list.
With 705 RBIs as a Yankee, Winfield passed Thurman Munson (701) and moved into 15th place on that all-time Yankee list; he should move up to 11th place by the end of '88. In 1987 he won his fifth Rawlings Gold Glove Award in the last six years, and his seventh overall.
In 1986 he had good numbers for most major leaguers, but slightly below Dave Winfield standards. He became the first Yankee to reach the 100 RBI mark for five consecutive seasons since Joe DiMaggio. RBI No. 100 came on September 29 at Yankee Stadium against Toronto; his 104 RBIs in '86 ranked ninth in the American League.
His at-bat in the sixth inning on July 5 at Chicago was career at-bat No. 7,000. His RBI triple in the fifth inning on July 7 at Texas off Mickey Mahler was career hit No. 2,000. His two-run home run on August 20, a second-inning blast off Seattle's Mike Moore, was career home run No. 300, with Winfield becoming only the 54th player in history to reach that peak.
Winfield got off to a slow start, hitting just .228 (13-for-57) with one homer and eight RBIs after his first 15 games, with 10 walks and 12 strikeouts. He went 11-for-30 (.367) over his next nine games, raising his overall batting average to .276 on May 4. That hot streak was followed by another cold spell- a 10-game stretch from May 5-15, going 4-for-36 (.111). He had just three homers through his first 35 games.
He came around to hit in seven straight, May 16-24 (his longest hitting streak until September), going 10-for-29 (.345) with three homers and 10 RBIs, raising his batting average to .257. That streak included a 3-for-5, six-RBI performance against Seattle on May 17, with two runs, a double and his sixth career grand slam (New York's lone grand slam of '86). The six RBIs matched his career high, now accomplished four times, and were the team high for '86. From May 25-July 5 Dave went 23-for-127 (.181) in 36 games with four doubles, one triple, six homers, 19 RBIs, 20 walks and 30 strikeouts, with his overall batting average falling from .257 to .222, his lowest point of '86. He went 17 games between homers No. 12 and 13, June 14-July 6, and hit just one homer in 28 games between June 15 and July 21.
From July 6-30, 18 games, Dave went 25-for-65 (.385) with 18 RBIs, raising his overall average from .222 to .253. He had just 13 RBIs in 28 August games, going 30-for-104 (.288) and ending the month at .261. Dave had just two hits in September's first seven games (2-for-23, .087 BA) with his average falling to .253, but from September 11 to season's end went 29-for-94 (.309) with four homers and 21 RBIs to end at .262.
His .262 batting average was the lowest of his professional career, and his total of 148 hits was his fewest in a full season since getting 139 in 1976. His 77 walks were the most since receiving 79 passes in 1980, yet he broke the 100 strikeout mark for the first time in his career- his previous high had been 96 in 1974 and 1985. Dave went hitless in five straight games on two occasions: May 25-30 (0-for-13) and September 3-9 (0-for-17, his longest 0-fer of '86).
Dave hit second in the batting order for the first time in his career on June 27 against Toronto. He appeared as a designated hitter in six games, going 2-for-18 (.111), and was 1-for-7 with a walk in eight pinch-hitting appearances (.143). Dave was 48-for-161 (.298) with runners in scoring position.
He led Yankee outfielders with nine assists. He went 104 games between his second and third errors of '86- he had two errors in his first nine games of the season, three in his last 42 games and none in between. Dave made his first career appearance at third base on July 2 against Detroit in the ninth inning- and had no fielding chances.
Dave hit a pair of homers on June 4 at California and scored four runs (matching the '86 team high) on June 23 at Boston. He appeared in his 10th straight All-Star Game.
He went right to the majors off the University of Minnesota campus in 1973, hit safely in his first six major league games and never played in the minors. Dave hit .284 in his eight-year career in San Diego and in 1976 led NL outfielders with 15 assists. He had his best season in the National League in 1979, leading the National League with 118 RBIs and 333 total bases and finishing third with 34 homers. Winfield won his first Gold Glove in '79 in addition to placing third in the BBWAA MVP voting behind co-winners Keith Hernandez and Willie Stargell.
In 1981, his first season as a Yankee, Dave led the team in games, at-bats, hits, total bases, doubles, RBI, game-winning RBI and sacrifice flies. He hit his first home run as a Yankee on April 29 in Detroit off Jack Morris, and his first Yankee Stadium homer on May 23 off Rick Waits. Dave made his first appearance in postseason competition.
In 1982 he finished second in the AL with a .560 slugging percentage and third with 37 homers. He also led the Yankees with 106 RBI and his 37 home runs were a career high. Joe DiMaggio is the only right-handed Yankee batter to hit more homers in a season (46 in 1937, 39 in 1948). Winfield became the ninth player to hit 30 or more home runs in a season in both leagues. He was named AL Player of the Month for September (.294 BA, 11 HR, 22 RBI, .661 slugging percentage).
Winfield led the Yankees in 1983 in games, at-bats, runs, hits, triples, homers, RBI, game-winning RBI and walks. He finished second in the AL with 21 game-winning RBI, third with 116 RBI, fifth with 307 total bases, tied for fifth with 32 homers, tied for fifth with eight triples, seventh with a .513 slugging percentage and tied for eighth with 99 runs scored. Named to his seventh consecutive All-Star team, Dave contributed three hits in a rare American League win. He was selected as AL Player of the Week [for each of] the first two weeks of August. On August 4 at Toronto, he fatally beaned a seagull during between-innings warm-ups and was charged by Toronto Police with cruelty to animals- the charges were dropped the next day.
In 1984 Winfield finished second to Don Mattingly for the American League batting championship with a career high .340, fourth in the AL with 193 hits, fourth with a .393 on-base percentage, and sixth with 106 runs. He had a career high 20-game hitting streak from August 17-September 8. Dave had three five-hit games in June, tying a record held by Ty Cobb [for five-hit games in one month]. He won his fourth straight Sporting News Silver Bat Award and was named to the American League, Sporting News and UPI All-Star teams.
He had an outstanding year in 1985 at the plate, with the glove and on the basepaths. He was second in the American League with 19 game-winning RBI, third with 114 RBI, tied for seventh with 66 extra base hits, ninth with 105 runs and 10th with 298 total bases. Dave recorded 100+ RBI for the fourth straight year, the first Yankee [to do this] since Yogi Berra (1953-56), was the first Yankee to score 100+ runs in consecutive seasons since Mickey Mantle (1960-61), and the first Yankee to record 100+ runs and 100 RBIs since Joe DiMaggio (1941-42). He scored his 1,000th career run on July 26 at Texas.
Winfield lost 17 spring training days, March 17 through April 2, with an infected left elbow which required a six-day hospital stay. He began the '85 regular season struggling at the plate, hitting .257 through April and dropping to a season low of .234 on May 18. At this point he began a season-high 13-game hitting streak which lasted through June 1, raising his batting average 23 points (he also had a 10-game hitting streak from July 9-22). He had only five homers through June 6, yet went 36-for-105 (.343) in June, driving his average up to .289; it peaked at .300 on July 22, then from July 23 to August 18 he went 18-for-96 (.188), his overall average dropping to .280.
His 19 stolen bases were his most since 1980, and he stole home on September 7 against Oakland. He won his fourth straight AL Gold Glove (sixth overall) and appeared in his ninth consecutive All-Star Game.
Prior to college, Winfield attended St. Paul Central High School. At the University of Minnesota, he was 13-1 on the mound in his senior year while batting over .400 [as an outfielder]. He was the Gophers team captain, named a first team All-American and was MVP of the 1973 College World Series. He also played basketball for Minnesota and was drafted in three different sports: Padres in baseball, Vikings in football, and Utah (ABA) and Atlanta (NBA) in basketball.
He established the David M. Winfield Foundation, receiving much acclaim for its work with youth groups and further contributions to the community. Winfield was named 1979 winner of the YMCA Brian Piccolo Award for humanitarian services. He opened a restaurant in Manhattan called 'Border Cafe' in November of '86."
-1988 New York Yankees Information Guide
No comments:
Post a Comment