Circuit Clouts - Dave Winfield

HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE

Dave Winfield Elected 1993

Left Fielder
Los Angeles Outlaws (MAN, WAS)
1973-1992

A multi-sport athlete who grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, Dave Winfield led the 1971-72 Minnesota Golden Gophers to their first Big-10 basketball title in 53 years. The next year he was drafted by four teams in three pro leagues—MLB's San Diego Padres, the NBA Atlanta Hawks, the ABA Utah Stars, and the NFL Minnesota Vikings.

Winfield was drafted by the Outlaws as the 5th overall pick of the 1973 draft with very high hopes. The 6'6" smooth swinging slugger looked to be a guy you can build a lineup around. He could hit for average, for power, run the bases, and even play defense. From 1975 to 1985 he was an anchor in the Outlaws lineup that often didnt have a ton of punch and relied heavily on Dave to provide it.

In his 13 years and an Outlaw, Winfield racked up 2053 hits, 389 HR, 1064 RBI, and 71.5 WAR—second in each category only to Frank Robinson, the Outlaws' first Hall of Famer. His .321 average and .553 SLG and .930 OPS rank 1st in Outlaws history. A close look at the L.A. record book has Robinson, Winfield, and Eddie Murray in the top three of most offensive categories, so it is fitting that Winfield and Murray enter the Hall of Fame ballot the same year. They only overlapped as teammates for six years—from 1980 to 1985—but that span coincides with the club's first two UL championships and four straight division pennants. That span also happens to be the peak of Winfield's career. He won an MVP, hit 40+ homers four times, had his three best RBI season, earned five of his six Ullies, and won two OPS titles between 1980 and 1985. He won the Lew Burdette Playoff MVP in 1981 during Los Angeles' first title run (he hit .367 and OPSed 1.067 in the World Series win over Detroit.) His 1982 MVP campaign saw him bat .335-43-127 with a .988 OPS , and two years later he posted career highs with .614 SLG and 1.017 OPS, but controversially lost the MVP to teammate Andy Van Slyke.

Traded to Manhattan ahead of the 1986 season, he added World Series rings with the Gray Sox that year and the Washington Monuments in 1987, making him the only player in UL history to win three straight World Series rings with three different teams, though a herniated disc in his neck in the Semi Series ruled him out of the '87 Classic. In 1988 and 1989, he had back-to-back 107 RBI seasons.

Winfield had nine seasons with an OPS over .900 and many more above .800. He finished top 10 in WAR eight times during his career, top 10 in homeruns nine times, top 10 in OPS in 10 times, and even top 10 in batting average nine times. He was an all-around super star who can sit in the middle of the lineup and make the team an offensive threat. While only winning one MVP, he is one of just five players selected to two separate Teams of the Decade.

He finished his career in the top 10 in many hitting categories including hits (#5), homeruns (#6), RBIs (#8) and runs scored (#9). He was not a disappointment on any team that he played for and made an offense he was on respectable at worst and fearsome at best. A great player from the beginning to the end of his career and the Outlaws got very lucky as he delivered exactly as promised on draft day. (Peter Vays)

AWARDS & ACCOLADES

All-Decade Team (1971-1980) (1981-90)
Most Valuable Player (1982)
Lew Burdette Playoff MVP (1981)
All-UL Team (1978, 1980,1981, 1982, 1984,1985)
UL Champion (1981, 1985, 1986,1987)

Gold Glove Award (1976)
RBI Champion (1980)
OPS Champion (1982, 1984)

CAREER RANKINGS (as of 1993)

#5 - Hits
#6 - Home Runs
#6 - Singles
#6 - Total Bases
#8 - RBIs
#9 - Runs
#11 - WAR
#11 - Games
#11 - At-Bats
#12 - OPS
#13 - Slugging Percentage
#27 - Batting Average
#41 - Walks
#43 - Doubles

REGULAR SEASON

Year Team Age G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS WAR
1973 Los Angeles 20 20 15 4 0 0 0 2 5 6 2 0 0 .267 .476 .267 .743 0.1

1974 Los Angeles 21 76 189 54 8 0 4 19 14 14 38 0 2 .286 .335 .392 .727 0.6

1975 Los Angeles 22 146 571 166 22 2 20 79 80 57 86 4 3 .291 .354 .441 .796 4.7

1976 Los Angeles 23 126 515 145 12 3 27 81 67 34 93 1 8 .282 .325 .474 .799 4.3

1977 Los Angeles 24 151 599 204 24 5 32 88 93 53 86 5 4 .341 .394 .558 .951 6.3

1978 Los Angeles 25 125 505 167 11 2 42 94 90 46 85 3 3 .331 .386 .610 .996 7.5

1979 Los Angeles 26 132 499 163 16 2 37 94 93 53 70 6 1 .327 .395 .589 .984 7.0

1980 Los Angeles 27 150 608 204 28 6 41 116 99 41 95 6 3 .336 .378 .604 .981 7.0

1981 Los Angeles 28 148 588 191 23 5 41 92 100 64 88 5 5 .325 .393 .590 .983 7.3

1982 Los Angeles 29 152 603 202 22 3 43 127 101 53 80 0 0 .335 .392 .595 .988 7.6

1983 Los Angeles 30 152 572 177 22 3 26 66 78 43 88 0 1 .309 .360 .495 .854 4.5

1984 Los Angeles 31 153 554 190 25 1 41 112 87 55 85 4 1 .343 .404 .614 1.017 8.4

1985 Los Angeles 32 154 571 186 29 3 35 94 92 43 80 6 7 .326 .372 .571 .943 6.3

1986 Manhattan 33 143 527 160 19 2 34 98 84 51 91 7 6 .304 .368 .541 .909 4.7

1987 MAN/WAS 34 139 509 140 16 1 34 96 68 46 83 4 4 .275 .335 .511 .845 2.6

1988 Washington 35 157 578 160 22 4 35 107 85 48 95 4 4 .277 .335 .510 .846 3.1

1989 Washington 36 157 585 164 20 1 34 107 85 42 97 2 2 .280 .330 .492 .823 3.2

1990 Washington 37 110 429 128 18 1 26 74 65 31 69 2 2 .298 .346 .527 .873 3.2

1991 Washington 38 131 386 103 12 2 14 42 42 39 99 0 0 .267 .339 .417 .757 1.3

1992 Washington 39 2 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 0.0

Total UL 20 yrs 2524 9405 2909 349 46 566 1589 1428 819 1510 59 56 .309 .366 .537 .903 89.7

WORLD SERIES

Year Team Age G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB AVG OBP SLG OPS BR

1977 Los Angeles 24 7 26 7 1 0 0 1 2 3 7 0 .269 .345 .308 .653 -0.5

1981 Los Angeles♦ 28 7 30 11 2 1 2 6 5 0 2 0 .367 .367 .700 1.067 3.2

1983 Los Angeles 30 4 16 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 .125 .125 .188 .313 -2.3

1985 Los Angeles♦ 32 7 23 7 0 0 1 1 3 4 3 0 .304 .407 .435 .842 1.4

1986 Manhattan♦ 33 6 22 5 0 0 2 5 5 2 6 1 .227 .292 .500 .792 0.7

1987 Washington♦ 34 injured

Total UL 6 yrs 31 117 32 4 1 5 13 15 9 23 1 .274 .325 .453 .778 2.5