New Yankees owner George Steinbrenner tried everything to break him and destroy his reputation to the point of no return, but Dave Winfield refused to let him win.
Winfield stood up to the most powerful owner in baseball, fought back just like he has throughout life, and now proudly tells his story with a book – and soon, a documentary.
It will not attract splashy headlines and have the internet buzzing. It won’t make former teammates and managers uncomfortable with secrets that are unveiled. It instead provides a deep emotional dive into the man himself.
Winfield insisted from the start of the hour-long interview with USA TODAY Sports that for everyone who thinks they really know him, once you read “Touching All the Bases: A Story of Power, Purpose,
and Surviving the Bronx,” you’ll find out that you really didn’t know him.
Winfield poured his heart and soul into the book, which was nearly six years in the making, and will be released Sept. 15.
He talks about life as a Black athlete going against one of the most powerful men in sports in Steinbrenner, details the heartache and stress of court battles with a woman from his past, the pain of the George Floyd murder in Minneapolis across the river where he grew up in St. Paul, working in the players union and his frustration with former players who are part of commissioner Rob Manfred’s ambassador program, performance-enhancing drugs, personal tragedy, his bout with prostate cancer, his philanthropic foundation, flying out of New York City the morning of the terrorist attacks and his heartbreaking trip to Ground Zero.
“I’ve had a unique life, legacy and experience, and I have a unique story to tell," Winfield says. “My life experience is so different than what most people would imagine. I’m in the seventh inning of life, so it’s time to tell it.
“If you’ve got a unique experience or story, I believe you’ve got to share it with people."
The experience, as he details in his book: “My experience as a Black man who went to war with one of the most powerful owners in sports tells an essential story, not just about the triumphs and challenges of my own career, but about the dynamics of race and power in America."
Winfield, 74, isn’t comparing himself to Jackie Robinson or Curt Flood, but no one else comes to mind in the past 50 years in baseball who was more tormented and mistreated, but courageously fought back, becoming a first-ballot Hall of Fame player and one of the most well-respected athletes in the sports world.
He survived Steinbrenner’s attempts to bring ruin him, but in the end, it was Steinbrenner who went down, receiving a lifetime suspension that was reduced to 2 ½ years for hiring a gambler in a failed attempt to destroy Winfield’s reputation.
“I could have been really vengeful, hateful, disrespectful, unhappy, for all of the things that were thrown at me," Winfield says. “But that never happened. I won’t say I didn’t have bruises and was bent a little bit, but I didn’t break.
“When I think about my career, people will say was quite successful, but I don’t really know how good I could have been at the pinnacle of my career if I had been supported. I think I would have been a better player."
It was when the world was shut down from COVID in 2020 that Winfield was home, watching the horrifying footage of George Floyd being strangled on the streets by a Minneapolis police officer, that he knew it was time to tell his story.
“I had something that George Floyd and so many other Black people didn’t," Winfield writes, “a voice. A chance to speak, to be heard, and to defend myself. Too many people don’t have that chance. I hope those coming up today keep the pressure on our leaders and stand alongside the 'old heads' who have fought through past struggles for equality.
“I hope they refuse to relent too soon and push tirelessly for real transformation."
Winfield can’t wait now to meet and shake the hands of Kwanza Jones, who became the first Black majority owner of a baseball team when she and her husband, Jose E. Feliciano, purchased the San Diego Padres, his first team. It has been a long time coming, but finally, history was made.
“It would have been nice to see it sooner,’’ Winfield says, “but it doesn’t surprise me that it hasn’t happened before now. I’m just happy it has happened now."
Winfield, who once was interested in being part of an ownership group himself, has plenty to share to whoever wants to listen. No other player in baseball history had such a highly publicized feud with his team owner, and lived to tell about it, with the owner being the one who was suspended from the game.
It was nasty. It was revolting. It was public.
“Those disputes weren’t just about money," said Winfield, who signed a historic 10-year, $23 million contract with the Yankees, “they were about power. It was an owner, speaking for all the others, making sure a player knew his place."
Despite years without speaking after his departure, with Steinbrenner irate and canceling plans to retire his number after Winfield chose to wear a Padres cap cap into the Hall of Fame, Winfield’s wife, Tonya, convinced him to see Steinbrenner perhaps for the final time. Winfield took a six-hour flight to Tampa in July 2008, two years before Steinbrenner died.
“I decided to make the trip," Winfield said, “hoping it might help quite some of the angry thought that had been pin-balling around my head for decades. …. When I saw him, it was clear he wasn’t well. His handshake had weakened. He struggled for words and could barely speak above a whisper. I could see he didn’t have the strength or clarity to have an in-depth conversation about our past."
They spoke for 90 minutes. It started with a handshake. It ended with a hug.
“Did the meeting give me a sense of reconciliation, closure, or validation?" Winfield said. “To some extent it did, but I’ll never reclaim those years of anguish.’’
Winfield, who spent 12 years as a special assistant in the players union before retiring last spring, is proud of playing a major role with the union. He has seen the union’s power evolve from the first time he put on his first MLB uniform 53 years ago, going straight from the University of Minnesota to the big leagues with the Padres.
There was no free agency in 1973. No salary arbitration. The minimum salary was $16,000. Most players had second jobs in the winter.
Now, the average MLB salary is $5.34 million, with two players – Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani – receiving free-agent contracts worth at least $700 million. Winfield made about $28 million his entire career, which is $32 million less than Dodgers right fielder Kyle Tucker is earning just this year.
“I expect the owners will do whatever necessary to get what they want," Winfield writes, “including fighting dirty and impugning reputations. I know from personal experience how dirty the fight can get. We must stand strong in defense of our hard-earned rights."
Winfield, the first of four Hall of Famers from his hometown of St. Paul – with Jack Morris, Paul Molitor and Joe Mauer – talks about being a proud Minnesotan, where he was honored in May with St. Paul erecting a statue of him in the Dunning Sports Complex. He played every sport growing up, and was drafted by four teams in three sports in 1973. The Padres selected him with the fourth pick in the draft, the fifth round by the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA and the sixth round by the Utah Stars in the ABA, and the Minnesota Vikings in the 17th round.
“Believe me, I tell many parents now to allow your kids to play other sports," Winfield said. “You’re seeing these kids get injured or burnt out by playing one sport. Coaches want to dominate all of their time with one sport. Let them be kids."
Winfield, who begins his book tour on Sept. 8 with an appearance on “Good Morning America’’ and “The View’’ the following day, hopes that his book and an upcoming documentary will help inspire those facing their own adversity.
“I’m an outlier how you approach things in life,’’ Winfield says. “I’ve never been afraid to travel, go outside, never afraid to meet new people. There are a lot of people that would roll up in a ball and quit if they faced all the negative stuff coming my way. I overcame really significant odds, ugly situations and a lot of adversity. I went through it all and came out Ok on the other end.
“Hopefully, people can be empowered, motivated and uplifted what I have written.’’
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hall of Famer survived Yankees owner George Steinbrenner: ’I'll never reclaim those years'
