Dave Winfield Biography

The American baseball player Dave Winfield was born in 1951 and raised in St. Paul Minnesota. Winfield began playing baseball as a child, alongside his brothers, and his excellence on the field led to a scholarship to play the sport for the University of Minnesota in 1969. Four years later, he was drafted by the San Diego Padres and thus began a career which would span more than two decades.

Winfield played for a total of six teams in his career. After the Padres, he went on to play for: the New York Yankees, the California Angels, the Toronto Blue Jays, the Minnesota Twins, and the Cleveland Indians. By the time he reached retirement, he was celebrated by ESPN as one of the best all-around athletes of all time, and since he has left the field as a player, Dave has continued to contribute to the sport in a variety of different ways.

Since his retirement, Dave Winfield has served as a studio analyst for the FOX News Network and the ESPN Network.  Winfield also began hosting a series of live performances, called the Baseball Music Project, to celebrate the history of baseball. From 2001 to 2013 Dave served as Executive Vice President and advisor to the San Diego Padres, and in 2013 he was named special assistant to the Major League Baseball Players Association.

Most notably, Dave Winfield established his own philanthropic charity in the late 1970’s, a foundation which has expanded significantly over the course of his career. Initially established to provide support for disadvantaged youth, the foundation has grown to include scholarships, medical centers and medical support, and substance abuse treatment support. As one of the first active athletes to establish such an extensive charity, Winfield served as a model for other athletes to do the same.