Yankees Birthday of the Day: Dave Winfield

Winfield's athletic abilities were already quite apparent in his youth. He starred in both baseball and basketball in high school and college. Following his time at the University of Minnesota, he was drafted by teams from not one, not two, but three pro leagues — in addition to MLB's Padres and the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, the NFL's Minnesota Vikings took a flier on Winfield even though he hadn't played college football. Thankfully, the hulking phenom chose the diamond.

The Padres thrust Winfield into the fire, having him skip the minor leagues entirely and placing him on their major league roster. While he wasn't exactly a star from the word go, he was a productive regular almost immediately, hitting .277/.331/.383 (106 wRC+) across 154 PAs in 1973 as a 21 year-old.

From there, Winfield continued to steadily improve, going from 1.9 WAR in '74, to 2.8 in '75, and 4.6 in '76. In 1977, he earned his first All-Star selection; he returned to the Midsummer Classic every year from then on until 1988. His pièces de résistance came in 1979, when he slashed .308/.395/.558 (161 wRC+) with 34 homers and a league-leading 118 RBI while winning a Gold Glove in right field. His 7.8 WAR paced the National League, even though he finished 3rd in MVP voting. Bet all the keyboard warriors were furi- oh right they didn't exist back then.