September 16, 1993: Dave Winfield collects 3,000th career hit

Dave Winfield is one of five men drafted by professional baseball, football, and basketball teams.1 An outfielder and designated hitter, he crafted a 22-year Hall of Fame career that included 12 consecutive All-Star Game appearances, seven Gold Glove Awards, six Silver Slugger Awards, and a World Series championship with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992. In addition to what he did between the lines, Winfield is also widely respected for his off-the-field activities.2

Winfield, a native of St. Paul, Minnesota, joined the San Diego Padres in 1973 at age 21, straight from leading the University of Minnesota to the College World Series as a pitcher.3 Two weeks after the Padres selected him fourth overall in the June amateur draft and one week after his final college game, Winfield collected his first big-league hit in his debut on June 19, 1973, singling off the Houston Astros’ Jerry Reuss.

Winfield spent eight productive years with the Padres, then signed a 10-year contract with the New York Yankees in December 1980. He was a paragon of consistency, averaging 165 hits per year from 1977 to 1988, with a high of 193 in 1984.4

On May 4, 1980, during his final season with San Diego, Winfield reached 1,000 career hits with a three-hit game against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium. It was the 978th game of his career, and it took 911 more games for his 2,000th hit, a triple off Mickey Mahler of the Texas Rangers in a 14-3 Yankees win at Arlington Stadium on July 7, 1986.5

Winfield played in at least 149 games – nearly all of them in the outfield – nine times between 1977 and 1988. He missed the entire 1989 season due to a herniated disc and back surgery but returned to action in April 1990 at age 38.6 A month later, Winfield was traded to the California Angels for Mike Witt, ending a New York tenure marked by conflict with owner George Steinbrenner.7

After two seasons with the Angels, Winfield signed as a free agent with the Blue Jays for the 1992 season. His 26 home runs and 108 RBIs helped the Canadian-based franchise win its first World Series championship.

Winfield signed with his hometown Twins for 1993, with his total of 2,866 hits leaving him 134 shy of the 3,000-hit milestone. Primarily used as a designated hitter, he racked up a .355 batting average in July. Two hits in the first game of an August 14 doubleheader set his career total at 2,980.

At that point, the 41-year-old Winfield slumped, getting only 16 hits in his next 99 at-bats through September 10. He admitted that the media attention as he approached 3,000 hits was distracting. The slugger opined, “Because of all the buildup, you can’t really enjoy it because you’re always talking about it. I don’t like to just talk about things. I like to do it.”8

The Twins’ desire for Winfield to get his milestone hit in front of the hometown fans became controversial when he was held out of three road games, including Nolan Ryan Day in Texas on September 11, in order to make sure he reached 3,000 hits at home.9

Winfield was sitting on 2,996 hits as the Twins opened a seven-game homestand on September 13. Two hits in the first three games, against the Oakland A’s, including his 453rd career home run, off Bobby Witt in the series opener, put Winfield at 2,998 career safeties going into the final game of the series, on September 16.

Both teams had struggled all season going into the Thursday night game. The Athletics were in last place, 22½ games behind the Chicago White Sox in the American League West Division, with a 59-85 record. Minnesota, with a 61-85 record, was in sixth place, a game ahead of Oakland. A crowd of 14,654 came out to the Metrodome.

The starting pitcher for the Athletics was right-handed rookie Miguel Jimenez, a September call-up making his first major-league start. The Twins countered with another rookie righty, Greg Brummett.10 Besides the pitchers, three members of the A’s lineup and four Twins had made big-league debuts during the 1993 season.

Oakland left fielder Kurt Abbott, who had hit three home runs in his first seven major-league games, singled off Brummett to open the game, then reached second on a groundout. After Ruben Sierra was intentionally walked, another groundout put runners on second and third with two outs. Brummett battled rookie Brent Gates for six pitches before Gates put the seventh offering into center field for a two-run single.

Jimenez set the Twins down in order in the bottom half of the inning, and Brummett’s first pitch of the second was hammered to the wall by Craig Paquette for a triple. But Brummett induced two popouts and struck out Abbott to strand Paquette at third.

Winfield’s first chance of the night came after Kent Hrbek walked to open the bottom of the second, but Jimenez fanned him on a 2-and-2 pitch.

The score was still 2-0 when Hrbek led off the fourth with a single. Winfield grounded to second and Gates turned it into a 4-6-3 double play. Jimenez concluded his scoreless outing with one-two-three innings in the fifth and sixth.

In the meantime, Brummett stranded Oakland runners in scoring position in the fourth and sixth innings. Carl Willis came in with runners at first and second with one out in the seventh and got Abbott to hit into a double play.

Winfield led off the seventh with a high chopper off home plate against reliever Kelly Downs. There was no play at first, and Winfield had his 2,999th hit. Downs retired the next three batters to keep the Twins off the board. Neither team scored in the eighth.

After the Athletics failed to score in the top of the ninth, Oakland sent Dennis Eckersley to the mound to save the victory. Eckersley, who had won the AL Cy Young Award and MVP Award the previous year, had converted his last three save opportunities without allowing a run and was trying to earn his 33rd save of the season.

Eckersley faced Kirby Puckett to start the ninth. Puckett hammered his second offering deep to center field for a triple. After Chip Hale struck out, Winfield stepped to the plate representing the tying run.

He sent Eckersley’s fifth pitch on the ground between the shortstop and third baseman for the 3,000th hit of his career, scoring Puckett. After touching first base, the 6-foot-6 Winfield doffed his helmet with a big smile on his face, as the crowd gave him a standing ovation and the number 3,000 flashed on the scoreboard.11

A single by Brian Harper sent Winfield to third. Third baseman Scott Stahoviak, appearing in his eighth major-league game, drove in Winfield with a single, and the contest went into extra innings.

Winfield had an opportunity to add to his big day when he came to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th, but he grounded out to first to end the inning. The Twins put a runner in scoring position in each of the next two innings but failed to drive in the winning run.

Minnesota rookie Brett Merriman, who had struck out the side in the 12th, walked the first two batters in the top of the 13th. The free passes proved costly when Dave Henderson doubled to drive in two runs for a 4-2 Oakland lead.

In the bottom half, Oakland’s Tony La Russa furiously attempted to protect the lead. His fifth pitcher of the game, John Briscoe, walked Lenny Webster. LaRussa then called on Vince Horsman, who struck out Stahoviak.

The seventh A’s pitcher of the night, rookie Roger Smithberg, came in with a runner on first and one out. Chuck Knoblauch lined his first offering into right field for a double that brought the Twins within one run. Knoblauch took third on a wild pitch before a walk put runners on the corners. He scored to tie the game on a groundout to second.

Puckett was issued an intentional walk, bringing Hale to the plate. Hale’s single to right, with Winfield in the on-deck circle, drove in the winning run.

After the game Winfield said, “There have been a lot of emotions running through me. We haven’t had a lot of success as a team and [the drive for 3,000 hits] creeped in as the focus of what we were doing. I feel the weight of the world is off me. I’ll sit back one day knowing not many people have gotten this many hits or have been around this long to do it. I’m proud. I’m thrilled.”12

“Doing something exceptionally for a lot of years is special,” said La Russa, who compared Winfield’s accomplishments with retiring strikeout king Nolan Ryan and all-time steals leader Rickey Henderson. “He didn’t just do it in six, seven years and fade and take a hike. You’ve got to give him a lot of credit,” La Russa said.13

Eckersley, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004, three years after Winfield,14 downplayed his role. “I was aware of the significance of it,” he said. “But the game was on the line, and the 3,000th hit was secondary. If it hadn’t been me, it would have been somebody else.”15

After two seasons in the Upper Midwest, Winfield finished his career with the Cleveland Indians in 1995, retiring with 3,110 career hits. Winfield was the 19th major leaguer to reach 3,000 hits. He was the first player to reach the plateau playing for his hometown team, and the first to get the historic hit in an indoor venue. He was the second man in the 3,000-hit club (after Al Kaline) to have never played in the minors. Coincidentally, the Metrodome was also where the next member of the club, Eddie Murray, got his historic hit two years after Winfield.16

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to John Fredland and Kurt Blumenau for their input on the first draft of this story. The article was fact-checked by Bill Marston and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, I used Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for team, season, and player pages and logs and the box scores and play-by-plays for this game.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIN/MIN199309160.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1993/B09160MIN1993.htm

Notes

1 Two of the others chose football and two chose basketball. The two who chose football were Mickey McCarty and Dave Logan. Doug Skipper, “Dave Winfield,” SABR Baseball Biography Project, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/dave-winfield/ (last accessed April 21, 2023). The two who chose basketball were Jo Jo White and George Carter. The White reference is: Jo Jo White, Hoopzone.net, https://hoopszone.net/Kansas/Kansas/Players/W/white-jojo.htm (last accessed June 8, 2023). The Carter reference is: George Carter, BuffaloSportsHallofFame.com, https://www.buffalosportshallfame.com/member/george-carter/ (last accessed June 8, 2023). The five draftees in three sports is current as of 2023.

2 His David M. Winfield Foundation was the first charity established by an active athlete. The foundation provided heath care, scholarships, and meals for underprivileged families. His numerous awards for charitable work include the Branch Rickey Community Service Award, the Joe Cronin Award, the Roberto Clemente Award, and the Josh Gibson Leadership Award. Winfield became an outspoken leader who promoted better race relations as well as a sought-after motivational speaker. His autobiography, Winfield, A Player’s Life, was on the New York Times best-seller list. See Hames Publications, “Adult New York Times Best Seller Lists for 1988, May 15.”

3 Winfield was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

4 His .340 batting average that season was second best in the AL to Yankees teammate Don Mattingly’s .343.

5 Barry Meisel, “Dave Makes Point,” New York Daily News, July 8, 1986: 46.

6 Skipper, “Dave Winfield.”

7 He doesn’t like me, and I don’t like him, but it doesn’t affect a professional’s performance,” said Winfield of his relationship with Steinbrenner. Michael Martinez, “Dark Cloud Obscures Winfield,” New York Times, May 1, 1988: 8, 1.

8 Jerry Zgoda, “3,000 Watch Took On a Long Life of Its Own,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, September 18, 1993: 10C.

9 Tony Demarco, “Uphill Struggle,” Fort Worth Star Telegram, September 11, 1993: C3.

10 Brummett had a 2-3 record in eight starts with the San Francisco Giants before being the player to be named later in a trade that sent Jim Deshaies to San Francisco and Brummett, Aaron Fultz, and a minor leaguer to Minnesota. In two previous September starts with Minnesota, Brummett had gone 1-1. Both pitchers had short major-league careers. Brummett’s career began and ended in 1993. Jimenez’s career ended after seven more starts with Oakland in 1994.

11 Action transcribed from the video You Tube, “Winfield Collects His 3,000th Career Hit,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_M7WdE-ysU (last accessed April 21, 2023).

12 Associated Press, “Winfield Enjoys Proudest Moment,” Greenwood (South Carolina) Index Journal, September 17, 1993: 12.

13 “Thoughts On No. 3,000!” Minneapolis Star Tribune, September 17, 1993: 1C.

14 Puckett was also inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2001. La Russa was inducted as a manager in 2014.

15 David Bush, “Winfield Gets Hit No. 3,000,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 17, 1993: E1.

16 National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, “The 3,000-Hit Club,” http://exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/3000_hit_club/winfield_dave.htm (last accessed April 21, 2023).