Winfield drives toward 3,000th hit
Dave Winfield’s 6-foot-6 frame had rarely carried so much weight.
Through his first 105 games of the 1993 season, Winfield was hitting .287 and stood just 20 hits away from the 3,000 mark. But over the next month, he endured an 18-for-110 (.164 batting average) slump as he made his way toward history.
On Sept. 16, 1993, Winfield recorded his 3,000th big league hit in the Twins’ 5-4 win over Oakland at the Metrodome, making him the 19th player to join the club.
“I feel the weight of the world is off me,” said Winfield, who was held out of the Twins’ final three games of a series in Texas to increase the chance he’d get his 3,000th hit at home. “This feels really good.”
The 41-year-old Winfield entered his first season with his hometown team 134 hits shy of the standard that had long served as a major milestone. Winfield helped the Blue Jays win the 1992 World Series before joining the Twins as a free agent, returning to the state where he starred in college at the University of Minnesota.
“Everything he does, he does all-out,” Twins first base coach Wayne Terwilliger, who greeted Winfield at the bag when Winfield singled off Dennis Eckerlsey in the ninth inning, told the Associated Press. “He’s hustled and been aggressive on the bases. And he’s gotten a few hits. He’s certainly one of the very best players I’ve ever seen.”
Winfield’s ninth-inning single cut the Twins’ deficit to 2-1, and Winfield later scored on a Scott Stahoviak single to send the game to extra innings before the Twins won the game in the 13th.
“I’ll keep the lineup card – I’m sure it’s worth something,” Athletics manager and Winfield’s future Hall of Fame teammate Tony La Russa told the Associated Press. “Maybe I’ll buy it myself.”
Winfield finished the season on a hot streak after the pressure of the pursuit of 3,000 was removed. Over his final 10 games, he batted .400 to boost his average to .271 – finishing the year with 148 hits, including 27 doubles and 21 home runs to go along with 76 RBI.
He would play two more seasons in the big leagues before ending his career with 3,110 hits, 465 home runs and 1,833 RBI.
Winfield was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2001.
“To be from here, to be able to reach a milestone like this here, the electricity in the air is almost like a playoff game,” Winfield told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “My greatest achievement so far has been winning that championship (with the Blue Jays). But as far as individual accomplishments, this is No. 1.”
Craig Muder is the director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
