Dave Winfield
Posted on March 28th, 2007 – 9:42 AMBy La Velle
Hall of Famer Dave Winfield is one of several people I interviewed for my special section stories this spring. The former Twin deserves such attention because he’s just released a book titled, `Dropping the Ball: Baseballs Troubles and How We Can and Must Solve Them,” in which he discusses some of things that are wrong with baseball. He cares deeply about interest in the game growing in this country, and has some suggestions for people on all levels to help achieve that.
Here’s part of a long interview I did with him:
“One of the chapters I have written is called, `The Last Black Major Leaguer.’ We go from Jackie Robinson to when there was 28 percent black players in the 1970’s when I was playing and we’re down to 8 percent (now) and it is declining. In ten more years you’ll see the last one. That’s just one chapter.”“I’m showing how important the game is to people in America and I urge people not to give up on it. I tell them. `Here are some examples of these trends.’ People need to know that we have academies in other countries. We have kids who no longer go outside and play. They don’t know pick up games and all this stuff.”
“The are not developing the skills and the responses and the athleticism to play baseball, so you put on a uniform when you are eight or nine years old and mommy wonders, `Johnny, why can’t you play very good.’ Johnny never went outside and played all these games that helped him develop and improve. The kids are declining and the culture is declining.”’
“I point out that trends are going on, but it is not an attack on anything. I’m just saying, `this is where it is. If you want to do something about it, here’s something that everybody can do from kids to parents to schools to organizations and rec departments to major leagues to players and agents and all of that.’ ”
You can click here for more information. Winfield is in the middle of a nationwide book tour. He’s in the Twin Cities today and will appear on Dan Barriero’s, `Bumper to Bumper,’ show this afternoon on KFAN. He’s got a lot of good stuff to talk about.
99 Responses to "Dave Winfield"
Remember when we used to go outside to play baseball, not sit in front of the tv and play MLB 2007. Parents were actually a part of a kids life and went out and played catch.Baseballs decline in the city is gone. There is no teamwork everyone out for themselves, just watch basketball and you will see that.
Dave Winfield fixing baseball? Was Pete Rose busy?
Winfield is right about the decline of American kids’ pickup games and outdoor athletic activities in general. But it’s not limited to black kids: it’s all across this country. We’re raising a generation of video-playing couch potatoes.
I think we’re going to see mostly foreign players in MLB in a few years, coming from cultures where GameBoys or whatever are not an option (yet).
Oh, I think Winfield meant all kids when he discussed the lack of playing games. Only one chapter in his book deals with the dwindling numbers of African-American players, but some of it can be applied to every corner of this country…
Blame videogames all you want, but take a look at the schedules parents keep for kids these days–they are completely full with lessons for this, meetings for that, and of course scheduled practices. Kids are shuttled from one planned activity to another and have either forgotten how to or don’t care to do anything that isn’t scheduled.
My childhood was filled with plenty of pickup games, riding bikes, and playing videogame. Despite all of that, I probably only played one or two pick-up games of baseball my whole life–it was either basketball or football. But I played organized baseball longer than any other sport, go figure.
Love Winfield and it’s great he’s doing this. You can make a case that he’s the best all around athlete of all time, being drafted in 3 pro sports.
And he hit the longest homerun in AK baseball history for the AK Goldpanners in Fairbanks (near my hometown) OVER the building across the street. Gotta love the guy.
Winfield was always a pretty class act. Did you by chance ask him if he’s getting involved with he Torii Hunter Project?
I have his rookie card.
“the culture is declining”
Dave Winfield is right about that, but going from a diagnosis to a cure is next to impossible. Our country is in trouble on many fronts, and reputable polls prove that this is the perception of the majority of Americans, not just me or Mr. Winfield.
How many baseball fields could we have built and how many kids could we have organized with the hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funds wasted in Iraq?
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