Dave Winfield is an American former major league baseball player, author, broadcaster, and executive. A multisport athlete at the University of Minnesota, he was drafted by teams in four professional leagues before choosing baseball. He began his major league career with San Diego and later played for the Yankees and other clubs. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001.
Winfield’s twenty-two-season career included twelve All-Star selections, seven Gold Glove Awards, and a World Series championship with Toronto. His books range from autobiography and instruction to discussions of baseball’s institutions and its future. Touching All the Bases, published in September 2026 with Alan Maimon, revisits his career and especially the extended conflict with Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. Earlier titles include Winfield: A Player’s Life and Dropping the Ball.
Dave Winfield Books
| Book | Year | Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Winfield | 1988 | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| The Complete Baseball Player | 1990 | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Ask Dave | 1994 | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Dropping the Ball | 2007 | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Touching All the Bases | 2026 | Description / Buy at Amazon |
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Winfield established the David M. Winfield Foundation in 1977, supporting health care, education, and assistance for families. His activities also included involvement with the Major League Baseball Players Association and later work as a baseball executive and broadcaster. This range of experience underlies books that consider professional sport as a workplace and a public institution as well as a series of games.
His publishing for younger readers includes Ask Dave and the drug-education project Turn It Around!. The instructional volume The Complete Baseball Player focuses on how the game is played, while the memoirs draw on personal experiences. The books therefore address distinct audiences and purposes rather than forming a single continuous autobiography.
Baseball Books
Winfield: A Player's Life: Winfield recounts his life from childhood in St. Paul to major league success and a substantial Yankees contract. Written with Tom Parker, the autobiography addresses relationships with owners, managers, and players alongside race and his charitable work. Its account places the public reputation of a prominent athlete within the personal and institutional circumstances surrounding his career. Published in 1988.
The Complete Baseball Player: Winfield and Eric Swenson present instruction in baseball skills, preparation, and strategy. The guide addresses hitting, pitching, fielding, baserunning, conditioning, equipment, and the responsibilities of coaches and managers. Advice from other major leaguers supplements Winfield’s experience, connecting individual techniques with the mental and organizational parts of playing the game at different levels. Published in 1990.
Ask Dave: Dave Winfield Answers Kids' Questions About Baseball and Life: Winfield answers children’s questions about baseball and life in this short collection for young readers. The question-and-answer format gives him a direct way to share a professional player’s perspective beyond a conventional career narrative. Its intended audience and conversational structure distinguish the book from his instructional manual and autobiographies, while maintaining baseball as its central point of reference. Published in 1994.
Dropping the Ball: Baseball's Troubles and How We Can and Must Solve Them: Winfield and Michael Levin examine problems affecting baseball despite the sport’s commercial success. Subjects include labor conflict, performance-enhancing drugs, declining African American participation, and limited resources for youth programs. The book proposes changes intended to reconnect professional baseball with communities and younger participants, considering what established players and institutions can do to support the game’s future. First published in 2007.
Touching All the Bases: A Story of Power, Purpose, and Surviving the Bronx: Winfield revisits his career and his prolonged conflict with George Steinbrenner in this collaboration with Alan Maimon. The memoir connects contracts, public controversy, race, charity, and professional loyalty with achievements on the field. His account considers the consequences of defending his reputation and principles while working within institutions whose power reached beyond individual performance. Published in September 2026.