HOF Dave Winfield showing off his arm versus the White Sox, 1985

On a day when the great Tom Seaver would notch number 300, the former Minnesota Gopher, the then-current Yanks star rightfielder, put his arm on display. In that era, I "identified" as a Jays fan wholly and completely; no parsing about being a "fan of all baseball," I was livn' and dyin' with my Jays during that American League East pennant race. As such, Jesse Barfield was my guy. And as any loyal young fan should, my favs were the world and the rest of baseball, of which Big Dave was lumped, were only foils. Looking back now, though, ummm yeah, Winfield was bloody amazing.

A couple of years later, Jesse would find his way to the Bronx and so too did travel my allegiance. But in terms of watching a Hall of Fame legacy being written before our eyes, Winfield was probably underrated during his Yankee days. Rickey and Donny Baseball sure looked like MVP and possible HOF talents back then too, which probably distracted from the resume the big man was putting together. And The Boss pissing on the man for his '81 World Series performance, echoed by a media that compared everyone to the one and only Reggie, sure didn't help. However the myth making of the day played out, however critically unfair as it appraised the power forward in pinstripes, that cannon shot to nail a spry White Sox middle infielder stripped away all the conjecture and commentary. Dude was an athlete among athletes and ballplayers in 1985.

Everyone loves the visual of a baserunner going first to third. During a game where it is often said that nothing much seems to be happening most of the time, first-to-third gets a crowd roaring. Gawd, I love and miss that feeling of being among the masses with baseball interests when that excited wave of clamour raises up on a summer's day. Just as thrilling, maybe even more so, when the throng realizes that a play at a base may be emanant, when a long throw seems true, life and ball just couldn't be better. That's the noise old Yankee Stadium made when the ball left Dave's hand and it zeroed in on Pags' patiently awaiting glove.

Such a pretty, pretty, element of the game.

#DaveWinfield #Yankees #1985 #outfieldassist #laser #tracerround #YankeeStadium #MLB