Relationship Between Steinbrenner, Winfield Is Rocky to Say Least

The contract binding Dave Winfield and George Steinbrenner makes no mention of for better or worse. Nor does it contain a clause specifying for richer or poorer, since the approximately $2 million in annual benefits payable to Winfield virtually precludes poverty. And it will not require a death to do them part, although both men have been sorely tempted to seek a final resolution.

In every other respect, however, the relationship of the New York Yankees’ outfielder and principal owner resembles nothing so much as a marriage on the rocks. They collect their mail at the same address yet reside apart. They communicate mostly through third parties, occasionally attorneys. They spend a considerable amount of time denying reports of imminent separation.

This marks the 10th and final year of the landmark contract to which the parties affixed their names Dec. 15, 1980, and once again they are busy dismissing rumors. The latest has Winfield resuming his career with the California Angels, at the behest of Steinbrenner. “George said he doesn’t know anything about it,” Winfield said Monday, “and he should know.”

Steinbrenner said that he has not had any conversation with the Angels about Winfield, nor is he interested “unless they offer a Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig.” Sounds like the discussion is closed. For now.

That doesn’t mean that Winfield will play baseball for the Yankees ad infinitum, presuming his back has fully healed. The forces that join the two professionally continue to drive them apart personally. The size of the contract. The operation of the Winfield Foundation. The twisted associations with Howie Spira, now in custody.

“I think we’re inextricably bound together in history,” Winfield said after the Yankees’ morning workout Monday at Fort Lauderdale Stadium in Florida. He offered an ironic smile as silent commentary.

Only a few feet from where Winfield sat in the clubhouse, Steinbrenner entertained journalists by attempting to refute anecdotes contained in a new book being syndicated in a New York newspaper. He was displeased that the article failed to mention he had rehired a young man whom he reportedly fired. He didn’t deny firing him on the spot. “I fire lots of people,” he said, producing a roar of laughter in the audience. Of course, that was the point.

One employee he has been unable to fire is Winfield, whose longevity with the club and whose time in the majors is such that he has veto power over a trade. He would have to approve any deal. “Approve, negotiate, all those things,” he said.

That doesn’t mean that he would block such an attempt under any condition. “I have it in my mind I’ll be here (this season), but there’s nothing written in stone,” Winfield said. So connected are the pair in the mind of the public that the outfielder claims to have been stopped in such distant lands as Thailand and Nepal by shouts of “Hey, Winfield, how’s George?”

For the answer to that, he would have to turn to the newspaper. He didn’t inquire about the owner’s health the other day when the two passed in the dugout on the occasion of Steinbrenner’s first visit to training camp. Both said hello and left it at that.

Of course, it is Winfield’s health that is of greater concern to the Yankees now. He failed to appear in a single game last season after undergoing surgery for a herniated disc, and he wasn’t in the lineup Monday when the club opened its abbreviated exhibition schedule with a 5-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves. He spent the better part of the game taking extra batting practice on the diamond beyond the left-field fence.

“I’m going to let him tell me when he’s ready,” Manager Bucky Dent said. “It looks like his condition’s pretty good. I don’t want to rush him.”

Winfield said that he had no intention of pushing himself into a situation where he might risk injury. “I’m not even going to speculate when I might be ready to play,” he said. “I’m just going to work into it.” He left no doubt, however, that he expected to be ready well before Opening Day April 10.

“I never once thought I wouldn’t play again after the operation,” he said. “If there’s one thing I have above a lot of players in the game, it’s mental toughness.”

Not that he has ever lacked for talent or confidence. In the 10 seasons from 1979-1988, the man drove in 1,017 runs, more than anyone else in the majors. He played in 12 consecutive All-Star Games before his “sabbatical” in 1989. He expects no drop-off from that level of performance, even at the advanced age of 38.

Still, his years with the Yankees have been marked by zero championships and an adversarial relationship with the boss. He might have saved himself a lot of grief if he had chosen to remain in San Diego. “At that time,” he said, “anyone would have left for the contract offer I got.

“I’ve had some of my best professional moments here, as well as some of my worst,” he said. “But the good outweighs the bad.”

Unlike Reggie Jackson, to whom he has been unfavorably compared by the owner, Winfield has not demanded attention. But neither has he withered in the spotlight that has been drawn inexorably toward him, as much by the actions of others as his own. The degree of interest, he decided, “has been a hundredfold what it might be in San Diego.”

Ironically, his only real rival here is Steinbrenner. The celebrity owner has signed autographs, bantered with fans and given countless television interviews since he set foot in camp Saturday. Although Winfield didn’t play Monday, he received the biggest ovation of the day when he jogged in front of the stands on his way from a workout to the Yankees’ clubhouse following the fifth inning. He acknowledged the applause by tipping his cap.

That’s not in the contract, either.