Winfield Bares Emotions in Farewell Letter to N.Y.

Dave Winfield, in an “Open Letter to New York” released today after he accepted his trade to the Angels, bade a fond farewell to the city and said his first priority will be to repair the damage done to his career by his controversial holdout.

“The roller coaster of the last five days has finally landed me with the California Angels, but I can’t leave you without trying my best in a necessary hurry to share the jumble of thoughts and emotions which have kept me mostly sleepless at night since last weekend, when I was ‘sideswiped’ in Seattle.” Winfield said.

”. . . My love affair with metropolitan New York and its people started in 1981 and will continue and deepen for as long as I live, I promise.

”. . . No matter where baseball may take me in the future, New York will always be my real home. It won’t come to pass, unfortunately, but I also always hoped and intended to finish my playing career as a true Yankee in those deservedly revered pinstripes, enjoying the many pleasures of your company.

“My first regret is to leave at all, and a larger regret is to leave with my Yankee dream of a world championship for baseball’s greatest fans unfulfilled and unaccomplished.”

Winfield said he had always tried his best on the field, and he addressed the controversy that his holdout provoked.

“There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that my career has been damaged by the events and interruption of this week, and my first priority must be to repair it in California. The Angels will get my best efforts, too,” Winfield said.

“Also at the top of my priority list is the still unfinished business of the Winfield Foundation, which continues to be my life’s most important work and most intense commitment. In the fields of education and drug prevention, we point with great pride to some remarkable accomplishments for tri-state area young people but, to paraphrase the poet, there are miles to go in those efforts before anyone sleeps.”