Winfield: A Player's Life

This chatty and candid autobiography by the Yankee star and coauthor Parker (Small Business, a novel) presents not only Winfield's career as an athlete but also his views on owners, managers and players, his aid to needy children, the role of blacks in American life and especially in baseball. A brilliantly successful athlete at the University of Minnesota, Winfield began his diamond career with the San Diego Padres, where he ran up against the first owner with whom he had differences, Ray Kroc. Fed up with the Padres, although not with San Diego, he signed with the Yankees, wangling a multi-season, $23-million contract that has resulted in years of litigation with owner George Steinbrenner, about whom he is devastatingly critical. Winfield's life story underscores the fact that blacks, even if celebrities, still struggle for acceptance in the America of the 1980s. Photos not seen by PW. (April)