To this day, Dave Winfield swears he didn’t do it on purpose. Between innings of a game in Toronto on August 4, 1983, the Yankee outfielder caught one last warm-up toss and then threw it to a ball boy waiting along the foul line. Perched on the field between Winfield and the boy, however, was a small white gull. After taking a short hop, the baseball hit the bird hard…and killed it. As the groundskeepers quickly came in and took it away, Winfield raised his cap. Stunned Toronto fans saw this as disrespectful and threw things at the Yankee slugger for the rest of the game. And after the game, a group of Mounties arrested Winfield (in the visitor clubhouse) for “willfully causing unnecessary cruelty to an animal.” Winfield denied it was willful, but cooperated and paid the $500 bail. The charges were later dropped, but Winfield’s reputation in Canada was severely damaged. (When the Blue Jays later brought in a falcon to try and curb the ballpark’s gull population, they named it “Winfield.”) Redeemed: Ironically, Winfield (the player, not the falcon) was later traded to the Blue Jays and helped win the 1992 World Series with a spectacular game-winning double in Game 6… earning him the nickname “Mr. Jay.”
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