Dave Winfield honored in St. Paul

Young journalist also remembers act of kindness from baseball great

On Saturday, July 19, 2025, Major League Baseball Hall of Famer and former St. Paul Central High School and University of Minnesota baseball great Dave Winfield was honored at Toni Stone Field in St. Paul for his accomplishments on and off the field.

During the celebration St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter announced that next spring a statue would be placed in his honor in the Hall of Fame Plaza in front of Toni Stone Field.

Statues of fellow St. Paul native Major League Hall of Famers Paul Molitor (Cretin High School), Jack Morris (Highland Park Senior High), and Joe Mauer (Cretin Derham Hall High School) will follow.

Toni Stone, the St. Paul-born African American athlete and icon who excelled as a female member on men’s teams, will also have a statue in her honor.

Unable to attend the ceremony, I was reminded of a time when Winfield — in the midst of his Hall of Fame career — was speaking at a youth event in July 1987.

The month before, I had graduated with a journalism degree from Central State University (Ohio) and accepted a job as a sports reporter for Insight News. As a 21-year-old fresh out of college, I was excited to learn that my father Kwame McDonald had arranged an interview for myself with Winfield after his speech.

Imagine, my first interview with arguably the greatest overall athlete to ever come out of St. Paul and, even more importantly, from the city’s Rondo community. 

After Winfield’s speech, an aggressive group of media — blocking me out —swarmed him immediately for questions and comments. My head sank as I was concluding that my interview was not going to happen.

That quickly changed thanks to Winfield. “I will answer any questions you have for me,” he said in a soft-spoken manner. Then, pointing at me, he continued. “But I promised an interview to this young reporter right here, so I will talk to you all when we’re finished.”

We went to a private area and had our conversation. To say I was on cloud nine is an understatement. It remains one of the top highlights of my journalism career.

I don’t remember what I wrote or what was said during the interview, but what I will never forget is the kindness and recognition a 21-year-old reporter received from a professional athlete and St. Paul icon, who at the time was on his way to being one of the all-time greats.

Remember it like it was yesterday!

Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald welcomes reader comments to mcdeezy05@gmail.com

Check out the Photo Gallery of the event below!