RIVER FALLS – Over the weekend as the city of River Falls celebrated the annual River Falls Days, the town received a special visit from Major League Baseball Hall of Famer, Dave Winfield, as he arrived at First National Bank of River Falls Field for “MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation Day.”

The River Falls Baseball Council recognized the $850,000 grant provided by the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation, of which Winfield is a member._ The MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation grant provided much of the funding for installation of artificial turf at First National Bank of River Falls Field._Winfield himself helped select River Falls for the grant back in 2018. The new artificial turf will provides additional field usage in the greater River Falls area for youth baseball and softball leagues, as well as the Challenger League, a league for those with disabilities.

Jean Lee Batrus, Executive Director of the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation, talked about how the grant selection process led to the River Falls Baseball Council earning their own. “Well, you know, Dave was really the force behind this relationship. When he went out to the community, he saw a great need, where there was a lack of facility use,” Batrus said. “He also saw the opportunity to have more play happen in the communities, I think, as you can see, there's going to be thousands of youth that will be participating on this field in a given year and also helping the Challengers League.”

Founded in 2016, the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation is still fairly young. The main purpose of this foundation is to create more opportunities for youth across America, especially in underserved communities, to play baseball and softball.

“You know, part of my, just the way I look at things, I'm fortunate to be in a position with a group that's doing some good things, you know, this particular Foundation, it's a joint thing between Major League Baseball, and the Baseball Players Association. And this is their vision to help people who are already helping themselves, but they weren't where they couldn't be, as I made kind of fit, I'm just very happy. This is kind of a textbook place that we'd like to support,” said Winfield on his role with the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation.

The $850,000 grant given to the River Falls Baseball Council, according to Winfield, is one of the largest the MLBMLBPA Youth Development Foundation has given out thus far.

“There was another one. I helped give initial guidance for Cal State Northridge. There were, you know, on the college campus, there were things we were trying to help them along, but they're just numerous small things that they may have gotten $15,000 or $20,000, you know, things like that. Yeah. So, this is kind of a big one, big,” said Winfield.

Curt Burns of the River Falls Baseball Council introduced Winfield during the pre-game ceremony for the Fighting Fish game against the New Richmond Millers. Burns and Winfield had worked together prior to this grant through another foundation. Winfield said Burns showed him River Falls’ needs before applying for the MLB-MLBPAYouth Development Fund grant.

“We would see each other in Los Angeles, because part of his work was part of another foundation,” Winfield said. “We talked baseball, and he talked about you guys, what you’re trying to do here, upgrading the field and all of that. So we made the trip over from St. Paul and I met the group. They talked about it, I saw the field, and you guys fit the guidelines of the foundation that I'm on the board of. And so I said, ‘You know, if you'd asked for this, and do this, you know, kind of gave them guidance.’ And we sat and had a lunch and did that and the guys did it. Then they ultimately got the award. I'm extremely happy for you guys,” said Winfield.

Prior to Winfield’s involvement in securing the grant, he had only visited River Falls once while attending the University of Minnesota as a three sports star in baseball, basketball and football; he visited friends attending UW-River Falls at the time. Winfield’s brother, Steve, also played in a River Falls softball league during the early 1970’s.

Winfield’s career accolades from his time in Major League Baseball include being a 12-time all-star, seven-time Gold Glove winner, six Silver Sluggers, and one World Series victory with the 1992 Toronto Blue Jays against the Atlanta Braves. One of Winfield’s most notable career moments in his hometown was when he got his 3,000th hit at the Metrodome on Sept. 16, 1993 against the Oakland Athletics as a member of the Minnesota Twins.

Photo by Theodore Tollefson