The deal for Bass was set, but Winfield held the trump card. Being a "five and 10 man" (a player who has played for one team for more than five years and has been in major league baseball for more than 10 years), Winfield had the option to veto his trade. He did just that. He wanted to stay in New York.

Then the season began. The fans forgot about arbitration, owner collusion and controversy, and turned their attention to stolen bases, opposite-field doubles and upper-deck jobs. Winfield left George's turf and started the season on a turf he is more familiar with--the outfield grass of Yankee Stadium.

He hasn't stopped talking yet, Talking with his bat, that is. Who's feeling good now?

And George tries to continue the controversy off the field. He says the Yankees will sue the Winfield Foundation for misappropriation of funds. George supposedly had agreed to donate money each year to the foundation. He has held back the money for the past couple of years, money that Winfield knows George owes him.

George won't give up. Once Winfield hits a slump, George will be the first person to criticize him. He'll probably say the early-season tear was all a fluke; it was just luck. George won't shut up forever, even though he can't say anything now.

That's the way to treat your team, George. Make them worry about what happens off the field instead of what happens during the game.

But George is quiet now, like a grizzly bear sleeping through the frosty month of January. All because Dave Winfield has shut him up with the kind of language the Yankee outfielder knows best--the language of scoring runs and winning baseball games.

Right now, Winfield has the audiences dancing in the aisles while George is out on the street selling hot pretzles for a dollar.

Who knows how long that will last?