If you're a youth athlete or the parent of one, MLB Hall of Famer Dave Winfield has some advice: Avoid specializing in one sport.

Instead, do what Winfield did, and play multiple sports.

"A lot of these knucklehead coaches and schools don't want you to do that because they want you all for themselves," Winfield says. "But they're wrong. And it's not good for the player."

In addition to playing college baseball at Minnesota, Winfield helped the Golden Gophers basketball team reach the NCAA tournament.

The Minnesota Vikings drafted Winfield even though he didn't play college football. In basketball, Winfield was drafted in two leagues, NBA (Atlanta Hawks) and ABA (Utah Stars).

Opting for baseball, Winfield became a World Series champion and a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

"Hear what I'm saying," Winfield says about the benefits of playing multiple sports. "I know what I'm talking about."

Check out the video above for more from Winfield on why many top athletes agree with him about saying no to youth sports specialization.

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