Gary Sheffield Career Tracker

Well...maybe he IS healthy after all! I know it was too little, too late...but a 2-run homerun is a good thing to see from Sheff!

we were all in disbelief!

Would you believe a 4-5 night...including the walkoff hit?!?!?!?!? WTG Sheff!!!

laprimamirala wrote:

we were all in disbelief!

I don't want to brag, but I'm not. I knew Sheff could do it!

He came back to life!

TigerLily wrote:

laprimamirala wrote:

we were all in disbelief!

I don't want to brag, but I'm not. I knew Sheff could do it!

I totally was in disbelief! But he proved me wrong and i'm glad about that!

I enjoy being proved wrong, especially here!

I just loved that walk-off single! I was happy for Sheff! He deserved it!

I know he wanted it baaaaaaaaaad!

I know I was downing him, but he did GREAT last night.

Good Job Sheff.

he is a human being, after all.....

laprimamirala wrote:

Say it with me everyone-- awwwwww!

Slumping Sheffield: 'Don't worry about me'
by Graham Couch
Sunday July 13, 2008, 11:00 PM

DETROIT -- The trainers say he's as healthy as he's been in his two years with the Detroit Tigers, but Gary Sheffield and his numbers say otherwise.

"I'm healthy enough to play. It's better than at the start of the season. I'm encouraged by that," the 39-year-old said of his surgically repaired shoulder, scoffing at the notion that he's better than he was before his torn labrum was discovered.

After a brief spark coming off the disabled list (oblique injury) in late June -- 4-for-5 on June 25 and a 6-for-14 stretch -- Sheffield is 8-for-49 in his last 13 games (.163).

Sheffield, a career .296 hitter in his 19 previous seasons in the big leagues, is batting .217 with five home runs and 18 RBIs in 55 games this summer.

"Talking to the trainers, if this was a pitcher, his career would be over," Sheffield said about the severity of his surgery. "With most people, people would say, 'You shouldn't be playing.' But with me, everybody expects me to be playing.

"It's not about my season, it's about this team. Worry about the things you need to worry about, don't worry about me."

Tigers manager Jim Leyland is worried about Sheffield, however. He kept his designated hitter out of the lineup Sunday, a day after putting his thoughts on Sheffield bluntly and briefly.

"Concerned," Leyland said. "I wish I knew (why he was struggling). I can't figure it out."

Leyland expects Magglio Ordonez to be back from an oblique injury after the three-day All-Star break, and he raves about Toledo imports Matt Joyce and Clete Thomas, but as Leyland said when Sheffield came off the disabled list in June, "Sheff is Sheff."

Sheffield insists he has something left other than the desire to collect the $14 million he's under contract for next year.

"I know I do. That's not even a question. The things I see, the reaction (time), I know when I'm right (because) I go out on the field and can dominate this game," Sheffield said. "You guys (in
Detroit) think you've seen my bat speed, but you really haven't seen it.

"All I'm focused on is getting stronger, because if I focus on something else, I'll get pissed off about something, the little things."

bobrob2004 wrote:

Slumping Sheffield: 'Don't worry about me'

I found Sheffield's new AB song: Click...

Yes, we are worried about you Sheffie! No production outta ya!

He feels like a caged Tiger

Platoon doesn't sit well with Sheffield

Globe Staff / August 10, 2008

Gary Sheffield is healthy enough to help a team in the pennant race; problem is, the Detroit Tigers, the team he plays for, isn't in one.

Such is the frustration surrounding the latter part of Sheffield's career. After about a year of dealing with a bad shoulder - the surgery, the rehab, the reduced performance - he has reached the point where he is a platoon DH and part-time outfielder, not what he had in mind for the final two years of his career.

Sheffield, 39, still puts fear into pitchers. His numbers don't show it, but lately the thump has begun to reemerge. Would he waive his no-trade provision to join a contending team? Most likely.

He lives in Tampa Bay, and wouldn't that be ideal? "The only reason I play is to win," said Sheffield. "I've won one championship, and before it's over I'd like to get another ring. I don't rule out anything.

"I can be in the outfield and play every day. I don't want to DH. I don't feel like a baseball player when I DH. I don't know how to be the leader that I am from the bench. I can't be a vocal leader. I can't talk to guys from the bench because I don't feel right about it.

"I'm in a role now where I don't know what to do, really. The guys are out there busting their butt for nine innings, they come in and they hit and they grind. I just sit down and hit. That's all I do, so I can't be in a leadership role from that position."

At this time of the year, players have to clear waivers to be traded. It would appear that Sheffield, given that he has about $5 million remaining on his $14 million salary this year and is due $14 million next season, would clear or has cleared waivers. It would then take a team willing to pick up his salary - or for the Tigers to eat some of the money, as the Red Sox did with Manny Ramírez.

"I really haven't thought about it," said Sheffield. "My thing is, I'm going to do what I've done in the past. Whatever opportunity presents itself, I'm going to look at it.

"I don't prefer platooning here, but I understand because I got off to a slow start, that's part of it, but I feel I'm playing better now. I'm back to being a threat I need to be.

"I don't get pitched the same like everybody else. I get pitched very carefully. Now that I'm a lot better physically, I can handle tough pitching. I can be the player that I know I am."
The "player he is" could very well be one who lands in Cooperstown. He is a .293 career hitter with 489 home runs, 1,608 RBIs, and a career .395 on-base percentage. He's a nine-time All-Star with 2,581 hits.

The Tigers probably thought about cutting their losses with him, but now Sheffield feels he can continue and be effective.

"It was painful," he said of the shoulder. "I just gutted it out and played. They just told me what I was doing is unheard of. I had a torn labrum and a Grade 2 separation. They had to shave the bone in my shoulder. When I fell on my elbow [last July], four pieces of bone chip fell off.

"I got the surgery in November. So I had January and parts of February to get ready. They told me if it was a pitcher, his career would be over."

So now he fights through the scar tissue. He fights through the notion that he's on the downside. But the way he's pitched tells him that pitchers still fear him.

"They work it down and away or up and in, and it's always on the edges," Sheffield said. "That's how I'm getting pitched, but I can handle that."

And he wonders how it would have been if he played in Boston.

"The Yankees knew I wanted to go to Boston," Sheffield said. "They picked up my option so I wouldn't wind up there. I would have loved it because I love that atmosphere. It means something.

"At this stage of my career, I want to feel that again. That's what I play for. That's what gets me revved up."

The only thing revving up in Motown these days is the sound of cars rolling out of the GM plant. Sheffield thought he'd be in the middle of a Murderers Row lineup.

"I think we all thought that," he said. "It's been disappointing. When we pitch, we don't hit; when we hit, we don't pitch. You can't win championships that way.

"Look at Tampa Bay. When we played them recently, there was one reason why they're having the year they are - pitching and defense. We've got to be able to finish off games that we're winning."

Well, if he wants to go to Boston or Tampa, lets see who we can trade him for! And no -- Tigers don't eat the salary!

caged? Yeah, right! He's damn lucky he is where he is!

laprimamirala wrote:

caged? Yeah, right! He's damn lucky he is where he is!

He's a crybaby. Be happy you're in the starting lineup (thanks to JL).

Every time Leyland lets him be a fulltime outfielder, he gets injured. It's his own fault he is not an everyday fielder!

Sheff just needs to shut up and play, who wants a guy who is a sub 250 hitter anyway?

He just can't swing out of his shoes at every pitch! His big hitting days are over!

Shit his hitting days are over period.

ok that too.

08/11/2008 8:08 PM ET
Leyland 'blindsided' by Sheff's remarks
Veteran Tigers slugger had expressed displeasure with role
By Jason Beck / MLB.com

DETROIT -- Tigers manager Jim Leyland wasn't angered by Gary Sheffield's comments in Sunday's Boston Globe about his role. But the skipper was certainly "blindsided," a term he used several times as he tried to explain his reaction.

He also said he was "flabbergasted" and "totally caught off guard."

It comes down to a difference in the interpretation of platooning, and whether that's what Sheffield is doing right now.

While the Tigers were in Chicago last week for their series against the White Sox, Sheffield told Boston Globe writer Nick Cafardo that he feels well enough to play the outfield, instead of serving as the designated hitter.

"I can be in the outfield and play every day," Sheffield told Cafardo. "I don't want to DH. I don't feel like a baseball player when I DH. I don't know how to be the leader that I am from the bench. I can't be a vocal leader. I can't talk to guys from the bench, because I don't feel right about it.

"I don't prefer platooning here, but I understand because I got off to a slow start, that's part of it. But I feel I'm playing better now. I'm back to being a threat I need to be."

When Leyland was asked on Monday what he made of Sheffield's comments, he said, "Tough."

Then he went into detail.

"I was totally flabbergasted by that article, and totally caught off guard," Leyland said. "When we made the trade for Gary Sheffield, we received permission from the Commissioner's Office to speak with Gary, which I did. I told him that all I had here for him was the DH role, and maybe play in the outfield once in a great while. [I told him], 'If you do not want to accept that, do not accept the trade.'"

It was more the platoon term, however, that had Leyland disputing the comments, mainly because he considered a platoon a situation in which two players split time. It also got him to counting Sheffield's playing time this year, though he said he understood the veteran's frustration.

Leyland said he had not talked with Sheffield about his role.

"You're talking about a player that's been banged up -- I mean, brutally banged up -- and still playing," Leyland said. "A lot of people wouldn't be playing, to his credit. I just think it's frustrating for Gary that the injuries have not enabled him to do things that he's been able to do in the past. And I can understand that. I totally understand that. And obviously, from a medical standpoint, we've tried to get him through this as best we can, give him a blow once in a while.

"You're doing what you think is right and somebody's mad because they got a blow? I don't buy that. I'm sorry. I looked at the games. Thirty-nine [games played] out of 51 before he got hurt, and about seven [more] he would've played, except his shoulder was clicking and he needed some time off. So that's about 46 out of 51. Since the [stint on the disabled list], it's 36 out of 43. I hardly consider that platooning, I'm sorry."

Asked for a reaction afterward, Sheffield said he wasn't trying to express frustration. He was asked about his role, he said, and he answered. He was mainly referring to a stretch earlier this summer when Leyland was trying to find semi-regular playing time for Sheffield and left fielders Marcus Thames and Matt Joyce, but also alluded to Tigers position players in general finding time at DH, something that has happened on occasion.

"They told me I'm not going to play the outfield, so I'm asked to play one role, and that's DH," Sheffield said. "When I come in and sometimes I'm not playing, I don't see where I need rest to DH. If other players need blows, then take a blow. But when other players need blows and then they DH, that's all I get to do.

"I wouldn't let them put me down as a DH [on the roster], because in my mind, I'm not going to accept that that's what I am. But that's my position; that's fine. I understand that. There's no rift in that aspect of it. If that one little sentence or comment about platoon or whatever is offensive to anyone -- but that's just the way I see it. If I'm not playing every day, then I'm platooning."

When Sheffield was presented with Leyland's definition of a platoon, he said, "Well, then we disagree on it, because that's what I call platooning. I mean, if you're an everyday player, you play 59 out of 59, unless you can't play.

"Call it what you want. Anybody can call it what they want. I call it what I want."

Detroit played Sheffield in the outfield in May after he suggested to coaches that he could get out of an early-season slump if he was playing the field. The Tigers were concerned about the move following Sheffield's surgery last offseason to repair a torn right labrum, but they agreed. He started six games in the outfield before moving back to designated hitter.

"To me, the production was no different," Leyland said. "And I think the lack of production that we've gotten from Gary this year is solely due to several injuries and trying to fight through it. And I applaud him for trying to fight through some real serious operations."

Those health concerns were another reason that his stint in left field ended.

"He couldn't throw in from the outfield," Leyland said, "And it was the suggestion of a lot of [medical] people that it's going to get hurt again, probably worse. I tried that because at one point, Gary suggested he felt like he hit better when he played [there]. That did not work. So I'm totally flabbergasted by this article."

Soon after moving back to DH, Sheffield strained his left oblique on Memorial Day against the Angels and went on the 15-day disabled list for about four weeks.

"In total fairness, I think that all but about three months here, it's been frustrating for Gary because he hasn't been healthy," Leyland said. "And nobody feels worse about that than me. You talk about winning and wanting to be on a winner and everything -- that's why we got Gary Sheffield. And for the last year, when he was healthy, he was one of the more productive [players] we had. But I can't help it that he's had injuries. That's not my fault. But like I said, I just got blindsided by this."

Leyland also disagreed with Sheffield's comment about leadership.

"I don't buy that," Leyland said. "People lead by example. The type of leadership that Gary Sheffield is, is knocking in runs, pounding the ball, stealing bases. That's the kind of leader he's been. That's the kind of leader I want, somebody that busts his tail. ... That's how you lead. That's the way it is, guys. People want to tell it like it is; I tell it like it is.

"I'm not mad at him. I'm just saying I'm totally surprised by all this."

Sheffield doesn't sound like he's mad, either. But there's certainly a difference of opinion.

"I'm at a position in my career where I don't have to argue about anything," Sheffield said. "I don't have to dispute anything. You can do whatever you want, whenever you want. It's not going to affect me one way or another. My point is that I'm giving you facts. A guy asked me a question. I answered it. He asked me about my role.

"Like I told him, I don't like it, but I understand. That's all I said."

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Ok...someone help!!! I heard at work tonight (8/12) that Sheff was put on waivers....has anyone else heard anything? I've checked both MLB's website, the Tiger's website, Detnews.com and the freep....and found nothing!

Someone at work told me that the Indians radio announcers reported it near the end of their game with Baltimore, so I'm assuming the Tiger's game was over by then. Anyone else hear of this?

Yes and I read an article on espn, hang on...

Tigers put disgruntled Sheffield on waivers

OMG! I had a gut feeling he'd be out of Motown in the near future...but I didn't think it would be THIS soon!

Wow....I don't know if I should start jumping for joy or be bummed because he can strike fear in opposing pitchers.