Gary Sheffield

===New York Mets===
[[File:Gary Sheffield 2009 (1).jpg|thumb|right|Sheffield with the New York Mets in 2009]]
On April 3, Sheffield agreed to a deal with the [[New York Mets]] for the {{baseball year|2009}} season,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20090403&content_id=4118832&vkey=pr_nym&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym |title=Mets statement regarding Gary Sheffield |access-date=August 6, 2009|date=April 3, 2009 |work=[[MLB.com]]}}</ref> and he finalized the deal the following day.<ref>He had his first at bat as a Met on April 3, against the [[2009 Cincinnati Reds season|Cincinnati Reds]]. It resulted in a [[strikeout]] against [[Arthur Rhodes]].[http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/wires/04/04/2010.ap.bbn.mets.sheffield.0844/ Slugging outfielder Sheffield joins the Mets]</ref>  

On April 17, Sheffield hit [[500 home run club|his 500th home run]] in a game against the [[Milwaukee Brewers]], becoming the 25th player in MLB history to reach that milestone, the first player to achieve this as a pinch-hitter, and the first to do so in a Mets uniform.<ref>[http://www.seattlepi.com/scorecard/mlbnews.asp?articleID=258247 Sheffield reaches 500]{{Dead link|date=December 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Sheffield would also become the third player in Major League history to hit home runs before age 20 and after age 40, joining [[Ty Cobb]] and [[Rusty Staub]]. [[Alex Rodriguez]] became the fourth player to do so in 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://m.mlb.com/news/article/139113372/alex-rodriguez-homers-on-40th-birthday|title=Alex Rodriguez homers on 40th birthday|author=Hoch, Bryan|website=MLB.com|date=July 27, 2015|access-date=July 27, 2015}}</ref> Sheffield sat out a game in August when the Mets declined to offer him a contract extension.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/21/sports/baseball/21mets.html?_r=1&hpw Hernandez Is Released, Wagner Returns, and Sheffield Sits and Pouts – NY Times]</ref>