Gary Sheffield

==Professional baseball career==

===Minor leagues===
After high school, the [[Milwaukee Brewers]] drafted Sheffield with the sixth pick of the first round of the [[1986 Major League Baseball draft|1986 MLB draft]].<ref>[https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sheffga01.shtml Baseball-Reference.com Bio]</ref> Sheffield later said that if he had not been drafted in the first round, he probably would have played [[college baseball]] for the [[Miami Hurricanes baseball|Miami Hurricanes]].<ref name="streetsmarts">{{cite magazine|last1=Gammons|first1=Peter|title=Street Smarts|url=https://www.si.com/vault/1989/04/05/119664/street-smarts-gary-sheffield-learned-his-baseball-and-more-in-tampas-belmont-heights|access-date=19 January 2018|magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]]|date=April 5, 1989}}</ref> After being drafted he was shipped to [[Helena Brewers|Helena]] of the [[Pioneer League (baseball)|Pioneer League]], where he had a .365 [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]] and 71 RBIs in 57 games. The only question was what [[Baseball positions|position]] he would play. He was slotted at shortstop, but struggled at the position, committing many [[error (baseball)|errors]] and wild throws. In 1987, he was assigned to [[Stockton Ports|Stockton]] of the [[Class A (baseball)|Class-A]] [[California League]], where his defense improved and he produced at the plate. His batting average went below .300, but he led the league in RBIs with 103, and at the end of the year he was voted the Brewers' best prospect. In his third season, he went from Double-A to the majors. In 134 games for the [[El Paso Diablos]] and [[Denver]], he batted .327 with 28 homers and 118 RBIs.

===Milwaukee Brewers===
[[File:Gary Sheffield - El Paso Diablos - 1988.jpg|thumb|Sheffield in 1988]]
Sheffield was called up from the minors when rosters were expanded in September and made his major league debut on September 3, 1988. As a teenager, he got off to a fast start, with his first career hit being a home run off [[Mark Langston]], though Sheffield finished the season with a .238 batting average and four home runs in 24 games. After a decline in play and several injuries, he found himself competing with [[Bill Spiers]] in a race for starting shortstop. After this, he was moved to third base and criticized the team, saying it was a black and white issue.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE3DF1330F93BA15756C0A966958260Sheffield Is Older and Better] {{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> At the end of the 1989 season, he batted .247 with five home runs and 32 RBIs. In 1990, he worked under [[Don Baylor]], who had been hired as their [[hitting coach]]. He finished the season batting .294, with 10 home runs. While his playing improved, there were issues with Sheffield in the clubhouse, and went as far as accusing the organization of being racist after keeping him at third instead of playing him at shortstop where the white Spiers played.<ref>[http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=alipour/070315&sportCat=mlb Espn.com Interview]</ref> In his final season with the Brewers, he injured his wrist, thumb, and shoulder, playing in only 50 games.<ref name="Jock"/>

===San Diego Padres===
After four seasons in Milwaukee, the Brewers traded Sheffield to the [[San Diego Padres]] for [[Ricky Bones]], [[José Valentin]], and [[Matt Mieske]] on March 26, 1992. Sheffield faced his uncle [[Dwight Gooden]] for the first time in a Major League game on May 12, 1992, getting a hit in three at-bats. In his first [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] season, he contended for the [[Triple Crown (baseball)|Triple Crown]] for much of the year; while he missed out on the home run (33, two fewer than the leader, teammate [[Fred McGriff]]) and RBIs (100, nine fewer than leader [[Darren Daulton]]) titles, he won the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] batting title (the only one of the nine in Padre history not won by [[Tony Gwynn]]) with a .330 average. In 1993, he started the season by hitting 10 home runs and batting .295 and was traded in midseason to the [[Miami Marlins|Florida Marlins]].

===Florida Marlins===
On June 24, 1993, he was traded, with [[Rich Rodriguez (baseball)|Rich Rodriguez]], to the [[Miami Marlins|Florida Marlins]] for [[Trevor Hoffman]], [[José Martínez (pitcher)|José Martínez]] and [[Andrés Berumen]]. He finished the season hitting 10 home runs, batting .292 and knocking in 37 runs while with the Marlins, and was the starting third baseman for the NL in the [[1993 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star Game]]. At the end of the season, the Marlins gave him a four-year deal that made him the highest-paid player at third base.<ref>[http://www.futilityinfielder.com/blog/2004/08/gary-sheffield-reconsidered-part-i.shtmlGary Sheffield, Reconsidered – Part I] {{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> During the 1994 season, the Marlins moved him from third base to right field. Sheffield hit 112 home runs with the Marlins from 1994 to 1998, including 42 in 1996, making the All-Star Game in 1996, and leading them to victory in the [[1997 World Series]] against the [[Cleveland Indians]]. On July 13, 1997, Sheffield became the first player in Florida Marlins history to [[List of Major League Baseball single-inning home run leaders|hit two home runs in one inning]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-jul-14-sp-12600-story.html|title=Sheffield Has an Inning to Remember|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=July 14, 1997|access-date=August 12, 2021}}</ref> He was traded to the [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] in 1998 because the Marlins allegedly could not afford a contract extension and because the Dodgers' parent company at the time, [[News Corporation (1980–2013)|News Corporation]], was looking to secure a television contract with the Marlins in exchange for trading popular Dodger [[Mike Piazza]].<ref name="Jock"/>

===Los Angeles Dodgers===
On May 14, 1998, he was traded along with [[Manuel Barrios]], [[Charles Johnson (catcher)|Charles Johnson]], [[Bobby Bonilla]], and [[Jim Eisenreich]] to the Los Angeles Dodgers for [[Mike Piazza]] and [[Todd Zeile]]. Sheffield finished the season with the Dodgers batting .316 and hitting 16 homers while driving in 57 runs. In 3½ seasons with the Dodgers, he hit 129 home runs and drove in 367 runs. He made three All-Star games while playing with the Dodgers and had become one of the best outfielders in the game. But during the off-season, he began lobbying for a trade because he thought the Dodgers were spending their money stupidly and sliding in the wrong direction, and publicly criticized coaches and teammates.<ref name="Jock"/>

===Atlanta Braves===
On January 15, 2002, Sheffield was traded to the [[Atlanta Braves]] for [[Brian Jordan]], [[Odalis Pérez]], and [[Andrew Brown (pitcher)|Andrew Brown]]. He spent two seasons with the Braves hitting 64 home runs and knocking in 216 RBIs including 132 in 2003. After two seasons with the Braves, he became a [[free agent]] for the first time in his long career on October 27, 2003.

===New York Yankees===
On December 19, 2003, after negotiations between Sheffield and [[George Steinbrenner]], a contract was agreed upon with the [[New York Yankees]] worth $39 million over three years. This deal included $13.5 million in deferred money and a $13 million team option for 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1688518 |title=Sheff prepared for Boss to lean on him |access-date=August 6, 2009|agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=December 17, 2003 |work=[[ESPN.com]]}}</ref> He joined a lineup that included [[Derek Jeter]], [[Jason Giambi]] and the newly acquired [[Alex Rodriguez]]. In his first season with the Yankees, Sheffield started slowly, but finished the season with 36 home runs, 121 RBIs, and a .290 batting average, helping him finish second in the [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player|MVP]] voting behind [[Vladimir Guerrero]]. On July 27 Sheffield hit his 400th career home run off of [[Micheal Nakamura]] of the [[Toronto Blue Jays]] in the top of the 9th inning. 

In his second season with the Yankees, he continued to play well, hitting another 34 home runs and driving in 123 runs.

On April 14, 2005, a [[Boston Red Sox|Red Sox]] fan leaned over the railing at [[Fenway Park]] and distracted Sheffield as he was going to field a ball hit by [[Jason Varitek]]. After Sheffield took a swing at him with his glove, he threw the ball back into the infield, and then got into a verbal altercation with him. Fan Interference was not called, resulting in a game tying RBI triple for Varitek. The fan, a long-time season ticket holder, was not ejected from Fenway Park, but he donated his remaining 2005 [[season ticket]]s to charity in an effort to avoid any controversy for the remainder of the season. Sheffield was fined for the incident. Charges were dismissed against both the fan and Sheffield.<ref name="reading_sox">{{cite news |date=April 19, 2005 |title=Interfering Sox Fan Has Tickets Revoked |work=[[Reading Eagle]] |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=20050419&id=jH4xAAAAIBAJ&pg=4325,2877341 |access-date=2 October 2014}}</ref>

Sheffield started the 2006 season on pace for a .300 batting average and 30 homers, before he collided with [[Shea Hillenbrand]] of the [[Toronto Blue Jays]] on April 29, 2006. He tried to play despite the injury, but ultimately needed wrist surgery. Sheffield did not return until late September. He had lost his right field job to [[Bobby Abreu]], whom the Yankees had acquired in a trade deadline transaction. This forced Sheffield to play first base for the first time in his MLB career.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sheffga01.shtml|title=Gary Sheffield Stats|website=Baseball-Reference.com|language=en|access-date=2020-03-06}}</ref> At the end of the 2006 season, the Yankees picked up Sheffield's 2007 option and traded him to the [[Detroit Tigers]].

During a July 2007 interview with [[HBO]]'s ''[[Real Sports]]'', Sheffield said that Yankees manager [[Joe Torre]] treated black players differently from white players during his time there, citing himself, [[Kenny Lofton]] and [[Tony Womack]] as examples. Lofton later agreed with Sheffield's comments about being treated differently, but disagreed that race was the motivating factor. After it was pointed out that Derek Jeter is [[biracial]], Sheffield responded that he wasn't "all the way black."<ref>[http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2935737 ESPN – Sheffield calls out Torre, Jeter, Bonds in HBO interview – MLB<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

===Detroit Tigers===
[[File:Sheffield BP.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Sheffield (right) with the Tigers in {{baseball year|2007}}.]]
On November 10, 2006, the Yankees traded Sheffield to the [[Detroit Tigers]] for minor league pitchers [[Humberto Sánchez]], [[Kevin Whelan]], and [[Anthony Claggett]]. After the trade, Sheffield agreed to a two-year, $28&nbsp;million extension.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061110&content_id=1738741&vkey=news_det&fext=.jsp&c_id=detVeteran|title=Tigers acquire Sheffield for prospects|access-date=August 6, 2009|last=Beck|first=Jason|date=November 10, 2006|work=[[MLB.com]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615121710/http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061110&content_id=1738741&vkey=news_det&fext=.jsp&c_id=detVeteran|archive-date=2011-06-15|url-status=dead}}</ref> In his first season with the Tigers, he hit 25 home runs, with 75 RBIs, and a .265 batting average. Sheffield also hit his first triple since 2004 and stole 20 bases for the first time since 1990. He was also one of only six batters in the [[American League|AL]] to have at least 20 home runs and 20 [[stolen base]]s, along with [[Alex Rodriguez]], [[Grady Sizemore]], [[Ian Kinsler]], [[B.J. Upton]] and teammate at the time [[Curtis Granderson]].

On September 8, {{baseball year|2008}} in a game against [[2008 Oakland Athletics season|Oakland]], Sheffield hit the 250,000th regular season home run in Major League Baseball history according to [[Baseball-Reference.com]]. The home run was a [[Grand slam (baseball)|grand slam]] off [[Gio González]];<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=280908106 |title=Sheffield has 2 homers, 5 RBIs and Tigers beat A's |access-date=August 6, 2009|author=DETROIT (AP) |date=September 9, 2008 |publisher=[[Yahoo! Sports]] |author-link=Associated Press}}</ref> Sheffield had hit baseball's  249,999th home run against Gonzalez in his previous at-bat. Sheffield ended the 2008 season with 499 career home runs.

On September 19, 2008, Sheffield was hit by a pitch from [[Cleveland Indians]] pitcher [[Roberto Hernández (starting pitcher)|Roberto Heredia Hernández]] and walked to first base. When Hernández threw to first base, he and Sheffield exchanged words and Sheffield charged the mound, attempting to tackle Hernández but being caught in a headlock and punched a few times on the top of his head by the young pitcher, leading to a [[bench-clearing brawl]]. Hernández and Sheffield were both ejected, along with Indians catcher [[Víctor Martínez (baseball)|Víctor Martínez]] and Tigers second baseman [[Plácido Polanco]].<ref>{{cite web |date=September 19, 2008 |title=Indians win with walk-off hit as Carmona, Sheffield brawl |url=http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/gamecenter/recap/MLB_20080919_DET@CLE |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080923061656/http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/gamecenter/recap/MLB_20080919_DET%40CLE |archive-date=September 23, 2008 |access-date=September 20, 2008 |publisher=CBSSports.com wire reports}}</ref> On September 22, the commissioner's office announced four suspensions resulting from the brawl: Hernández was suspended for six games, Sheffield received a four-game suspension, and Martinez and Indians infielder [[Asdrúbal Cabrera]] each received three-game suspensions. Sheffield made statements after the suspension that the involved players from the Indians would be "penalized" by him as well.<ref>[http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080922&content_id=3528156&vkey=news_det&fext=.jsp&c_id=det "Sheffield given four-game suspension: Tigers slugger won't appeal, begins serving it Monday"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080927043346/http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080922&content_id=3528156&vkey=news_det&fext=.jsp&c_id=det|date=2008-09-27}} ''MLB.com'', Jason Beck, September 22, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-09-26.</ref>

On March 31, 2009, Sheffield was released by the Tigers despite being owed $14M. The Tigers said in a statement that they wanted to have more versatility with the DH position.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090331&content_id=4093976&vkey=news_det&fext=.jsp&c_id=det |title=Tigers release Sheffield |access-date=August 6, 2009 |last=Beck |first=Jason |date=March 31, 2009 |work=[[MLB.com]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403070145/http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090331&content_id=4093976&vkey=news_det&fext=.jsp&c_id=det |archive-date=April 3, 2009 }}</ref>

===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>

===Retirement===
Sheffield did not play in 2010. Though he initially suggested he wanted to sign with a team for the 2011 season,<ref>[http://www.businessinsider.com/gary-sheffield-wants-to-make-a-comeback-with-the-rays-2010-12 Gary Sheffield Wants To Make A Comeback With The Rays At Age 42 – Business Insider<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> he announced his retirement at the beginning of 2011 spring training.<ref>[http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6131472 Gary Sheffield says he's retired, makes pitch for Hall – ESPN<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>