Waive goodbye, Grandpa
Wow, Gary Sheffield.Really? After seventeen thousand years in the big leagues, it seems to me that either you can never have learned what a platoon is, or you can never have learned how to shut up or when it’s maybe a good time to do so (hint: when your shoulder is now made of gristle and the bendy part of a coat hanger, so you can’t throw and haven’t hit), but both is maaaaaybe not an option.
Coincidentally, I’ve just finished reading Bill James’s Baseball Books from 1990 and 1992, and he had a few scathing predictions re: Sheffield in the ’90 edition which you may care to enjoy even though the substance of the forecasts is not accurate:
From the ’90 edition’s fantasy-draft adviser/player comments:
[Sheff] has some potential as a major-league hitter, probably enough that he can make the majors and stick as a third baseman or right fielder. … In my opinion, Sheffield needs to spend about two years more in the minor leagues.He needs to understand that the baseball world doesn’t revolve around Gary Sheffield, that if he wants to have a place in that world he will have to adjust to it, not it to him.It is a good sign for the Brewers that they did send him down, but they’ve got to stay the course.If the Brewers don’t stand up to him now, I predict a rocky career.”
Not a bad prediction based on the information James had at the time.Sheffield shaped up as a better hitter than James may have expected, which in turn probably enabled the very behavior James assumed Sheff couldn’t get away with long-term.What’s funny is that James seemed to feel back then that Sheff’s mouth wrote a raft of checks his bat couldn’t cash; now, at the other end of an admittedly impressive career, it’s the same situation.
Kudos to Jim Leyland and Dave Dombrowski for both saying, albeit more tactfully, “Not only do we not know what the fuck he’s talking about, he doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about.Next question.”
Tags: Dwight Gooden Gary Sheffield Jim Leyland Kookoo Crazypantses Manny Ramirez
I loved the quote about how it’s impossible for a DH to have legitimacy as a team leader. A long list of Paul Molitor’s teammates from his years in Toronto and Minnesota would beg to differ, and I’d be happy to supply Gary with quotations from everyone from then-rookie Pat Hentgen to then-postseason-God Dave Stewart. Sheffield himself was a Brewer at the tail end of Molitor’s tenure in Milwaukee. He should have paid more attention.
I have some respect for Sheffield, in that he’s not entirely a blowhard; he backs up a lot of what he says. He has a reputation for being especially accessible and helpful to young African-American players breaking into the game. I like his outspoken, “call it as I see it” style, and I even have thought he had the kernels of some good points when he’s made controversial statements and been pilloried for them (you know what I mean, I’m sure — I think he has badly expressed himself to the media, but the polished and articulate ballplayer is the exception). But he can also be a tool, and this is a case of that. There’s not a lot of self-awareness evident here.
Also: candidate for most annoying batting stance in the history of major-league baseball? That overcaffeinated wagging thing he does always reminds me of something I would have had to scurry past to get to the next level of a video game, circa 1982.
I like the bat-waggle. Makes him look even more dangerous. (“He’s got an eeeeedge, baby!”) (Sorry, I hate that ad but that one guy is funny.)
The problem with Sheffield is that shit like this, and the regularity with which it occurs, obscures any good points he’s making at the same time.
The bat waggle makes me smile, but I’m over Sheff at this point. My husband and I have been complaining all season about the fact that Leyland and Dombrowski just haven’t seemed to realize that your DH should not be batting .219. We’re only paying him to do one thing, right now, and he isn’t doing it. When I read the article a few days ago about him bitching (for the second time this season) about not wanting to DH, I didn’t even know what to say. Do you know how many guys we have who aren’t daily players who can play that position AND hit better than you, Sheff? Seriously.
The original solution should have been no Sheff, Cabrera DH, Inge back at 3, Guillen at 1. Obviously, without Pudge, that doesn’t happen. But when I look at players like Clete Thomas, Joyce, Raburn, Thames, Hollimon . . . I just can’t defend Sheff. We have a lot of young, talented guys on our team, and in my opinion, they deserve his spot.
And I love the Manny tag for this entry. Heeeee!
He hit two HR last night. Typical.
I know! Gah. And, get ready to be shocked, he’s mouthing off more today!
Re: waivers- “Only when it’s me or Manny or somebody that people got an opinion about. That’s when it’s a big deal.”
::siiiiiiigh::
Sheffield believes the Detroit fans have targeted their boos on him because of the need to blame someone or something for the Tigers’ disappointing season.
“It just so happened that people, because our team hasn’t been going the way everybody would like, so this is the one opportunity they have to jump on something and say, ‘See, I told you,’ or, ‘Here we go again,’ or whatever,” he said.
That’s a gem, right there. Inge is only batting .220, and you don’t see anyone booing him, do you? It never occured to you that this is because you’re almost 40, whining about not getting your way even though you’re sucking, and that maybe the fans are actually reading your comments to the media and are pissed off? Fans are petty, and yeah, maybe they like scapegoats, but I don’t think that’s the case here.
I’m looking at Gameday right now and every single person in our line-up save Inge and Sheff are .250 or better, with *five* of them over .290, and we’re still losing. To Toronto. Our team definitely has bigger problems than him.
i’m so tired of all these cry-babies. you get paid millions to play for a team. then play for that team and quit yer whining. btw – i LOVE that picture! i totally recognized Doc, but not Sheff. he looks like he just left Menudo.
Oh heck, here in Philly we have the past two seasons’ MVPs who couldn’t wait to be on the West Coast, where they apparently think what they say goes off into the ether, not around the world, and whine about Philadelphia fans while they’re in the middle of contributing mightily to a 2-5 collapse. That included two CUQSs (criminally unsupported quality starts–a Jayson Stark stat). What ever happened to the guys who saw winning MVP as something they had to live up to and not the last thing they needed to do before coasting for the rest of their careers. Is it hockey season yet?
Maybe the Dodgers will claim Ol Sheff’ and put him in right, with Manny in Left and Joe Torre sobbing loudly in the dugout. Heh.
Got to love Sheffield, who admitted earlier in his career that he made errors ON PURPOSE in Milwaukee to force a trade to the Padres. Fantastic stuff.
It’ll be interesting to see how long his career lasts from this point it depends where on the Talent vs. Pain in the Ass scale he falls, cause we all know what happend to Albert (Joey) Belle when he became the Mayor of Jerkwadtown.
@Druck- You just confirmed that one of my fears about Sheff is actually likely. I’ve been sitting here, contemplating whether or not Sheff will start phoning it in for us just because we won’t let him play outfield. Now that I know about the Brewers/Padres issue, I’m almost sure he will.
The image of Torre sobbing as Sheff and Manny duke it out for biggest asshat? Priceless.