Catching Up: Sheffield is Out 'til September

Unfortunately I had to go to Baltimore this week and I haven't had a chance to post anything new lately, so I apologize for this dated post, but I wanted to touch on the Sheffield injury.

If you were an idiot Yankee fan like this chick, you would like to think that Sheffield's injury "will prove to be no more than a blip in a season of tough luck and incredible playing by the remaining roster." I don't know what I dislike more about this girl - the fact that she's a delusional Yankee fan or that she is from Los Angeles. But I digress...I'm going to deal with this chick and her site at another time.

There is no doubt that the Yankees are going to suffer without Sheffield. The guy's presence in the lineup alone is enough to make a team worry. And sure, the Yankees seem to be playing OK with Sheffield and Matsui out for an extended period, but it's just a matter of time that the Yankee train starts to veer off the tracks.

However, Yankees GM Brian Cashman was quoted as saying:

"I'm not burning up the phone lines," Cashman said. "Right now, I'm not trying to go out and get somebody."

Wow! Could Cashman be using common sense? You mean the Yankees aren't going to go out and get some overpriced player who will produce absolutely nothing? Why the sudden change of strategy, Brian? I would have thought that you would be on the phone with some team that has a really expensive player you can add to that already ridiculously high payroll. Oh wait, I didn't notice the next paragraph in the story:

The Bombers recently called Tampa Bay about Damon Hollins, though. Other possible solutions are Washington's Alfonso Soriano, San Francisco's Pedro Feliz, Pittsburgh's Craig Wilson, Kansas City's Matt Stairs and Milwaukee's Carlos Lee. Ken Griffey Jr. or Adam Dunn might also be available if first-place Cincinnati falls out of contention.

Ahhhhh...now that's the Yankees I know....

Getting back to Sheffield, I'm always amazed that the Yankee fans always seem to forget all the negativity, drama, and bad attitude Sheffield brings to the teams he plays for. So, for fun, here are just some of my favorite Sheffield antics:

- Intentionally hurting his team: When Sheffield was with his first team, the Milwaukee Brewers, he claims that at times, he would intentionally make errors. What a team player:

"The Brewers brought out the hate in me. I was a crazy man. . . . I hated everything about the place. If the official scorer gave me an error, I didn't think was an error, I'd say, 'OK, here's a real error,' and I'd throw the next ball into the stands on purpose."

- Talking trash about his teammates: Before the 2001 season, when Sheffield was with the Los Angeles Dodgers, he was unhappy with his contract (due to make $9.5 million the next two seasons and $11 million the third) and wanted a contract extension for more money. When he wasn't granted said extension from the Dodgers, Sheffield decided to not show up for spring training and trash his teammates:

"Come on, they're paying Brownie (Kevin Brown) $15 million a year until he's 41," Sheffield was quoted as saying. "They just gave [Darren] Dreifort $55 million when he's only won 39 games in his career and had arm surgery. They gave Shawn Green $13 million a year. And how about Carlos Perez -- paying him $6 million a year?

"And you talk about risk, that I'm a risk? That's an insult. ... I'm getting less than Dreifort? I'm getting just $3 million more than Carlos Perez? It's not my fault they signed Perez to that stupid contract. It's not my fault they gave Eric Karros a no-trade clause when he's got no value. It's not my fault they gave Greenie all that money.

"They give out all of these dumb contracts, and when it comes to me -- nothing. And I'm even willing to defer a lot of the money for that. They were saying how they lost $25 million. I almost laughed in their face."

- He doesn't like to be traded unless he wants to be traded: When rumors were swirling that Sheffield could be traded to the Mets for OF Mike Cameron, Sheffield let it be known that he wouldn't be a happy camper:

"It don't make a difference who it is. If I didn't choose to go there, things are gonna have to change about my whole situation, contract, years, everything. Other than that, you might as well not bother trading for me, cause you're gonna have a very unhappy player. You gonna inconvenience me, I'm gonna inconvenience every situation there is. I mean, the only reason I'm playing is 'cause I wanna play for the Yankees."

- He doesn't know what he ingests or rubs on his body: When the BALCO case started to pick up steam and it was proven that Sheffield had direct links to Barry Bonds, BALCO, Victor Conte, and steroids, Sheffield pleaded ignorance to what "the cream" was or might do to his body (a post about the double-standard of Yankee steroid-abusers is forthcoming):

"I've been guilty by association my whole life. My uncle with his drug problem and I've been under investigation for that since I was 17 years old. And now I've been listening to the news and they've been trying to link Barry Bonds to things and everybody knows that I've been outspoken about training with the guy, so, obviously, they're trying to put two and two together and say, `We got something.' "

Ummm....yeah, they do have something, Gary.

- Has a "special" link to R. Kelly: My personal favorite Sheffield story. Last season Sheffield's agent was contacted by a self-described minister, Derrick Mosley, who claimed that he had video of Sheffield's wife, Deleon, having sex with singer R. Kelly and that he would destroy the tape for $20,000. The agent contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Sheffield supported his wife and said he was well aware of a long-term relationship between his wife and "a well-known professional singer over 10 years ago." On November 14, 2005, Mosley was convicted of extortion and wire fraud for the blackmail attempt.

It should also be noted that Deleon Sheffield is a hardcore Christian and has aspirations of being a gospel singer. God bless you, R. Kelly. (Note: No confirmation of urination in the Deleon Sheffield/R. Kelly video). Ain't nothin' wrong with a little bump and grind."

Good luck on your rehab, Gary. Your antics will be missed this season as the Yankees begin their fall from contention. Maybe, in your down time, you can compare notes with R. Kelly.

Technorati Profile