Gary Sheffield
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| Detroit Tigers — No. 3 | |
| Right field | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
|---|---|
| September 3, 1988 for the Milwaukee Brewers | |
Gary Antonian Sheffield (born November 18, 1968) is a Major League Baseball player for the Detroit Tigers.
Sheffield has primarily played right field, though he has also played left field, third base, shortstop, and a handful of games at first base. He previously played for the Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, Florida Marlins, Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, and New York Yankees. He bats and throws right handed.
He was born in Tampa, Florida, where he played on the same high school team as his uncle, Dwight Gooden. Sheffield was originally drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers as a shortstop.
The Yankees exercised his option for the 2007 season and then traded him to the Tigers for Humberto Sanchez, Kevin Whelan and Anthony Claggett. Detroit then signed him to a 2-year extension (through 2009) worth $28 million. He was also re-united with his former manager Jim Leyland.
Through 2006, Sheffield was 6th among all active players in walks (1,293), 7th in hbp (119), 8th in runs (1,433), hits (2,390), and RBIs (1,501), and 9th in home runs (455).
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[edit] Highlights
- 9-time All-Star (1992-93, 1996, 1998-2000, 2003-05)
- 4-time Silver Slugger Award (1992, 1996, 2003-04)
- Led National League in Batting Average (.330) and Total Bases (323) in 1992
- Led National League in On-base percentage (.465) and OPS (1.090) in 1996
- Los Angeles Dodgers Career Leader in On-base percentage (.424), Slugging Percentage (.573), OPS (.998) and At Bats per Home Run (14.5)
- Holds Los Angeles Dodgers Single-Season record for At Bats per Home Run (11.7 in 2000)
- His Tampa team finished second in the 1980 Little League World Series
[edit] Trivia
- Gary Sheffield has been colloquially nicknamed "Iron Sheff" at times, a reference to the show, Iron Chef
- Sheffield has recently been linked in media reports with the controversial Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative, and admitted to having used a BALCO product that contained a steroid. However, he claimed that at the time he used the product, he did not know that it contained steroids. [1]
- On November 3, 2004, Sheffield's agent was contacted by a self-described minister, Derrick Mosley, who claimed that he had video of Sheffield's wife, gospel singer DeLeon Richards-Sheffield, 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.
- On April 14, 2005 a Red Sox fan leaned over the railing at Fenway Park and punched Sheffield as he was going to field a ball hit by Jason Varitek. After he was attacked, Sheffield promptly threw the ball back into the infield, shoved the fan and got into a verbal altercation with the fan. The fan was ejected and his 2005 season tickets were revoked while Sheffield was fined for the incident. Charges were dismissed against both the fan and Sheffield.
- On October 10, 2005, in Game 5 of the 2005 ALDS against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Yankees up 2-1 while the Angels had runners on first and second with two outs in the bottom of the 2nd. Adam Kennedy hit a pitch off of Mike Mussina deep to right-center. Sheffield and Bubba Crosby were both going for the ball when the two collided at the outfield wall, allowing two runs to score to give the Angels a 3-2 lead. The Angels would go on to win the game 5-3.
- Since the Yankees acquired Bobby Abreu to play right field while Sheffield was sidelined with a wrist injury, Sheffield had been seen practicing at first base under the watchful eye of Don Mattingly before Yankee games. He did in fact return to the lineup on September 22, 2006 and played first base in place of the injured Jason Giambi.
In the 2006-2007 offseason, Sheffield was traded to Detroit for pitching prospects. His number is now 3 instead of his Yankee 11.
[edit] See also
- Top 500 home run hitters of all time
- Featured athlete on Fox Sports Net's Beyond the Glory
[edit] External links
- ESPN - profile and daily updates
- Baseball Reference - career statistics and analysis
- At Sports Illustrated:
| Preceded by: Brett Butler | National League Player of the Month August, 1992 | Succeeded by: Barry Bonds |
| Preceded by: Terry Pendleton | National League Batting Champion 1992 | Succeeded by: Andrés Galarraga |
| Preceded by: Terry Pendleton | NL Comeback Player of the Year 1992 | Succeeded by: Andrés Galarraga |
Categories: Wikipedia laundry list cleanup | 1992 National League All-Stars | 1993 National League All-Stars | 1996 National League All-Stars | 1998 National League All-Stars | 1999 National League All-Stars | 2000 National League All-Stars | 2003 National League All-Stars | 2004 American League All-Stars | 2005 American League All-Stars | 1997 Florida Marlins World Series Championship Team | Atlanta Braves players | Detroit Tigers players | Florida Marlins players | Los Angeles Dodgers players | Milwaukee Brewers players | New York Yankees players | San Diego Padres players | Major league right fielders | 1968 births | Living people | African American baseball players | Major league players from Florida | Drugs in sport | National League batting champions | People from Tampa

