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Gary Antonian Sheffield (born November 18, 1968) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball for eight teams from 1988 to 2009. After his playing career, he became a sports agent.
For most of his career, Sheffield played right fielder, though he has also played Left fielder, third base, shortstop, and a handful of games at first baseman. He played for the Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, Miami Marlins, Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, and the New York Mets. Sheffield was a first-round pick of the Brewers, who selected him sixth overall in the amateur draft after a standout prep career at Hillsborough High School in Tampa, Florida. He batted and threw right-handed. Sheffield hit his 500th home run on April 17, 2009. As of his last game, Sheffield ranked second among all active players in walks (1,475), third in runs (1,636), fourth in RBIs (1,676), fifth in hits (2,689) and (509), and sixth in hit by pitches (135). He is the only player in history to record 100 RBIs in a season for five different teams. Sheffield's batting swing was an exemplary mix of savage speed and pinpoint control. Despite his high home run total, Sheffield only topped 80 strikeouts twice in 22 seasons, while finishing his career among the all-time top 20 walks leaders. Because of his combination of skill, sportswriter Joe Posnanski wrote, "I can't imagine there has ever been a scarier hitter to face." His first manager Tom Trebelhorn said, "Gary can turn on a 38-caliber bullet.”
He is the nephew of Dwight Gooden. After retirement, he started to work as an agent. His clients include former reliever Jason Grilli. Sheffield was mentioned in the Mitchell Report and implicated in the BALCO scandal with respect to the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
Sheffield was a good hitter in Little League. However, he had problems with his temper and attitude, which would continue in the majors. Once, when he was late to practice, his coach benched him and Sheffield picked up a bat and chased the coach all over the field, resulting in him being kicked off the team for a year. When Sheffield was eleven, he was selected to the Belmont Heights Little League All-Stars, which included future Chicago Cubs first round pick Ty Griffin, future major leaguer Derek Bell, and other future Major League Baseball (MLB) players. The team made it to the finals of the 1980 Little League World Series but lost to Taiwan 4–3. Sheffield set a record for doubles that would be broken in 2012 by Bradley Smith.
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 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 the fan with his glove, he threw the ball back into the infield, and then got into a verbal altercation with the fan. 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 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.
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. Sheffield 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. 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."
On September 8, in a game against Oakland, Sheffield hit the 250,000th regular season home run in MLB history according to Baseball-Reference.com. The home run was a grand slam off Gio González; 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 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 pitcher, leading to a bench-clearing brawl. Hernández and Sheffield were both ejected, along with Indians catcher Víctor Martínez and Tigers second baseman Plácido Polanco. 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 said after the suspension that the involved players from the Indians would be "penalized" by him as well. "Sheffield given four-game suspension: Tigers slugger won't appeal, begins serving it Monday" MLB.com, Jason Beck, September 22, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-09-26.
On March 31, 2009, the Tigers released Sheffield despite owing him $14 million. Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said the team wanted to have more versatility at designated hitter.
On April 17, Sheffield hit his 500th home run, 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 with the Mets. Sheffield was the third player in major league history to hit a home run before age 20 and after age 40, joining Ty Cobb and Rusty Staub. Alex Rodriguez became the fourth player to do so in 2015. Sheffield sat out a game in August when the Mets declined to offer him a contract extension.
| + Championships earned or shared | |||
| National League batting champion | 1 | 1992 | |
| National League champion | 1 | 1997 | |
| World Series champion | 1 | 1997 | |
| + Awards received | |||
| ESPY Awards for Best Breakthrough Athlete | 1 | 1993 | |
| Florida Marlins Most Valuable Player Award | 1 | 1996 | |
| Gatorade National High School Baseball Player of the Year | 1 | 1986 | |
| Major League Baseball All-Star | 9 | 1992–93, 1996, 1998–2000, 2003–05 | |
| Major League Baseball Player of the Month | 1 | August 1992 | |
| Major League Baseball Player of the Week | 12 | May 24, 1992; June 13, 1993; May 1, 1994; Sept. 24, 1995; Aug. 11, 1996; June 18, 2000; July 16, 2000; Apr 15, 2001; May 18, 2003; June 6, 2004; July 17, 2005; June 10, 2007 | |
Silver Slugger Award
| 5 1 4 | 1992 1996, 2003−05 | |
| Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year | 1 | 1992 | |
| Sporting News Major League Player of the Year | 1 | 1992 | |
| Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year | 1 | 1988 | |
| USA Today Top High School Baseball Player | 1 | 1986 | |
| Florida Sports Hall of | 1 | 2018 |
On December 13, 2007, Sheffield was named in the Mitchell Report as one of the players who had obtained and used steroids. Sheffield agreed to meet with the report's investigators for an interview but, due to the unavailability of his attorney, no interview could be scheduled before the report was published.
In their book Game of Shadows, reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams allege that Sheffield worked with and received steroids such as testosterone and human growth hormone from his and Barry Bonds's personal trainer Greg Anderson. The book also details steroid calendars found in possession of Anderson outlining numerous steroid cycles Sheffield was to have undertaken after the 2001 season.
In October 1987, while still on probation, Sheffield was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated and related offenses. Those charges were eventually consolidated into one reckless driving charge. His probation was extended for an additional 18 months.
On December 5, 1993, Sheffield was arrested after being clocked driving a Ferrari Testarossa on Interstate 4 in Florida and failing a breathalyzer test. In May 1994, he pleaded no contest to reckless driving and was sentenced again to nine months of probation and 40 hours of community service.
In October 1995, Sheffield was shot in his left shoulder after an attempted robbery when he stopped his car at a traffic light in Tampa.
Throughout his career, Sheffield was verbal about his need for sufficient financial compensation and respect, demanding better pay when he was with the Dodgers, and refusing to play in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, saying the regular "season is when he's getting paid."
Sheffield and his wife Deleon Richards reside in Tampa, Florida. They have three sons Jaden Sheffield, Noah Sheffield, and Christian Sheffield. Sheffield has five other children from previous relationships. Deleon is a gospel recording artist and has sung the National Anthem at Yankee Stadium during a playoff game with Sheffield on the lineup. In February 2005, a man was arraigned in federal court on charges of extortion Sheffield by threatening to release a sex tape of Deleon with an ex-boyfriend. In January 2006, the man was sentenced to 27 months in prison.
Sheffield's cousin, Derrick Pedro, played outfield in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. Sheffield's cousin, Tim Carter, played professional football as a wide receiver.
In the June 2007 issue of GQ magazine, Sheffield (a Detroit Tiger at the time) was quoted saying that there are more Latin baseball players than African-American players because Latinos are easier to control. "What I said is that you're going to see more black faces, but there ain't no English going to be coming out. ... (It's about) being able to tell (Latin players) what to do — being able to control them.... Where I'm from, you can't control us." He continued "They have more to lose than we do. You can send them back across the island. You can't send us back. We're already here."
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