Memo to Gary Sheffield: It’s Not About Race

 by Aaron Goldstein  

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Throughout his 20-year professional baseball career Gary Sheffield has consistently used race as a crutch.

Detroit Tigers slugger Gary Sheffield has accused New York Yankees manager Joe Torre of racial bias against him and other black players. He made this accusation on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel in an interview with Andrea Kramer which aired on July 17th. While Sheffield stopped short of calling Torre a racist, he said, “I’d see a lot of white players get called in the office and treated like a man.  That’s the difference.”

Sheffield played with the Yankees from 2004 to 2006. Sheffield enjoyed productive seasons with the Yankees in 2004 and 2005. Indeed, Sheffield finished second to Los Angeles Angels outfielder Vladimir Guerrero in the American League MVP voting in 2004. However, injuries limited Sheffield to just 39 games in 2006. He would lose his job in right field to Bobby Abreu, who was acquired in a mid-season trade with the Philadelphia Phillies. Suddenly expendable, Sheffield was traded to the Tigers in November 2006 for three minor league pitchers. After a slow start in April, Sheffield has proved to be a potent bat for the defending American League champions. As of this writing, Sheffield is hitting .307 with 22 homeruns and 62 runs batted in. His 22 homeruns are tied for third in the American League along with Carlos Pena of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. 

Despite his success with the Tigers in 2007, Sheffield is clearly bitter about his experience in Yankee pinstripes. When asked about Yankee captain Derek Jeter, whose father is black and mother is white, Sheffield replied that Jeter is not “all the way black.” Of course, this is not the first time in the 2007 season Sheffield has gotten into trouble with his words. Just last month, in an interview with GQ, Sheffield said a mouthful when asked why there were more Latinos than African-Americans playing major league baseball. “What I called 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 [Sheffield is from Tampa Bay] you can’t control us.” Sheffield did get some agreement from Latin ballplayers concerning his comments, most notably from San Francisco Giants shortstop Omar Vizquel. But given Sheffield’s latest comments on Torre, one cannot help but wonder if his comments to GQ have anything to do with losing his starting job with the Yankees to the Venezuelan-born Abreu?

For his part, Torre has not dignified Sheffield’s comments. Nor have any of the current Yankee players spoken out in one way or the other. Yankees broadcaster Ken Singleton (who is black) dismissed Sheffield’s comments, as have former New York Yankees players Darryl Strawberry and Tom Gordon, who currently pitches for the Philadelphia Phillies. However, another former Yankee, Kenny Lofton, who was Sheffield’s teammate in the Bronx in 2004, concurs with Sheffield. “All I can say is, Sheffield knows what he is talking about,” Lofton said. “That’s all I’m going to say.” However, it should be noted that Lofton, while playing into his 40’s with the Texas Rangers, has been with eleven major league teams and has run into his fair share of trouble over his career.

The same can be said for Sheffield. While not as well traveled as Lofton, Sheffield has played for seven major league teams in twenty seasons. Sheffield began his big league career in 1988 with the Milwaukee Brewers as a 19-year-old shortstop. During his tenure with the Brewers, Sheffield was known for four things: that he was Dwight Gooden’s nephew, that he constantly clashed with Brewers manager Tom Trebelhorn and Brewers owner Bud Selig, that he was injury-prone, and he did not produce. On top of that, when Sheffield was moved from shortstop to third base to make room for top prospect Billy Spiers, Sheffield was convinced the decision was racially motivated and was not shy about stating it. In his final season with the Brewers in 1991, Sheffield played in 50 games, hitting only .194 with 2 homeruns and 22 RBI.

But Sheffield’s career would blossom the following season after being traded to the San Diego Padres.   Sheffield and Fred McGriff would prove to be one of the most formidable one-two punches in the National League during the 1992 season. Sheffield would beat out soon-to-be-inducted Hall of Famer and 8-time National League Batting Champion Tony Gwynn for his first and only National League batting title with a .330 average. Sheffield also clubbed 33 homeruns and knocked in 100 RBI.  But less than half-way through the 1993 season, Sheffield was gone. The Padres, looking to cut costs, dealt Sheffield to the expansion Florida Marlins in June of that year. It is worth noting that in return for Sheffield the Padres received a relief pitcher by the name of Trevor Hoffman, who in 2007 is not only still pitching for the Padres but is the all-time leader in saves with 507.

To be fair, Sheffield enjoyed a good tenure in south Florida playing with the Marlins, and was a key contributor to the 1997 World Series Championship team under Jim Leyland. Of course, this season Sheffield has reunited with Leyland in Detroit. Sheffield was dealt from the Marlins to the Los Angeles Dodgers along with Bobby Bonilla, Charles Johnson and Jim Eisenreich in June 1998.  (This was the trade that saw Mike Piazza play five games for the Marlins before becoming a New York Met.) However, this trade can be attributed to the Marlins conducting a fire sale of their players, not Sheffield’s conduct.  

Sheffield played with the Dodgers from the middle of the 1998 season through 2001. He enjoyed three 100-RBI seasons in Los Angeles, but when Sheffield had a contract dispute with the Dodgers he brought race into the subject. Sheffield told ESPN’s Peter Gammons, “All I want is to find a way to be a lifetime Dodger and not hurt the club financially. I asked them, 'How many black players have come to the Dodgers and finished their careers with them?' The answer is none.” In January 2002, the Dodgers ended up trading Sheffield to the Atlanta Braves for outfielder Brian Jordan, pitcher Odalis Perez and minor league pitcher Andrew Brown.

Sheffield played two seasons in Atlanta and enjoyed a good relationship with Braves manager Bobby Cox. In 2003, Sheffield finished third in the National League Most Valuable Player voting, trailing only Barry Bonds and Albert Pujols. But even when playing with the Braves, Sheffield still felt bitter about his contract dispute with the Dodgers. In a July 2002 article that appeared in Baseball Digest, Sheffield told writer Thomas Stinson, “I demand to be treated equal. I don’t accept anything less than that. I think Jackie Robinson and a bunch of other players before me paved the way for me not to have to put up with that. So, I’m not.  And I’m going to keep making sure it’s implemented.”

Sheffield signed with the Yankees as a free agent just before Christmas of 2003 after meeting with Yankees owners George Steinbrenner. It has been said that neither Torre nor Yankees general manager Brian Cashman were pleased with Sheffield’s signing but deferred to The Boss.  It is clear that Sheffield does not believe that Torre treated him equally.  

Well, I agree. Joe Torre did not treat Gary Sheffield equally. But Torre did not treat Sheffield unequally on account of his race.

Torre has been the Yankees skipper since 1996. Players like Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera have been with him since the get-go. Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada have also been Yankees for most of Torre’s tenure. Bernie Williams was in pinstripes until the end of last season. Naturally, Torre is going to treat people he has known for a long time and who have served him loyally in a more favorable fashion. Of course, this could be off-putting to a veteran player who is new to the Yankees clubhouse be he black or white.

Maybe Sheffield ought to talk to former teammate Buddy Groom, who is white. When Groom signed with the Yankees as a free agent prior to the 2005 season, the veteran lefty reliever had pitched in the major leagues for thirteen seasons with the Detroit Tigers, Florida Marlins, Oakland Athletics and Baltimore Orioles. Groom was 39 when he joined the Yankees.  But when Groom was designated for assignment in July of that season (and eventually traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks) he told the New York Post he did not like his role as a mop-up pitcher and felt that he wasn’t one of “Joe’s boys.”

Sheffield might also want to speak with another former Yankees reliever, Jeff Nelson, who is also white.  Nelson publicly feuded with the Yankees skipper when Torre did not select him to the 2000 American League All-Star Team.  

Yes, Gary Sheffield was not one of “Joe’s boys.” Do I blame a twenty-year veteran like Sheffield for feeling a little miffed? Not at all. Does this give Sheffield license to play the race card against Torre?   Not a chance in hell.

If Sheffield admires Jackie Robinson and those who paved the way for him one would think Sheffield would know his history a little more. While most people know Torre as the Yankees manager he was also a pretty darned good player himself. Torre broke into the big leagues with the Milwaukee Braves at the end of the 1960 season and looked upon his teammate Hank Aaron as a mentor. To this day, Torre refers to the all-time homerun leader as Henry instead of Hank as a measure of respect. When Torre was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1969 he became teammates with future Hall of Famers Lou Brock and Bob Gibson. Torre grew especially close to Gibson and their friendship contributed to Torre winning the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1971. When Torre was named manager of the New York Mets in 1977, Torre tapped Gibson as his pitching coach.  When Torre became manager of the Atlanta Braves in 1982, Torre again tapped Gibson as his pitching coach.

Any white man who considers Henry Aaron a mentor cannot be accused of treating blacks differently than whites. Any white manager who would name Bob Gibson as his pitching coach in the 1970’s (at a time when black pitching coaches were few and far between) cannot be accused of treating blacks differently than whites.

Gary Sheffield might have had a legitimate beef with Torre. The workplace, be it a major league clubhouse, an insurance company or a hospital, can be a very difficult environment to navigate. It doesn’t take much to become the odd man out.  There are jealousies, lingering resentments accompanied by a lack of communication and acute bitterness. These can take a toll on a person’s confidence, psyche and well being.

But by bringing in race where it is not relevant, Sheffield has lost my sympathy. Racism is a very serious matter. Those who practice it are perpetrating evil. Which is why we must take great pains to not casually accuse someone of it. Joe Torre might have treated Gary Sheffield in an untoward manner and perhaps singled him out in a way he ought not have. But that does not make Torre guilty of racism much less racial bias. He is only guilty of being human and thus fallible. 

Gary Sheffield has been a magnificent player for two decades. With a lifetime batting average of just under .300, nearly 500 homeruns and 2,500 hits, Sheffield has a chance of one day being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Gary Sheffield has also spent the past two decades using race as a crutch.   Whether it be using the race card to object to being moved to another position, in contract negotiations and in personal differences with a former manager, Sheffield also has a chance of being one day inducted into the Baseball Hall of Shame. And that would be a shame.

Culture: Sports

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