A shoulder with the strength of a Ralph Nader presidential run would be enough to discourage any player. Add an environment where 50,000 diehards pray for spontaneous human combustion and you get a notion of what Gary Sheffield’s Bronx weekend has been like.
“No pun intended, I think there’s been a lot of weight on his shoulders,” said the Tigers’ reigning Manager of the Year Jim Leyland of his right fielder, who injured his right shoulder last month. “I think the shoulder physically is still bothering him and I think he’s had a lot on top of that.”
Like the Yankees fans who boo Sheffield’s every movement, pained or otherwise, in the wake of racially charged comments directed toward his former manager, Joe Torre. One of the day’s loudest moments yesterday in the Yanks’ 5-2 dousing of the Tigers came when Kyle Farnsworth fanned Sheffield with a high fastball in the seventh inning after Sheffield had hits in his first three at-bats.
“Did it seem like it bothered me?” Sheffield asked of the booing. “I find it kind of comical. I look at the whole picture and the response I can get out of so many people. I didn’t realize how special I was.”
He negated some of it with a three-hit day, a first since he was injured when he collided with second baseman Placido Polanco in the field July 21.
“Gary is not the type who would want anyone to make excuses for him and I won’t do that, but I don’t think he’s 100 percent physically,” Leyland said. “Combine that with the other stuff and he’s got a burden on him. It’s awful tough. . . . This obviously has become probably a stressful series for him.”
Sheffield was enjoying a typical Sheffield season – .306 average, 23 homers, 65 RBIs – when he collided with Polanco. Sheffield landed on his right elbow and bones jammed together, pinching a nerve and slightly dislocated his shoulder. Since then, the Iron Sheff had hit more like Rachel Ray: one homer, six RBIs and .158 (12-of-76) in 20 games before yesterday. But Roger Clemens again proved a tonic for Sheffield, who had all three of his hits off the Rocket. Sheffield now is 11-of-18 (.611) lifetime against Clemens.
“Just took some better swings today,” Sheffield said. “Hopefully I can continue to work on it and get it better.
“Ever since that day, it’s been the same thing. Batting practice, I’m not hitting the ball like I normally hit. I just know [with] certain pitches and certain swings I take . . . when I hit the ball that it should go out.”
Sheffield continues treatments to strengthen the joint, but has avoided weight work. He said the shoulder is playable, unlike right after the injury, when there was numbness in his hand.
“When you grab a bat and you can’t feel it,” Sheffield said. “You get scared.”
Through it all, one calming constant for Sheffield has been Leyland. That’s why he loves Leyland, with whom he won a title with the Florida Marlins.
“If I was in the position I’m in, I wouldn’t play for another manager right now. At this stage in my career I wouldn’t want to. It would be, ‘Put somebody else in there,’ ” Sheffield said. “But I’m willing to do whatever for him.”