He became the 25th player in baseball history to reach that milestone. From AP-
Gary Sheffield crossed home plate and thrust his arms in the air after unleashing his 500th homer with another vicious swing, and then the surly slugger was humbled by the site of his new Mets teammates pouring out of the dugout.
Sheffield was greeted with hugs and high fives after becoming the 25th player to reach the milestone with a tying homer in the seventh inning Friday. The party switched focus in the bottom of the ninth when Luis Castillo hit a two-out, run-scoring single to give the Mets a 5-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.
“I was so excited that, you know, when I looked over to the dugout, those were the guys,” said Sheffield, who signed with New York on April 4 after being released by Detroit four days earlier. “I appreciate every one of those guys. They’ve been very special to me.”
Last night’s homer came against the franchise Sheffield started his career with. He was drafted by Milwaukee in 1986.
Should Sheffield be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame one day? Besides his home runs, he has a career .292 batting average but more impressively a .394 career on base percentage. There is no question, Sheffield has been an offensive machine for two decades. The case against his induction is fairly strong. Sheffield has been a defensive liability his entire career, has had behavioral and discipline problems on and off the field, and as a result traveled extensively. Not too many HOFers have played for eight teams in their career.
Sheffield was not named in the Mitchell report, but in his testimony before a grand jury in the BALCO case in 2003, he acknowledged using “the cream” and “the clear,” but said he didn’t know they were steroids at the time. Still, that admission raises questions about steroid use even though he has never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. From 1988-98, he had two 30-homer, 100-RBI seasons. From 1999-on, which appears to be the height of the steroid era, he had seven straight years of 25 homers, and six of his eight 100-RBI seasons.
Sheffield’s case is a tricky one. He has always played hard, he has often helped his team win, and he has been a middle-of-the-order hitter in the postseason with three different organizations, including a world championship team (the 1997 Marlins). He is not DiMaggio, obviously. He is not Schmidt, Griffey or Yastrzemski. Despite having similar numbers, he is not even close to being Frank Robinson, all things considered.
The marks against him are noticeable and troublesome, but his numbers — especially 500 home runs — are very impressive. His case is debatable, but I believe he’s a Hall of Famer.
His drug use is another factor to weigh for Sheffield. Should all players caught up in that scandal be excluded from the HOF? I don’t have a vote on who goes to Cooperstown, if I did, I don’t know if I would vote for Sheffield.
Has the veteran of over twenty major league baseball seasons hit the end of the road? From AP-
The Detroit Tigers have released nine-time All-Star Gary Sheffield, who is one home run away from 500 for his career.
Detroit parted ways with the designated hitter Tuesday after a disappointing stay with the Tigers. The team was hopeful Sheffield would be a powerful presence at the plate in the final season of the $28 million, two-year contract extension it gave him after acquiring him from the Yankees for prospects.
But he failed to deliver in large part because he often was injured.
The move comes a day after the Tigers acquired outfielder Josh Anderson from Atlanta, forcing the team to make some tough decisions about its roster a week ahead of opening the season in Toronto.
Sheffield hit .178 in 18 games this spring.
The move was almost certainly made because of Sheffield’s salary. He hit only .225 last year and he’s forty-years-old. An age where most players are out of the game and whose who still remain are in decline. I still think Sheffield will play some more ML baseball and hit over 500 homeruns but I’m skeptical if he’ll be any legitimate help to any team at this stage in his career.
He took the fish to an 84-77 record and Sporting News National League Manager of year honors in 2008. From the Palm Beach Post-
Then came an unexpected but welcome zinger from team President David Samson: The Marlins had signed manager Fredi Gonzalez to a two-year contract extension through 2011.
*****
Gonzalez was entering the final year of a three-year, $1.5 million contract that he signed after the Marlins fired Joe Girardi following the 2006 season. The extension, agreed to Saturday, means Marlins players can look forward to three more years of stability.
“It’s a smart move by the front office,” All-Star second baseman Dan Uggla said. “I think it’s very important to have the same guy around. He starts to get a feel for the ballclub. It all starts with him. He’s our leader.”
Gonzalez, The Sporting News National League manager of the year in 2008 for guiding Florida to an 84-77 record and a 13-win improvement with the league’s lowest payroll, said he didn’t know about the extension until he was called into owner Jeffrey Loria’s office Saturday.
I wouldn’t place any money on Gonzalez still being with the team at the end of 2011. For one thing, Florida has has ten managers in its 16 year existence. One of those managers, John Boles, did two stints in the job. Rene Lacheman has lasted the longest in the job, 3.5 years.
Another thing- Jeffrey Loria hasn’t shown himself to be very stable between his constant threats to take the Marlins out of South Florida if a new stadium isn’t built, to his firing Joe Girardi for no other reason than a personality clash. Loria’s ego matters more than success on the field for the Marlins, and Gonzalez will sooner or later fall prey to this nut owner.
Would the thrifty MLB franchise really release a player because they don’t want to pay him $900,000? From the Palm Beach Post-
Treanor, Florida’s opening day catcher in 2008, was released late Wednesday night after the Marlins gave up on their fruitless efforts to trade him.
*****
“Being released, yes, it’s shocking,” he said. “It’s been a long time with the club. I wish I could have stayed with the same team until I finished my career but it’s the nature of the game and I can’t let this hold me down.”
Treanor, who often referred to himself last summer as “Mr. Misty May,” was one of the most affable players to wear a Marlins uniform, despite a career .237 batting average with eight home runs and 70 RBI.
*****
But Treanor was made expendable because he was projected to make $900,000 in arbitration, a price the Marlins didn’t want to spend on a journeyman backup coming off a sports hernia operation. By releasing Treanor, the Marlins freed up a spot on their 40-man roster for a few hours.
Lets look at the type of performance Florida could have gotten from Treanor
.237 Batting Average
.322 OBP
.317 Slugging percentage
5 Home Runs
41 RBI
Those are his full season averages. If Treanor had over 400 AB in a season. Something he hasn’t even come close to.
No power, low batting average, below average On base percentage. I don’t blame Florida for cutting him, and can understand why there were no takers for Treanor’s services.
Whether it was simply the law of averages catching up or a 45-year-old pitcher struggling on a hot night, Moyer lost to the Marlins 8-2 Tuesday after having won all of his previous 10 starts against the Marlins.
“It was bound to happen,” Moyer said. “The way I look at it, I beat myself tonight.”
And for the Marlins – who beat Moyer for the first time in four starts this season – their win in front of a sold-out crowd of 44,896 at Citizens Bank Park couldn’t have come at a better time.
Backed by Josh Johnson’s strong start and Jeremy Hermida’s four RBI, the Marlins started an important road trip by moving to within 11/2 games of first-place Philadelphia in the National League East.
It is simply amazing Florida is contending this year. I would have sworn they would lose 90 at least.
As for Moyer, some pitchers have certain team’s numbers. Tom Seaver used to clobber the San Diego Padres, on the other hand Al Oliver used to clobber Seaver. As Moyer said, the Marlins were bound to beat him eventually.
Three years ago Willis was a Cy Young candidate. Now he can’t find the strike zone. From AP-
DETROIT – After watching yet another wild show on the mound, the Detroit Tigers sent Dontrelle Willis down to Class A on Tuesday in hopes the struggling lefty can find his control.
The Tigers optioned Willis to Lakeland of the Florida State League — and home to the Tigers’ spring training camp — a day after he matched a career high by giving eight earned runs on five walks and three hits in 1 1-3 innings against Cleveland.
Willis (0-1) has walked 21 batters in 11 1-3 innings. The 8-2 loss to the Indians came in his second start since going on the disabled list with a hyperextended right knee.
“Our objective is to get Dontrelle back to being Dontrelle,” Tigers president, CEO and general manager Dave Dombrowski said. “We don’t want to put a time frame on this. We want to get it right. The arm strength is still there, on occasion. The breaking ball is still there. But we want to get him back to being comfortable throwing strikes.”
Detroit signed Willis to a $29 million, three-year deal after getting him in a trade last winter with the Florida Marlins.
I like Willis and sincerely hope he finds the strike zone again. Baseball history says however the prospects aren’t good. From Steve Blass to Mark Davis to Rick Ankiel(Remember he first came up as a pitcher), pitchers who suddenly lost their control as dramatically as Willis have had great difficulty regaining it.
Monday, Griffey became the sixth player in major league history to hit 600 home runs. He deposited a Mark Hendrickson first-inning pitch about a dozen rows up into Section 130 of the right-field bleachers as part of a 9-4 Reds win at Dolphin Stadium. Stuck on 599 since May 31, Griffey is 10 shy of eclipsing Sammy Sosa for fifth on the all-time list.
Just 10 of Griffey’s 600 homers have come against the Marlins, a team he did not face until 2000. Five of those have come at Dolphin Stadium, where he hadn’t hit one since June 1, 2004.
Here’s the video.
So far as I know, no one has mentioned Griffey as a user of steroids. Griffey, who began his career with the Seattle Mariners, will make the Hall of Fame. Abusers like Sammy Sosa will have a long wait if they ever do get voted in. As Mark McGwire is presently finding out.
He was one of the best hitting catchers of all-time. From AP-
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – Mike Piazza is retiring from baseball following a 16-season career in which he became one of the top-hitting catchers in history.
“After discussing my options with my wife, family and agent, I felt it was time to start a new chapter in my life,” he said in a statement released Tuesday by his agent, Dan Lozano. “It has been an amazing journey … So today, I walk away with no regrets.
“I knew this day was coming and over the last two years. I started to make my peace with it. I gave it my all and left everything on the field.”
The 39-year-old Piazza batted .275 with eight homers and 44 RBIs as a designated hitter for Oakland last season, became a free agent and did not re-sign. He was not available to discuss his decision, according to Josh Goldberg, a spokesman for Lozano.
Taken by the Los Angeles Dodgers on the 62nd round of the 1988 amateur draft, Piazza became a 12-time All-Star, making the NL team 10 consecutive times starting in 1993.
“He was one of those hitters who could change the game with one swing. He was certainly the greatest-hitting catcher of our time, and arguably of all time,” said Atlanta pitcher Tom Glavine, Piazza’s former teammate on the New York Mets.
Piazza finished with a .308 career average, 427 home runs and 1,335 RBIs for the Dodgers (1992-98), Florida (1998), Mets (1998-05), San Diego (2006) and Oakland (2007).
Mike Piazza was one of the all-time steals in the amateur draft. In a time when the Dodgers kept wasting first round picks on pitchers who kept not making the ML roster(Anyone remember Bill Bene, Dennis Livingston, or Dan Opperman? Didn’t think so?), the Dodgers made up with it partially with their selection of Piazza.
Piazza is a certain Hall of Famer. If his glove work had been better, he’d be one of the top five catchers all-time. Still he makes the top ten. Good luck in retirement Mike.
The three-time Cy Young winner started Tuesday’s game against the Florida Marlins. From AP-
MIAMI — Pedro Martinez will be sidelined four to six weeks with what the New York Mets said was a mild strain of his left hamstring.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner was placed on the 15-day disabled list before the Mets’ game against the Florida Marlins on Wednesday night.
Martinez was injured Tuesday night, returned to New York on Wednesday and was examined by Dr. David Altchek at the Hospital for Special Surgery.
“We just have to play and get after it,” Mets manager Willie Randolph said after Wednesday night’s 13-0 win over the Marlins. “We’re going to miss him. I’m not trying to downplay losing Pedro. It’s unfortunate. He worked real hard to get back to this point. I know he was looking forward to being in the clubhouse around this team to help us win.”
The Mets will need Oliver Perez, who threw six shutout innings Wednesday’s night, and John Maine to pitch well until Martinez returns, and find another starter.
“We’re looking forward to those guys stepping up,” Randolph said.
That’s manager speak for- “Shit, this team needs a miracle now.” For Martinez, who is trying to comeback from injuries suffered in 06, this injury early in 2008 can’t be considered a good omen.
Lugo is veteran, and I’ve liked him in the past, but what will the Marlins do with him? From the Miami Herald-
The Marlins and Gonzalez, a 40-year-old outfielder, have agreed on a one-year contract that will pay Gonzalez $2 million. The contract contains incentive bonuses, ones based on plate appearances, that could raise the total to as much as $3 million.
What is uncertain is how the Marlins intend to use Gonzalez, who has spent most of his 18 seasons in the major leagues playing left field, a position that belongs to Josh Willingham.
But Willingham has been bothered by lower-back problems, which caused him to spend the end of last season on the bench, and the Marlins could be looking at Gonzalez as backup insurance.
Gonzalez’s agent, Gregg Clifton, said the Marlins told him their plans are to use Gonzalez in the outfield and at first base, but did not guarantee a starting job. Gonzalez has played just five of his 2,455 games in the majors at first base, where Mike Jacobs appears set to return.
”He’s happy to do whatever it is to help the team,” Clifton said.
That has to be seen yet. Many veterans can’t handle a smaller role on a team. Especially one that looks not to be very good. Maybe Gonzalez will be different, but I see his acquisition as being of little help to the 2008 Marlins.
