Today in The Journal News
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Jul 14, 2007 
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The Yankees had their exciting two-game winning streak come to an end against Scott Kazmir and the Devil Rays
Jason Giambi met with steroids investigator George Mitchell.This notebook also includes updates on Phil Hughes, Bobby Abreu, Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera.
Gary Sheffield accused to the Yankees of racism on an HBO show that will appear on Tuesday.
I personally like Sheff. He’s a good teammate for the most part, he plays to win and he’s accountable and professional with the media. But he has a habit of saying things that are hurtful and senseless.
Sheffield has long believed Joe Torre never wanted him. But to accuse him of racism is taking it to another level. I obviously can’t speak to what happens behind closed doors. But Torre’s best friend in baseball was Bob Gibson and he treats Derek Jeter like a son.
When a player of Sheffield’s caliber says such things, it’s news. But consider the source.
Sheff is a joke. I know you have to report this stuff but no one will take him, or his words seriously.
I don’t know why people give Sheffield a free pass to say what you want when u want. Yeah, there is freedom of speech and there is also irresponsibility. Sheffield should shut his trap and just play baseball. He got his money and isn’t playing first base. What more does he want?? Oh yeah, he wants attention like a 3 yr old. The Yankees should win tonight with Wang taking the mound.
He always manages to say things esp. when he feels he has been “dissed” etc. The Yanks got rid of him soooooo the Yanks are his target. So Joe etc. gets dissed by Sheff. And now we’ll hear his retractions etc. And some will back up Sheff, but most will say nothing or Sheff being Sheff AGAIN !
Re: Sheffield
1. As a black man Sheff has every reason to worry and wonder whether racism is at play in the actions of white people. My belief is that the fact that there is racism in the world doesn’t mean that every act which could conceivably be racist is racist. But I’m white.
2. On the other hand, playing the race card just to get back at someone is a very bad thing to do from the perspective of those who are trying to sincerely deal with racism. Sheff didn’t say Torre was a racist, but I think he knew that’s how it would play. He’s still mad at Joe and the Yankees for not loving him enough, for keeping Abreu over him and for picking up his option just to trade him. So, Sheff played the race card and is probably chuckling to himself that it bothered Joe. To me, that’s malicious even if Sheff has a beef against the Yankees for whatever reason.
3. I like Sheff. I will always admire that he plays in pain, like when he had that bad shoulder a couple of years ago. I like the fact that he has the killer instinct at the plate and scares every pitcher in the league more than a little. I like his HRs and RBIs. But eventually Sheff seems like a losing proposition. Every time he shows up with a new team – - and that’s happened quite a few times – - they try to give Sheff a clean slate, handle him like a man and be up front with him, being careful to show him what he considers “respect.” But eventually something goes wrong and his well-earned reputation kicks in.
one of the worst things for anyone to think they feel is “unwanted”… does massage hit-point damage to the ego to believe this. take into account sheff’s massive ego and you have the damage of a a massive nuclear strike. ” getting even” then becomes yr raison d’etre.
think i read that in psych 101…
Remarks like that are just a bitter remark by a bitter person. That is why Sheffield wears out his welcome everywhere he goes. For someone that makes millions of dollars playing a kids game, you would think he would learn to keep his mouth shout. Instead he bites the hand that feeds him constantly. He is one of the players and their greedy agents that take take take and give very little back to the game. When will these spoiled millionaires grow up?
C’mon Sheffield, move on. But, you’ve never been able to do that no matter where you’ve been and making outrageous money doing it. Your trashing of your previous teams will throw cold water on your otherwise good statistical career. If elected to the Hall of Fame, you’ll stand at the podium and remark how unfair the game treated you and show your true legacy. Many Bronx cheers to you …..
Although I dislike Torre, I never doubt Sheffield is a joke and he is over the line to accuse Torre of racism.
I was glad Sheffield had been kicked out the club no matter how good he played. I am just wondering how many people would believe what this big mouth says.
Sheffield is saying that Jeter isn’t really black, that he is mixed race. If you want to see a bigot, look at Sheffield. Go back to throwing games Sheffield.
Ouch !!!! … another blown opportunity to gain a game in the standings. Why does Torre have to fool with the lineup by starting Thompson and Cairo ? It’s beyond imagination. This is not April or May. Wake up Joe !
First off, when asked if he thought Torre was a racist, the reponse was “NO”. He said that black players were treated “differently”. Secondly, what other black players have been on the Yankees with Sheff? Kenny Lofton, Tom Gordon, Tony Womack, Tony Clark, Marcus Lawton, Terrence Long, Homer Bush. I can assure you that Lofton and Womack aren’t fans of Torre, and you could probably pick a couple of others out of that small group that would feel that they were treated “differently.” I’m not sure how you can automatically say that Sheff is talking out of his a** when he is basing it on how Torre treated his few black players over those 3 seasons. He didn’t say that Torre is klan or that he has no black friends. Ask Lofton, Womack, and Gordon what they think. Not that that would make it true, but for many blacks, when something does not go their way, the color of their shin is always a possible reason.
I’m not sure how you can automatically say that Sheff is talking out of his a** when he is basing it on how Torre treated his few black players over those 3 seasons.
——————–
My problem is that I don’t see why Sheffield is talking for those people. I can’t take anything race related that he says seriously anymore after his “Latinos aren’t black” comments. He’s such an ass.
the problem is that like canseco, sheffield looks the fool when he shoots off his mouth, but when you look at the big picture after some time has past , you do see that there’s something to what they both say. that doesn’t make the way they say it right, but there’s some truth in their verbalizations.
the problem that the yankees have is that they have a totally white management and ownership that can’t possibly get by their cultural biases when they make decisions. there is no excuse for not having some people of color in their upper management. the team is diverse. the fan base is diverse, the city of new york ids diverse. the mets have no problem with diversity in management . the yankees do.
sheffield is on point about the yankees and race, but i think unfair focusing on torre.
one solution is to get a high quality gm of color to replace cashman to solve a lot of problems with one move. where else are you going to add some diversity ,that has some clout, to the organization.
so basically, there’s some truth in sheffield’s words. just not in the exact way he says it.
I enjoyed watching Sheffield during his time as a Yankee because he had a lot of energy and played hard all the time. But this doesn’t mean that gives him license to slander his ex manager or team. Come on now, Gary, you’re doing fine over at the Tigers – just let it go! Apparently Bob Raissman over at the Daily News disagrees with your opinion of Sheffield, Pete. He thinks he has credibility even if Gary maintains he never used steroids because he didn’t put it “in his butt” only using the clear and the cream – yea right, and I’ve got a bridge to sell you.
So the Yankees have a problem because they don’t have someone in the ownership or upper management that isn’t black, latino, or asian?? LOL, you’ve got to be kidding. Why doesn’t he bring up an incident that happened between himself and Torre?? This is irresponsible. Plain and simple. If he wants all things equal, why doesn’t he speak out against steroids?? What a way to be man, Sheff. He probably rubs steroid creme on his testicles so he can recover quicker. He should have his head examined. Go Yankees.
I dont recall Gordon being treated badly.I do remember him being scared in the playoffs however.Clark is/was a gentleman and was always treated well despite a slider speed bat.Womack sucks.Lofton wasnt a bad idea.I think that was Joe being loyal to Bernie but Lofton is still productive.I bet you could find White/Hispanic players who were handled the same way.
didnt’ torre do basically everything possible to jam sheff in the lineup once he got back from his injury? even though it cost them the playoffs? sheff needs to stop talking and just playing. i wish him well, but come on, move on already. i’m still happy he’s gone. he’s having a great year this year, but there’s still a few more on that contract.
Poor Gary Sheffield. Who cares if he believed that Torre never wanted him. Did he not get enough love as a child ? Does he have love issues ? Is he a delicate flower ? Maybe he should try to hack it in the real world as a black man. You know, the one where you DON’T make stupid sums of money for playing a game. How about the one where you are really discriminated against and you live in poverty ? The only reason that the bile that comes out of his mouth is news is because there is a media to report it and public that is stupid enough to read the garbage after it is printed. How about we all wake up and realize, that no matter what his God given baseball talents are, he is a spoiled baby that the world, the media, Joe Torre, the Yankees, any of his past or future teammates NOR any baseball fans….owe him nothing.
Maybe Sheff could accuse Torre of being sexist or a pedophile or anything else disgusting and unfounded and then we can all validate the remark by getting into a discussion about its merits? He’s a super talented athlete but a proven headcase.
Peter,
In his career, Sheffield is working on his 7th team and he’s burned the bridges that he’s came over from to the previous 6. The guy is a good teammate when he’s standing in the batter’s box with a piece of wood in his hand. Unfortunately, once he steps outside that box, that killer instinct and confrontational mentality doesn’t turn off. The guy is an utter pain in the ass. He shoots his mouth off for the sole sake of creating controversy.
This is a reason that racism will never fade into history. The people who yell and scream about race the most are usually the ones who have problems with race themselves. I mean, between making asinine statements about latinos and bashing his former organization, he just spreads poison wherever he goes.
Whenever Sheff doesn’t get the attention that, “as a MAN”, he thinks he deserves, he says something absolutely moronic to garner some quick headlines. I mean… did he seriously bash Jeter for not being black enough? Really? He feels he deserves more power and say than he’ll ever have as a player and when he doesn’t get it, he interprets that as a lack of respect and not being treated “as a MAN.” The sad thing is that not that he says this stuff, but that he actually thinks them and believes what he says.
As for the people commenting on Torre’s treatment of other black players. Womack was signed to play 2nd base and had absolutely no bat, prompting Cano’s promotion. He spent the rest of the year playing out of position or not at all. Of course that pissed him off. Lofton is another idiot of Sheffield’s ilk. Does Gordon have a problem with them? As far as I know, he left because he wanted to close, not set up Rivera.
randy l, you probably have a point, but it’s not the point Sheffield made (at least as this article reports it). Sheffield focused on how the Yankees, particularly Torre, treat their black players. I think if this were a real issue, we would have heard about it before.
Whatever Sheffield is talking about, it’s not something visible on the field. Womack got to play second for what seemed like an eternity even though he was one of the worst players in the sport. Torre does has plenty of irrational biases that affect his judgment, but racism doesn’t appear to be one of them.
Matt DeSalvo is expected to be recalled to start one of next Saturday’s double-header games.
“Right now Matty DeSalvo is pitching the best by far at Triple-A. If we have a need at the major league level, Matty DeSalvo is that need right now,” general manager Brian Cashman said. DeSalvo was 1-2 with a 5.87 ERA during five starts for the Yankees earlier this year.
ROTOWORLD
I have had enough of DeSalvo. Alan Horne, please!!!!
“If we have a need at the major league level, Matty DeSalvo is that need right now.”
Uh. If we have a need? I think we do have a need. Several needs in fact. And if I listed those needs, they would not include a need for Matt DeSalvo.
It may have seen like an eternity but in 2005 Tony Womack was shifted to left field on May 3rd. He played 24 games at second. Bob Raissman in the NY Daily News is using this to attack the Yankees (as Gomer Pyle would say “Surprise! Surprise!) but in the article he does mention he denied using steroids. When he was read transcripts of his grand jury testimony saying he did, Dr Sheffield told HBO that steroids are someting you stick in your butt. Get this man an office at the Mayo clinic!
There are a lot of serious race-based issues in baseball — the lack of minority ownership/management, the decreasing interest among African-American atheletes to pursue baseball, etc — but Sheff’s tirades are about Sheff and his warped psyche, not about the larger systemic problems, and most people likely recognize his verbal diarrhea for what it is. Since he gets media attention, its really a shame that he doesn’t use it to raise real issues. Many define that kind of action as selfish.
Inconnu
What would u want them to say? LOL, “I am not a crook.” Torre doesn’t have to answer to Sheffield. What do u want Jeter to say? “I am fully black.” I mean, c’mon. It’s Sheffield. He’s notorious for flapping his lips.
Why did Torre not play Abreu??
Through April 23rd of this season, Bobby Abreu was hitting .306/.404/.375 in 72 At Bats.
On April 24th, Abreu faced Scott Kazmir (of Tampa Bay). In his three At Bats against Kazmir, Abreu struck out swinging, grounded out to short, and hit into a 1-6-3 double-play.
Including that game, since April 24th, Bobby Abreu is hitting .184/.254/.240 in 125 At Bats.
Yes, his batting average went from .306 to .184 and his OBA went from .404 to .254 – in terms of a before- and after-facing-Kazmir.
Most believe that Abreu’s problem, during his slump, is that he’s stepping in the bucket and opening up too soon. Is this something that facing Kazmir has caused? The numbers present an interesting case.
http://www.waswatching.com
It’s stories like Peter’s last post – the one about Guidry and Bowa hanging with Wang – that keep me coming back to this site, especially after a tough loss like last night. I watched the HBO documentary about the Brooklyn Dodgers the other night – I would heartily recommend it, by the way – and I bet those fans would have gone crazy over insight like this.
As far as Sheffield’s comments go – so what? Putting them together with his history, and most recent comments about Latino ballplayers, and you know all you need. Torre and Jeter handled this just right, don’t even dignify the comments by saying anything. As an aside, I once saw an interview with Jeter, I think on 60 Minutes, where he said that he was the victim of racial taunts as a child growing up. I wonder how he felt, inside, after hearing Sheff say what he did about him (Jeter, that is).
Mondesi said something similar about Torre back in 2003 after he was traded for Dave Delucci, if I recall correctly. Who knows what goes on in that clubhouse?
Along the way, there have been some very happy Yankees of all colors and backgrounds under Joe Torre’s reign. Tim Raines, Luis Sojo, Scott Brosius, Tino Martinez, Tanyon Sturtze, Rondell White, Chili Davis to name but a few. Never from any of these former players did you hear anything like this when they retired or were traded. In fact, many had nothing but good things to say about Joe.
And with all due respect to Sheff, I just can’t see Joe turning to him and saying “I wish we signed Vlad and not you.” That’s just stupid and I can’t see any manager saying something like that to another player.
Sheffield obviously has a fragile ego and loves to prove people wrong. That’s an amazing driving factor in his game. He plays an angry brand of baseball which quite frankly we could use right now. I supported the trade when it happened but I do think it was a huge mistake in retrospect. Sanchez is an injury, and who knows what will become of Whelan or Clagget. But right now, we could depserately use his bat.
Inconnu, They had the dignity not to respond. E-ROC has it exactly right. This time “I’m not a racist” next time “I’m not a sexist”; bad line to go down. As for Jeter, you’re WAY off base. Why should the man have to defend his blackness or any other part of his identity? WOuld you have him looking like a fool like Mike “I’m really straight” Piazza?
Oh right, Raul Mondesi. The guy who up and left his team in 2004. Yeah, its funny how the guys who have bashed Torre and the Yankees are the guys who wind up in trouble wherever they go.
Just came up with the best Reality TV idea – “The Loud Mouths”
Sheffield and Schilling have to live together in a studio apartment. Whoever moves out first loses. It’d be too annoying to watch though.
Remember Reuben Sierra, in his first go ’round with the team? He was quoted as saying about Torre and the Yankees, “I can’t understand them. All they’re interested in is winning.”
Also remember that Sierra finally figured things out, and apologized to Torre. He eventually was re-acquired, and seemed to become an older statesman in the clubhouse, serving as a mentor to the younger players. Torre even made him manager-for-a-day at the end of one of the seasons.
Thank god we dont have sheffield any more!! He is a deadly posion that is unhappy with his life and likes to bring everyone down with him. I never ever liked the guy and never ever will. I think he is a crappy self centered person who doesnt give a hoot about anyone. Im glad those tigers have to deal with him, lucky them. I wish they would send him off somewhere so we’d never have to hear from him again!! Saying the Yankees are raciest is one thing but dissing Jeter is another and i have no repect for people like that.
Sheff has been an @ss his entire career, so this is hardly a surprise.
However, I was one of the few who wanted to keep him because the guy can still rake — big mouth or not.
Right now, there is little question that Sheff is the better fit in RF and a huge weapon against lefties that they’ve lacked all season.
Sheff has burned bridges wherever he’s played and it will happen again when he leaves DET.
Here’s a question–what cap would Sheff wear to the Hall if he is elected?
He seems like the type to want to go in as a Marlin because he’ll be the first guy to do so and he won his ring there.
LOL Steve Dvorak. As much as I really dislike both Sheff and Curt Schilling, I would love to watch that show. I feel that their obnoxious opinions differ enough that they’d get on each others’ nerves as much as they get on mine. Pitch it to YES! It cant’ be any worse than YES’s Ultimate Road Trip!
Sheffield is a great player and also a giant size jerk.. his respect nonsense is nonsesnse. Yea Mondesi was let go because hi=e is black!!!Maybe he got let go because he is a lazy malcontent ask Toronto and the dodgers. Yeah Bernie WIlliams(black) and Torre hated each other.. Torre treated Gordon great, they wanted him back but not for 4 yrs.. To me that seems like a good decision in retrospect..
If Torre is a racist I am a martian. The problem is SHeffiled can say anything he wants and he does but he is never made to pay for his moronic statements.. Detroit is playing with the Devil we will see when it blows up in there face………..
Stuart
LOL, “a martian!!!”
Um, Bernie Williams is Puerto Rican — not black.
Sheff is a great player. He’s a Hall of Fame player. He’ll be the first guy to go into the Hall with a Marlins hat on. But there’s a reason he’s bin on a trillion teams. This is what he does. Gary loves to play the ‘woe is me’ card. Give me a break. He’s such a baby. Yeah, the Yankees are racist. The only pure white guy in our starting lineup is our first baseman. And thats a mismatch rotation of Minky, Phelps and Philips. I mean if you want to be techinical Cairo has started at first just as much as any of those guys so we dont have any white starters. What is he even talking about? Everytime we he leaves a team he makes some rediculous acusation about someone. He needs to grow up and stop acting like the world is against him.
Shef must have a book coming out. Just because a person can hit a baseball doesn’t mean his opinions are intellegent or newsworthy. Making such a comment about Jeter is reprehensible. He should be called on it.
Andrea –
Nothing, NOTHING, is worse than YES’ Ultimate Road Trip especially this season.
There’s really nothing more to add to the Sheffield controversy. I will say, he does have his issues. If he had said that MLB in general has still not done much to improve the lot of African Americans in the upper levels of the game, I’d say he probably has a point. But to implicate Joe Torre specifically, it just doesn’t seem to jive with what the eyes see.
Joba pitching today for Trenton, going to the game. It should be awesome.
I’m so sick of this punk Sheffield. I wish somebody on this team or F.O had the guts to answer back. I know it’s not the “Yankee way” but how you going to let someone say something like that and not retort?
Remember last year with the White Sox GM and Frank Thomas?
“He’s an idiot. He’s selfish. That’s why we don’t miss him,” Williams said, responding to a Thomas interview.
Cashman would never do it but he should respond like. Show a little back bone, heck maybe it’ll fire up the team.
Then again, what do I know? White Sox missed the playoffs last year…
Oh wait a minute, we play them 8 times this year.
Maybe Sheffield will get an answer from our pitchers. *Hopefully*.
Dear Mr. Sheffield,
Shut up. There have been numerous blacks in the Yankees organization, and none yet have said they were/are being treated unfairly. Stop feeling victimized when you are “called out in a meeting unfairly” or “treated differently” its most likely not the fact that you are black, but the fact that you are an a–hole, and you use your race as a crutch whenever it benefits you most. But what should we expect from you. You blast every team you’ve ever played for once they realize that your attitude does more harm than good and they move on without you.
I’ve only really watched YES’s Ultimate Road Trip when waiting for a game to start or if I fall asleep with the TV on and end up watching it. What a craptastic show.
“Um, Bernie Williams is Puerto Rican—not black.”
———-
First, one can be black and not from the continental US. I’m sure Bernie WIlliams would disagree with that. Second, even if you’re going under the assumption that a Puerto RIcan cannot be black, his father was an African-American from Alabama who emigrated to Puerto Rico, which is where Bernie eventually grew up.
Sheff needs to shut it.
He’s having a monster year, and good on him for that, but the man is a lunatic and a cancer. I don’t care what Pete says about his interactions with the media and teammates: no group of people can possibly like a guy who spouts off “ME ME ME ME” garbage every three weeks.
The Commissioner’s office needs to step in. And Torre needs to file a libel suit against Mr. Sheffield.
As far as Sheff is concerned, as a black person myself, I’m just going to go out on a limb that if Torre didn’t like Sheff, it’s not because he’s black, it’s because he’s a known a-hole. An extremely talented a-hole, but an a-hole nonetheless.
Yeah, plunking Sheff will prove a point.
Damn, sarcasm alert isn’t working…
JeffG, let’s not blow this out of proportion.
Yes, Sheffield is probably a lunatic. So what? The team is owned by a lunatic and, on certain days, seemingly managed by one.
I’ve never bought into the “cancer” business for any player. First, I don’t care how the players get along with each other unless their relationships negatively impact their play. Second, there’s no evidence that players play worse when they don’t get along with their teammates. In Sheffield’s case, there’s no reason to think that having him around makes his teammates play worse. When you figure in his terrific hitting, the idea that he has a cumulatively negative impact on his team is nonsense.
Having Selig “step in” would be a terrible move. Sheffield is speaking his mind about an extremely important issue. This is not John Rocker trashing riders on the 7 train. Yes, Sheffield’s comments are probably false, but how can we know for sure? Baseball cannot send a message that it’s wrong to talk about racism in the sport, even if the talking is done in a crude and opportunistic way.
If Sheffield’s remarks can’t be taken seriously, why does Torre need to sue?
kenny–not necessarily. THis post seems to revolve around Sheff, or more accuratelly Sheff’s comments on the Yankees. It’s not as if the average Yankee fan spent his/her days looking at box scores to see what’s up with Gary Sheffield. He talked about the Yankees, so yankee fans are concerned.
I check the box scores on Sheff…because he’s on my fantasy team. I can’t hate him this season.
kenny, we traded Sheffield to Detroit and replaced him with Abreu. Sheffield is hitting like Sheffield and Abreu is hitting like he’s on horse tranquilizers. Also, our DH is crippled. All of this hurts. Pointing out that Sheffield is a crazy nutjob who says ludicrous things dulls the pain a little.
Andrew–Point taken. I amend my statement. It’s not as if the average Yankee fan who does not have Sheffield on his/her fantasy team spends his/her time checking box scores, etc.
Does anyone have any updated info on the position player that will be added? Looks like a bullpen might be sacrifice. There were rumors of the Yankees being interested in Dan Johnson, Erubiel Durazo, and Shea (DON’T EVER SIGN HIM) Hillenbrand.
I find it funny that Sheffield insinuates that other people are racist when IMO, he is clearly a racist himself. First he makes those uber-offensive comments about how Latin American players can be easily controlled. If that’s not offensive racial discrimination then what is?
Also, I just kinda skimmed these comments but I did see where someone mentioned that his comments about Jeter’s race are reprehensible..I couldn’t agree more. And that’s really what irked me more than anything else about this whole thing. Who does he think he is? How dare he decide that he is in a position to judge someone else’s racial identity or makeup? Whatever ethnic or racial group Jeter (or anyone) feels he identifies with is his own damn business, nobody else’s!
Ya know, ever since Farnsworth signed with the Yankees I have been waiting for him to get in a brawl. Here’s his golden opportunity! Sheffield will look worse than Paul Wilson and Jeremy Affeldt combined when Farnsy is done with him!
Eh…if Farns is still with the team when the Yanks play DET, that is. If not I guess Bruney and Proctor will just have to take care of bidness! Either way, this racist hypocrite is going down.
Sheff is professional with the media???!??
He may be accessable. He may always give good copy, but he is not professional!!
He is a baby. He doesn’t think of how his words reflect on him or his team, his teammates or well anyone. He talks rubbish and presents it as fact. NOt at all professional.
Also he is the most insecure person I can think of in professional sport. He is always looking at everything as a personal attack. Barry didn’t treat me like a man. Joe didn’t treat me like a man. Real men aren’t so insecure that they take any challenge or slight as an affront to their manhood. Barry wanted to buy me dinner, I’m a man I can pick up a cheque. Please. Someone stick his pacifier back in the big baby’s mouth before he comes out with more stupid, hurtful and quite frankly libelous statements.
Another thought. Why does babseball not do something about people who continually make harmful and unwaranted comments like this.
In Britain, soccer players who make comments like that which are not based on any fact could find themselves suspended or fined for ‘bringing the game into disrepute’. It is harmful to the sport, and personal attacks like that should not be allowed by the league.
Bud should at least call him into a meeting and tell him to shut his mouth.
Jeremy
Libel is a claim based on the speaker’s words being false. That’s the whole point. And one of the things the false words need to impact a person’s professional reputation. If Sheff is spewing falsehoods about Torre’s racist tenancies, that is very damaging to Torre’s professional reputation.
The Commissioner needs to step in, again, precisely because every indication is Sheff’s comments are false. Not only are they false, they are malicious , incredibly damaging (because despite their falseness, there are some people who WILL give them credence), and tarnish one of the sports premiere franchises and managers.
Charges of racism are very serious. They should not lose their impact because of the grossly reckless spewing of a nut like Gary Sheffield. The sport has enough real race issues to deal with. Made up ones hurt everyone.
It’s hard to prove defamation in situations like this.
Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson have made their careers out of race-baiting and nobody has ever filed a lawsuit against them for defamation.
Chuckles,
all Torre would have to show is that Sheff’s statements were false, and that that they were recklessly made. I’d say those two bases are covered.
Of course Torre won;t be suing. But there’s no reason the Commissioner’s office shouldn’t fine and suspend Sheff.
It’s not that easy, Jeff.
You said “sue him for defamation.” Your two bases aren’t covered at all.
If it were that easy, Al and Jesse wouldn’t have careers.
Secondly, Selig won’t do anything and I don’t think it’s his place to step in either.
No, I said sue him for libel.
And I’m not quite sure what your Jackson and Sharpton comments have to do with anything.
But I do know, is that in this case, If Torre knows Sheff’s comments to be patently false, and those comments have a detrimental effect on Torre’s professional reputation, and those comments have been published in a written medium, that is the basic definition of libel.
You’re free to your opinion on what the Commissioner’s office should or should not do. But if the office isn’t there to keep players from destroying the reputation;s of it’s teams and their managers with false accusations, I don’t know what the heck a Commissioner is paid to do.
This is all, of course, premised on the assumption that Sheff’s comments are false.
“And I’m not quite sure what your Jackson and Sharpton comments have to do with anything.”
Are you kidding?
Nobody on planet Earth uses the race card more recklessly than Sharpton and Jackson and neither of them are ever taken to task for it.
That is just one reason why Torre would just be wasting his time.
Frankly, if throwing down the race card didn’t work — nobody would ever use it.
Selig isn’t going to step in because he doesn’t know what goes on in the Yankee clubhouse. I’m sure he doesn’t believe Torre is a racist, but he can’t prove Sheff wrong either.
You’re not going to see Selig fine or suspend someone on an issue he can’t prove — which is why he unleashed a dog like Mitchell to go after Bonds and other alleged roid users.
I guess the bigoted Mr Sheffield forgot how the Yankees and Joe torre bent over backward for Daryl Strawberry and Sheffield’s loser uncle, Dwight Godden.
I just finished reading Sheffield’s quote(s) regarding Joe Torre in today’s NY Times. They are very hurtful words to read in newsprint. In a way, I feel badly that the prism through which Sheffield views his world is decidedly unrosy.
But one of the things that struck me was that I recall when he realized that the Yankees were going to trade him, that he desperately sought out George Steinbrenner to try to circumvent Cashman’s actions. The question is, if he felt that Joe Torre was guilty of “treating blacks differently,” why was he so eager to stay? Even if Torre only treated HIM differently, why would he want to stay? If Torre called him out in a manner he felt was unfair (and in the paper he went on to say that he called a white player into his office and treated him like a man instead of making an example of him in front of everyone), why did he want to stay?
I wasn’t there. But I propose that Torre may have held him out as an example because he knew what an influence he was in the clubhouse. Maybe not the best strategy, and maybe if you’re going to do that you owe it to the person to explain your actions, but perhaps that was the scenario. Like I said, I don’t know, I wasn’t there. I only saw a manager who respected the talent of this player so much that he put him into a playoff lineup when clearly that player was not ready. I never heard one negative word about Sheffield from Torre or saw anything negative in print. Now, perhaps Torre originally had a preference for a different player (also black, mind you, although perhaps also Latin, so I guess in Sheff’s eyes that doesn’t count); but the fact remains that for the 3 years Sheffield was with the Yankees, he was counted on as major player there by his manager. What else can a human being do?
hmmm after a gazillion years of playing and managing in the major leagues, imagine my chagrin to find out, torre fooled us all but sheff. the sheff knows!! am i the only one who thinks that if torre was a racist, the stuff would have it the shingle, a long time ago?
sheff you are one bad dude on the field, you’re exciting to watch. now if you just had the same class as most of the others in the game. sheff you could almost be lovable.