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He's back Sheffield reports quietly to Dodgers camp
Updated: Saturday February 24, 2001 3:09 PM
VERO BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- A day after calling the Los Angeles Dodgers liars and saying they misled the public, Gary Sheffield arrived at the team's spring training camp. Following his first workout Friday, the 32-year-old outfielder waved away a group of reporters, saying: "I know what you guys want, but I'm tired. I'll give you all something tomorrow." He had plenty to say to the Los Angeles Times on Thursday, ripping Dodgers' chairman Bob Daly, accusing the organization of lying about his desire to be traded, and portraying him as a "greedy athlete" in the wake of his request for a contract extension. "He wants to make me look as bad as possible to take the attention off his organization and the bad moves they've made," Sheffield said of Daly in Friday's editions of the Times. "That's fine with me. The ball is in their court, and if they want to play it that way, I can play it that way, too. That just makes it tougher, and I can get tougher. They haven't seen how tough I can get.
"I never demanded to be traded. I never demanded to have my contract torn up. That's what they want people to think, but it doesn't matter if somebody lies when you know the truth." Dodgers senior vice president Derrick Hall denied the team lied about Sheffield's trade demands. "It does no good to point fingers. However, I can tell you we were given those three teams for the organization to explore a possible trade," Hall said Friday, explaining that Sheffield asked to be dealt to the New York Yankees, New York Mets or Atlanta Braves when Daly said no to a lifetime contract request. "The only reason he would be upset with Bob Daly in my opinion is that Bob is the one who rejected his lifetime contract proposal," Hall said. Sheffield, who met with first-year Dodgers manager Jim Tracy early Friday, rushed out of the clubhouse well after the team had gone through its warmups and joined the rest of the outfielders for fielding drills and batting practice. Only outfielder Devon White, who earlier this week asked to be traded, gave Sheffield a hug when he finally joined his teammates. Other players appeared cool at best when asked to describe their reaction to Sheffield's arrival. "All I have to say is that it's behind us and we're moving on," right fielder Shawn Green said. Sheffield claims he didn't make comments attributed to him by USA Today Baseball Weekly that were critical of other Dodgers. "I would never do that; that's absurd," he told the Times. "I would never talk about other guys' contracts. That's not an issue to me. The only issue was Gary Sheffield wanting to be a lifetime Dodger. I was making money before a lot of those guys were. Why would I care about their money? I've got money to go buy whatever I want." Sheffield's work ethic on his first day in camp pleased Tracy. "I give him all the credit in the world," the manager said. "He came here and did his work just like he said he would. That's all you can ask for." Tracy declined to elaborate on what happened during his meeting with Sheffield. "All I want to say is that the things that needed to be said were said," Tracy said. "You can't sit down and expect to change a person's mind. That's impossible. We sat down, talked and came to closure. We're moving on." Tracy came away from his meeting so satisfied, he said he would have no problems if Sheffield was in his starting lineup on opening day. "If Gary's situation is resolved and he's here, I anticipate that he will go out on the field with the same intensity he had when he hit 43 home runs and (109) RBIs he had last year," Tracy said. "I don't think he'll let me down." However, it seems highly unlikely both sides can mend the fences considering what's happened in the last week or so. "Anything is possible, and any relationship can be salvaged," Hall said. "Trading Gary Sheffield remains as one of the alternatives, and the team is continuing to explore opportunities with interested organizations." Sheffield made it clear he wants to be with the Yankees, Mets or Braves. "If they keep me, I will play," he said. "But I don't want to hit one more home run for the Dodgers. I'll put the uniform on, but you know I don't want it on and they know I don't want it on. My mind is going to be on one of those three teams and how I can get there."
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