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Inside Baseball
Posted: Tuesday April 10, 2001 2:37 PM
After the Storm
Having cleared the air in L.A., Gary Sheffield is winning over fans with his play By
Stephen Cannella 
Before their home opener against the Brewers last week, several Dodgers players
and coaches greeted fans entering Dodger Stadium with smiles, handshakes and
souvenir towels. One member of the welcoming committee was outfielder Gary
Sheffield, who, in the wake of his sign-me-trade-me-keep-me squabble with the
front office during spring training, had heard boos even from the staid crowds
at the team's home in Vero Beach, Fla. After saying he might not summon maximum
effort every day -- so distraught was he still to be wearing Dodger
blue -- Sheffield was the target of fans' wrath throughout the team's final
exhibition games. How, then, did L.A. fans react when they met Sheffield at a
stadium gate, towel in hand? "Everybody was polite," Sheffield says.
"Everybody had kind
words."
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Sheffield, who turned Opening Day boos to cheers with a home run, says
he's finished
complaining. Tom Dipace |
Perhaps Sheffield was being diplomatic -- certainly, not everyone was polite
an hour or so later, when he stepped onto the field and was greeted with
boos -- but his discretion was welcome. Since changing his tune to indicate
that he'll play out the final three seasons of his six-year, $61 million
contract without complaint, Sheffield has defused an explosive situation by
saying little and concentrating on baseball. He hit .314 with three homers in 19
spring games, then won over that L.A. crowd with a sparkling catch in leftfield
and a game-winning home run on an Opening Day that had enough emotional swings
to embarrass even the schmaltziest Hollywood screenwriter. Through Sunday he was
hitting .286 with two RBIs and, save for scattered boos that still greeted his
at bats as L.A. won two of three from the Giants last weekend, there were few
reminders of the storm that five weeks ago threatened to shred the
team.
"To hear the fans boo him was not a good feeling," Los Angeles
reliever Mike Fetters said after the opener. "We all have contract disputes
and problems with the front office. It just so happens that he's our franchise
guy. Then to hear them chanting his name at the end of the game was
great."
Sheffield gained that clubhouse support on March 13 in a closed-door session
with the team, during which he gave his side of the dispute with chairman Bob
Daly, apologized for insulting remarks he had made about other Dodgers' deals
and took questions and comments from his teammates. "There was some back
and forth," says second baseman Mark Grudzielanek. "When we walked out
of there we decided that we're a team and that we have to move on."
That sentiment is accompanied by the realization that Los Angeles is a vastly
better team with Sheffield, its leading run producer, than without him. As long
as he does his job and avoids controversy, his teammates can let bygones be
bygones. In the midst of his contract flap, Sheffield changed agents, hiring
Scott Boras to help repair his relationship with Dodgers management. Boras
persuaded Sheffield that the slugger should honor his contract and drop his
trade demand. "I have four other clients on this team who are
pitchers," says Boras. "They need Gary Sheffield to
win."
Issue date: April 16, 2001
For more Inside Baseball see this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands Wednesday, April 11. Click here to subscribe to SI.
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