Sheffield Needs To Hit One More and Go Home

After last night’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Gary Sheffield sits just one home run away from 500 for his career. This is something of a miracle considering what a sham of a season it’s been for the Detroit Tigers and how terribly Sheffield has played.

As a DH, he’s supposed to put up big numbers. As of now, he’s batting .228 with 19 homers and 56 RBI. As a power hitter he’s not exactly supposed to have a .300 average (though he’s hitting .292 lifetime). But his numbers are about half a seasons worth of decent stats. Those numbers should be 38 homers with 112 RBI.

Granted, this season hasn’t exactly been a bed of roses, especially for Sheffield. He’s been injured way too often, despite saying at times that he considered himself healthy enough to be an everyday outfielder. When he was healthy, he didn’t produce and when he didn’t produce, he was benched. When he was benched, he complained he wasn’t playing enough to make an impact.

His recent four-game suspension for getting in a fight with Cleveland’s Fausto Carmona, sums up Sheffield’s season all too well: all talk and no numbers to show for it. While the managers tried to diffuse the incident after the game, Sheffield swore revenge on any Indians players involved, and if he plays beyond this season, no doubt he’ll try and get it. For someone making $13M a year with an on-base percentage of .325, Sheffield needed to just shut up and play. It’s great that he’s got a big mouth, but given the position his team was in and his disgraceful numbers, he needed to move on; especially with only a week and a half left in the season.

So with reference to last night’s game, I issue a plea to the pitching staffs of both the Rays and the Chicago White Sox: please let Sheffield hit one home run so he can retire.

There’s no denying Sheffield’s had a great career. He’ll go down in history as one of the most careful hitters in the game and 500 dingers will give him a strong case for making the Hall of Fame. But now he is just a shadow of his former self. He’s been hampered by injuries, and makes way too much money not to consistently produce. This season he’s been stagnant in a Tigers lineup that despite its many problems has seen Miguel Cabrera put up great numbers after an adjustment period to the AL. Magglio Ordonez has had another great season and prospects have shown glimpses of a promising future for Detroit. But still Sheffield remains, with most of his at-bats ending with a pop up, a home run, or a long lineout.

Maybe with an off-season of rest, rehabilitation and a move to another team, Sheffield can still be that exciting and feared hitter he used to be. But at 39, it’s not like he’s putting up the numbers Barry Bonds did at that age. Better that he just hit one more home run and go home.

So pitchers, when Gary Sheffield steps up to bat during the next three games, do the right thing, just once.  Serve up a slow, hanging curve ball or a fastball right down the middle and let him knock it out of the park. Let him round the bases one more time, with the crowd cheering him on. Let him finally reach the milestone and get on with his post-baseball life. For the good of the Tigers and every other team in baseball, give him that last home run.

Please.