Sheffield Is Still Cooking Despite His Sins of Past

He is as unpredictable as weather in the Midwest. You could go broke trying to bet on what Gary Sheffield will do next.

When he came to the Dodgers in 1998 he was supposed to be a clubhouse problem. Within a year, he had become a team leader.

When all was supposed to be calm at this year’s spring training, he ignited a brush fire by first demanding a contract extension, then a trade, all while trashing Dodger Chairman Bob Daly.

Even after he took it all back and apologized, wasn’t he still going to be a problem? Would he dog it on the field to get back at the Dodgers?

Uh, no. Very quietly, he’s at the heart of this team’s run for the pennant. No beef, just timely hits--and a lot of assumptions that have been shredded like losing betting slips at the track.

“We always go through that,” Sheffield said. “Gary, Gary, Gary. But the thing is, the quicker anybody and everybody stops looking to see what Gary is going to do and looking other places, then you’ll find you don’t have anything to worry about when it comes to me.”

In a telephone interview from Pittsburgh, where the Dodgers are playing the Pirates, he said once again that he would like to stay with the Dodgers, that he has sold his house in Florida and that he and his wife like Los Angeles. He even said his relationship with Daly can be salvaged.

“Absolutely,” he said. “I know what I can do on the baseball field; he knows what he can do as an owner. You just let me go out there and play. I’ll give you what you want. You tell me what you want to do and I’ll give it to you.

“I think it already has [been repaired], to be honest with you. These last two months can put the icing on the cake. It’s just being normal. That’s the way I can describe it.”

Daly says their relationship is better than ever. He said the crisis forced him to get to know Sheffield.

“What I found is that he definitely has a strong passion to win,” Daly said. “We share that passion.”

They discovered their wives share a passion for music. DeLeon Sheffield is a singer and Daly’s wife, Carole Bayer Sager, is a songwriter. DeLeon Sheffield sent a copy of her new album to Sager.

“She loved it,” Daly said.

On the field, Sheffield thinks the team is winning because it has a harmonious blend of veterans and young guys, plus the right attitude.

“I think we’re more hungry than ever,” he said. “I don’t see us sitting and laying down for anybody. If you’re going to beat us, you’re going to have to fight us. We have that fight in us that I’ve never seen since I’ve been here.”

Sheffield, batting third, and cleanup hitter Shawn Green have given the Dodgers a potent duo in the heart of the lineup. Green’s success ensures Sheffield won’t be pitched around very often. And Sheffield keeps extending innings to get Green opportunities to come to the plate with runners on base.

You hear cheers only when Sheffield’s name is announced at Dodger Stadium these days. He has a .306 batting average with 25 home runs and 63 runs batted in. He’s doing it all with a broken left middle finger that sent him to the disabled list and hasn’t been right since.

His on-base percentage of .419 is the highest among Dodger regulars and puts him among the top 10 in the National League. His 66 walks also rank among league leaders.

His willingness to take walks developed after a conversation with Barry and Bobby Bonds when Sheffield played for the Florida Marlins.

He asked Barry how he could be so patient at the plate, and they told him that the more patient he was, the more impressive his numbers would be, because most power hitters don’t walk 100 times.

The other key to Sheffield’s improvement while with the Marlins was General Manager Dave Dombrowski.

“He’s good at developing,” Sheffield said. “He’s good at talking to you and telling you what he expects out of you, telling you what his plans are for you.”

The closest thing Sheffield has found to Dombrowski in the Dodger front office is interim General Manager Dave Wallace.

“The thing is that, he’s a baseball guy,” Sheffield said. “I can talk with him, with a person that understands the game.”

But his main man in the organization is center fielder Marquis Grissom. Although Grissom, 34, is only two years older than Sheffield, he has served as mentor to him--as well as other team members. Dodger officials credit him with easing Sheffield back into the fold after the tumultuous spring.

Sheffield said the chemistry he shares with Grissom makes him a better outfielder, that “Grip” helps with his positioning.

Grissom, with 17 home runs, is having one of his better seasons in recent years. But he does not fill the team’s need for a leadoff hitter at a position that’s usually suited for the role.

He’s under contract for $5 million for next season, with a team option for another $5 million in 2003. Interestingly, that’s the same year Sheffield’s guaranteed contract expires. The team has an option at $11 million for 2004, but you can be sure talk of an extension will resurface before.

Right now, Sheffield’s main concern is that Grissom stays around.

“I feel like if he’s not here, I’m not here,” Sheffield said.

“There’s the guy, that’s the situation I’m going to be watching the most. In my mind, I don’t even look at how I feel it’s going to go. I look at how I feel it’s going to have to go.”

And if the Dodgers send Grissom on his way?

“Then we’ll have to look at some things and see what happens,” Sheffield said.

If rain falls, at least this time you can say you saw it coming.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at [email protected].