Yankees: Sheffield hurt by cutting remarks
Thursday, March 11, 2004
BY DAN GRAZIANO
Star-Ledger Staff
DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Yankees right fielder Gary Sheffield walked out of the trainer's room and into the Yankees' clubhouse just after 9:30 a.m. yesterday and he was mad.
"The one thing that (ticked) me off was that it was out there that I might need surgery before anybody said anything to me, and it's going to be dealt with," he said. "I'm hearing (Yankees general manager Brian) Cashman and all these guys talking about I might need surgery, and I'm not happy about it."
About an hour later, word of Sheffield's pique reached Cashman, who was propping open his eyelids in an effort to get through a tedious arbitration debriefing in Clearwater. Cashman excused himself from his meeting, got in his car and sped back over the Courtney Campbell Causeway into Tampa, where he met with Sheffield at Legends Field.
"We had a great discussion," Cashman said later. "This is not an issue. It's closed. But it certainly was (an issue), and that's why I felt it was important enough to drive over and have that meeting."
Brian Cashman, welcome to life as Gary Sheffield's employer. If history is any indication, this won't be the last of those meetings.
The source of Sheffield's anger was Cashman's statement Monday that Sheffield's injured right thumb might require surgery that would keep him out of action as long as three months. Sheffield, who never intended to have surgery despite a torn ligament in the thumb, was shocked to see the panicked headlines in the Tuesday newspapers in New York, where he was having his thumb examined.
Last year, when he suffered the same injury as a member of the Atlanta Braves, Sheffield and the team were able to keep it quiet. And that's the way Sheffield liked it.
"If I let people know my thumb was hurting, they (pitchers) might try to come inside more, maybe try to hit me on it," Sheffield said.
But during their meeting, Cashman explained to Sheffield the difference between Atlanta, where two newspapers cover the team, and New York, where they deal with eight newspapers and two major talk radio stations and TV, etc.
"The fishbowl atmosphere of this situation is something new for him and Atlanta deals with things differently than we do," Cashman said. "I just explained that, if there's an issue here, everybody's going to know about it."
Sheffield has something of a history of feuding with authority figures. He once called Florida Marlins GM Dave Dombrowski a liar during a contract dispute and he ripped Los Angeles Dodgers GM Kevin Malone and manager Davey Johnson during his time in L.A.
"Whatever has happened elsewhere, I only know what's happened with me," Cashman said. "And we had a very good, respectful meeting."
Sheffield injured his thumb falling in the outfield as he chased after a ball in Saturday's game. An MRI taken Sunday revealed the torn ligament, which is why the Yankees sent Sheffield to New York for tests and discussed the idea of surgery. But Sheffield had a similar injury in the second half of last season, and he still put up monster numbers for the Braves. So, even though he said he probably would have surgery after this season, he believes he can play with it right now.
"I just don't want to get cut on," Sheffield said. "And it's not going to be something I'm going to want to talk about all year, either. If I go out on the field every day and I don't get any hits for three or four days, I don't want to answer any questions about my thumb." For now, the Yankees are pleased that Sheffield wants to tough it out. And as long as he hits the way he's supposed to hit, they'll leave him alone.
"Ultimately, he's going to tell us," Cashman said. "We're going to treat the patient, not the injury right now. And with this patient, right now it doesn't look like this is going to be a problem."
wil.
Thursday, March 11, 2004
BY DAN GRAZIANO
Star-Ledger Staff
DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Yankees right fielder Gary Sheffield walked out of the trainer's room and into the Yankees' clubhouse just after 9:30 a.m. yesterday and he was mad.
"The one thing that (ticked) me off was that it was out there that I might need surgery before anybody said anything to me, and it's going to be dealt with," he said. "I'm hearing (Yankees general manager Brian) Cashman and all these guys talking about I might need surgery, and I'm not happy about it."
About an hour later, word of Sheffield's pique reached Cashman, who was propping open his eyelids in an effort to get through a tedious arbitration debriefing in Clearwater. Cashman excused himself from his meeting, got in his car and sped back over the Courtney Campbell Causeway into Tampa, where he met with Sheffield at Legends Field.
"We had a great discussion," Cashman said later. "This is not an issue. It's closed. But it certainly was (an issue), and that's why I felt it was important enough to drive over and have that meeting."
Brian Cashman, welcome to life as Gary Sheffield's employer. If history is any indication, this won't be the last of those meetings.
The source of Sheffield's anger was Cashman's statement Monday that Sheffield's injured right thumb might require surgery that would keep him out of action as long as three months. Sheffield, who never intended to have surgery despite a torn ligament in the thumb, was shocked to see the panicked headlines in the Tuesday newspapers in New York, where he was having his thumb examined.
Last year, when he suffered the same injury as a member of the Atlanta Braves, Sheffield and the team were able to keep it quiet. And that's the way Sheffield liked it.
"If I let people know my thumb was hurting, they (pitchers) might try to come inside more, maybe try to hit me on it," Sheffield said.
But during their meeting, Cashman explained to Sheffield the difference between Atlanta, where two newspapers cover the team, and New York, where they deal with eight newspapers and two major talk radio stations and TV, etc.
"The fishbowl atmosphere of this situation is something new for him and Atlanta deals with things differently than we do," Cashman said. "I just explained that, if there's an issue here, everybody's going to know about it."
Sheffield has something of a history of feuding with authority figures. He once called Florida Marlins GM Dave Dombrowski a liar during a contract dispute and he ripped Los Angeles Dodgers GM Kevin Malone and manager Davey Johnson during his time in L.A.
"Whatever has happened elsewhere, I only know what's happened with me," Cashman said. "And we had a very good, respectful meeting."
Sheffield injured his thumb falling in the outfield as he chased after a ball in Saturday's game. An MRI taken Sunday revealed the torn ligament, which is why the Yankees sent Sheffield to New York for tests and discussed the idea of surgery. But Sheffield had a similar injury in the second half of last season, and he still put up monster numbers for the Braves. So, even though he said he probably would have surgery after this season, he believes he can play with it right now.
"I just don't want to get cut on," Sheffield said. "And it's not going to be something I'm going to want to talk about all year, either. If I go out on the field every day and I don't get any hits for three or four days, I don't want to answer any questions about my thumb." For now, the Yankees are pleased that Sheffield wants to tough it out. And as long as he hits the way he's supposed to hit, they'll leave him alone.
"Ultimately, he's going to tell us," Cashman said. "We're going to treat the patient, not the injury right now. And with this patient, right now it doesn't look like this is going to be a problem."
wil.
