Johan Santana #57
Bench Warmer
CLEVELAND -- Gary Sheffield believes Major League umpires are treating him differently this year, and he said as much Friday afternoon. The news that followed didn't make him feel any better.
MLB vice president of on-field operations Bob Watson handed down a three-game suspension to Sheffield for his ejection and altercation with home-plate umpire Greg Gibson on Thursday night at Jacobs Field. Sheffield immediately appealed the suspension, allowing him to remain in the lineup for the short-handed Tigers until he receives a hearing and a subsequent ruling.
Given how strongly Sheffield feels about it, that appeal could be interesting.
"I've been suspended for breaking up a fight and holding a guy," Sheffield said. "I've been suspended in Chicago for going to the edge of the stands and pulling a guy out of the stands. Basically, they just want me to be on the field with handcuffs on and duct tape on my lips."
Sheffield was ejected in the fifth inning of Thursday's 11-5 loss to the Indians. He disputed called strikes by Gibson on the first two pitches of his at-bat, then hit a broken-bat ground ball to second. He tossed the splintered handle of his bat behind him as he began to run towards first base.
Gibson immediately ejected him. Crew chief Charlie Reliford told the Detroit Free Press after the game that they believed Sheffield threw the bat handle intentionally in Gibson's direction, a charge Sheffield vehemently denied on Friday.
Once Sheffield realized he was out of the game, he yelled back at Gibson and eventually charged toward him. Manager Jim Leyland held him back initially before catcher Ivan Rodriguez and first-base coach Andy Van Slyke intervened.
Sheffield doesn't remember Rodriguez and Leyland holding him back. That's how angry he was.
It wasn't just the suspension that Sheffield had a problem with, since it hadn't yet been handed down. It wasn't even just the ejection. To Sheffield, it's the way he feels umpires are calling strikes on him.
"I've been dealing with it all year," Sheffield said. "I haven't said one word to an umpire until [Thursday]. I constantly walk up there and before I even swing the bat, there's two strikes. It just caught me on the wrong day. It just hit a boiling point with me. It gets old."
Sheffield is annually among the most selective hitters in baseball, willing to take pitches just off the corner rather than chase them. He has four seasons with more than 100 walks in his 20-year Major League career, and he hasn't drawn fewer than 70 walks in a season with more than 100 games played since 1993.
This year, however, he feels as if umpires are calling more strikes off the corners against him.
"I've walked 100 times numerous times, and I know how to walk," said Sheffield, who entered Friday with 31 walks in 233 plate appearances this year. "But it's almost impossible to know when not to swing. I mean, I used to walk up there and know I didn't have to swing at [a certain pitch], because I know it's going to be called a ball. Pitchers don't have to work hard to get you out anymore. That's the bottom line, and I'm not going to hide that from anyone."
"I've been dealing with it all year. I haven't said one word to an umpire until [Thursday]. I constantly walk up there and before I even swing the bat, there's two strikes. It just caught me on the wrong day. It just hit a boiling point with me. It gets old."
-- Gary Sheffield
In Thursday's tumultuous at-bat, Sheffield said he paused after the first pitch to let Gibson know the pitch was high. The next pitch, Sheffield said, was "a foot and a half inside -- [it] almost hit me. So I turn out of the way, and he calls it a strike. I told him, 'That's not a strike. Make him earn the strikes.' That's all I said, and then he yells at me."
On the accusation of throwing the bat handle at Gibson, Sheffield said, "If I want to throw a bat at an umpire, I will turn around and throw it at him. I'm running down the baseline. I only had a piece of a handle in my hand, and I threw it towards our dugout. I threw the bat down and was letting him know I was ticked off, and that's it, and then he said something to me.
"He told me I don't throw the bat like that. I said, 'Last time I checked, I paid for it. I can throw it how I want. How should I throw my bat?' He said, 'You're out of here.'"
Sheffield said he then asked if he'd just been kicked out of the game. When told yes, Sheffield recalled, "That's when I told him how I felt about him as a person and as an umpire. If you make a bad call, just say you made a bad call, and then be done with it."
Sheffield suggested the ejection, too, was a double standard. He said he saw Devil Rays second baseman B.J. Upton chew out an umpire while at the plate earlier this week and remain in the game to hit a double.
"And then I throw a bat, and I'm kicked out of the game," Sheffield said. "This is what I'm talking about, how the game has charged. And as a veteran player, I don't appreciate it."
Asked before the suspension came down about disciplinary action, he said, "There's always a concern when it comes to me. The thing is they always want to go on reputation. The bottom line is you ought to look at each situation the way it goes down as opposed to the individual. Look at each situation. I have a right to throw my bat just like anybody else."
Part of the problem with containing his temper this season, Sheffield said, is the fact that he's DHing. Instead of taking out his frustrations by making a play in the field, he's left between at-bats in the dugout or the clubhouse with the previous at-bat still on his mind. It's an adjustment he knows he needs to make, but he also knows how his temper can get.
"I don't like getting like this," he said, "because I know how far I can go. That's why Major League Baseball had better be careful, too. I'm trying to restrain myself, and they'd better restrain themselves, too, with how this stuff goes. Because I get tired of being in the right, and then it always comes out wrong. If you want to expose me, then I'm going to expose you."
Asked what he meant a couple minutes later, he said, "Just read into that however you want. But it won't be pretty. I promise you that."
Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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MLB vice president of on-field operations Bob Watson handed down a three-game suspension to Sheffield for his ejection and altercation with home-plate umpire Greg Gibson on Thursday night at Jacobs Field. Sheffield immediately appealed the suspension, allowing him to remain in the lineup for the short-handed Tigers until he receives a hearing and a subsequent ruling.
Given how strongly Sheffield feels about it, that appeal could be interesting.
"I've been suspended for breaking up a fight and holding a guy," Sheffield said. "I've been suspended in Chicago for going to the edge of the stands and pulling a guy out of the stands. Basically, they just want me to be on the field with handcuffs on and duct tape on my lips."
Sheffield was ejected in the fifth inning of Thursday's 11-5 loss to the Indians. He disputed called strikes by Gibson on the first two pitches of his at-bat, then hit a broken-bat ground ball to second. He tossed the splintered handle of his bat behind him as he began to run towards first base.
Gibson immediately ejected him. Crew chief Charlie Reliford told the Detroit Free Press after the game that they believed Sheffield threw the bat handle intentionally in Gibson's direction, a charge Sheffield vehemently denied on Friday.
Once Sheffield realized he was out of the game, he yelled back at Gibson and eventually charged toward him. Manager Jim Leyland held him back initially before catcher Ivan Rodriguez and first-base coach Andy Van Slyke intervened.
Sheffield doesn't remember Rodriguez and Leyland holding him back. That's how angry he was.
It wasn't just the suspension that Sheffield had a problem with, since it hadn't yet been handed down. It wasn't even just the ejection. To Sheffield, it's the way he feels umpires are calling strikes on him.
"I've been dealing with it all year," Sheffield said. "I haven't said one word to an umpire until [Thursday]. I constantly walk up there and before I even swing the bat, there's two strikes. It just caught me on the wrong day. It just hit a boiling point with me. It gets old."
Sheffield is annually among the most selective hitters in baseball, willing to take pitches just off the corner rather than chase them. He has four seasons with more than 100 walks in his 20-year Major League career, and he hasn't drawn fewer than 70 walks in a season with more than 100 games played since 1993.
This year, however, he feels as if umpires are calling more strikes off the corners against him.
"I've walked 100 times numerous times, and I know how to walk," said Sheffield, who entered Friday with 31 walks in 233 plate appearances this year. "But it's almost impossible to know when not to swing. I mean, I used to walk up there and know I didn't have to swing at [a certain pitch], because I know it's going to be called a ball. Pitchers don't have to work hard to get you out anymore. That's the bottom line, and I'm not going to hide that from anyone."
"I've been dealing with it all year. I haven't said one word to an umpire until [Thursday]. I constantly walk up there and before I even swing the bat, there's two strikes. It just caught me on the wrong day. It just hit a boiling point with me. It gets old."
-- Gary Sheffield
In Thursday's tumultuous at-bat, Sheffield said he paused after the first pitch to let Gibson know the pitch was high. The next pitch, Sheffield said, was "a foot and a half inside -- [it] almost hit me. So I turn out of the way, and he calls it a strike. I told him, 'That's not a strike. Make him earn the strikes.' That's all I said, and then he yells at me."
On the accusation of throwing the bat handle at Gibson, Sheffield said, "If I want to throw a bat at an umpire, I will turn around and throw it at him. I'm running down the baseline. I only had a piece of a handle in my hand, and I threw it towards our dugout. I threw the bat down and was letting him know I was ticked off, and that's it, and then he said something to me.
"He told me I don't throw the bat like that. I said, 'Last time I checked, I paid for it. I can throw it how I want. How should I throw my bat?' He said, 'You're out of here.'"
Sheffield said he then asked if he'd just been kicked out of the game. When told yes, Sheffield recalled, "That's when I told him how I felt about him as a person and as an umpire. If you make a bad call, just say you made a bad call, and then be done with it."
Sheffield suggested the ejection, too, was a double standard. He said he saw Devil Rays second baseman B.J. Upton chew out an umpire while at the plate earlier this week and remain in the game to hit a double.
"And then I throw a bat, and I'm kicked out of the game," Sheffield said. "This is what I'm talking about, how the game has charged. And as a veteran player, I don't appreciate it."
Asked before the suspension came down about disciplinary action, he said, "There's always a concern when it comes to me. The thing is they always want to go on reputation. The bottom line is you ought to look at each situation the way it goes down as opposed to the individual. Look at each situation. I have a right to throw my bat just like anybody else."
Part of the problem with containing his temper this season, Sheffield said, is the fact that he's DHing. Instead of taking out his frustrations by making a play in the field, he's left between at-bats in the dugout or the clubhouse with the previous at-bat still on his mind. It's an adjustment he knows he needs to make, but he also knows how his temper can get.
"I don't like getting like this," he said, "because I know how far I can go. That's why Major League Baseball had better be careful, too. I'm trying to restrain myself, and they'd better restrain themselves, too, with how this stuff goes. Because I get tired of being in the right, and then it always comes out wrong. If you want to expose me, then I'm going to expose you."
Asked what he meant a couple minutes later, he said, "Just read into that however you want. But it won't be pretty. I promise you that."
Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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