Gary Sheffield wants it all in Atlanta; Braves outfielder would like to play until he's 40, win another World Series and add Hall of Fame credentials to his major league career - American Baseball League - Statistical Data Included

Baseball Digest, July, 2002 by Thomas Stinson

"We looked at my first four years," said Sheffield, who produced a total of 21 homers and 133 RBI in four seasons with Milwaukee. "I was playing injured all the rime. I saw a stat on per-game production, and I was in the top three for the last 10 years. My only problem was staying on the field.

"Barry said, `Do you realize if you just hit 180 home runs, you're in the Hall of Fame?' When you're around Barry, you aim high."

Sheffield has set goals for three more World Series rifles to go with the one he won with the 1997 Florida Marlins. He wants to reach at least 560 home runs, which would leave him around the top ten all-time by the time his career comes to a close. He must average 33 per season for eight years to do it.

How to play until he would be 41 or 42? Bonds, besides helping him get into the best shape of his life, has him on a five-meals-a-day diet that, teamed with specialized weight training, helped redirect his careen The residual has been a redefined professional sense.

"I just played this game because I played it," Sheffield said. "It wasn't something that really motivated me to say, `I really want to be a baseball player.' I understand that now."

The bad reputation

That will bring a laugh in Los Angeles, where the Dodgers still talk as if they just awoke from a bad dream. Sheffield's off-and-on 10-month feud with management ran the full gamut: The team failed to negotiate a pledged long-term contract; newcomer Shawn Green was shown favoritism to justify his new 884 million contract; and the last straw, the Dodgers insisted to Sheffield that he would not be traded and then offered him i0 Oakland last December.

"It set a tone for the whole (2001) season," said catcher Paul LoDuca, who says he likes Sheffield. "And I think a lot of guys walked lightly around Gary. That's something you don't want in a clubhouse."

"We were wondering, `What's the deal? What's going to happen next?'" infielder Mark Grudzielanek said. "No question, that was triggered during 2001 spring training.... We're probably a better team in the clubhouse, and hopefully it will show on the field."

That might also bring a laugh in Milwaukee, Sheffield's first club. A pre-season favorite for 1989 rookie of the year, the 19-year-old shortstop was demoted in July for "indifferent fielding," even while he insisted his foot was hurt. Only at Class AAA Denver was he diagnosed with a broken foot, and when he returned to Wisconsin, he was converted to third base, setting off a three-year squabble over how he was treated.

A final straw came in spring training of 1992, when Sheffield alleged that owner Bud Selig had gone back on his word about negotiating a long-term deal. Selig traded him to San Diego within a week. Although Sheffield was subsequently quoted as saying he made errors on purpose to expedite his departure, he later backed off the remark.

"I wouldn't call him a bad teammate, no," said B.J. Surhoff, who played with Sheffield on those Brewers teams. "I think a lot was expected of him. He expected a lot out of himself. My personal opinion is he just wasn't all that happy about being there. He worried about things he didn't have to worry about."