Sheffield looking forward to reuniting with Leyland

January 17, 2007

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- Gary Sheffield has made many tough decisions in his life. Joining the Detroit Tigers wasn't one of them.

The 38-year-old slugger needed just one assurance from Tigers manager Jim Leyland before agreeing to a trade from the New York Yankees to Detroit in November.

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"Mr. Leyland asked me if I wanted to come to Detroit, and I asked him if he was still going to be the manager," said Sheffield, who played for Leyland when the Florida Marlins won the 1997 World Series. "When he told me that he would be, I said I wanted to do it. There weren't a lot of issues after that."

Sheffield, who signed a two-year contract extension worth $28 million as part of the deal, spent less than two full seasons with Leyland -- but that was enough to start a long friendship.

"We hit it off the first day, and we've had a great relationship since then," Sheffield said Wednesday at the Tigers' media caravan at Oakland University. "We talk all the time. No matter what I've gone through in my career, he's been there to talk to me, and I talked to him when he was going through what he did as the manager in Colorado and when he was thinking about coming back to manage."

Leyland was equally thrilled by the reunion, not just because of the friendship, but because it gives the AL champion Tigers something they desperately needed -- a power hitter with patience. Sheffield has hit at least .290 in nine straight seasons, and he averages 33 homers and 94 walks per 162 games.

"We talked about adding a big bat in the offseason," Leyland said at an event in East Lansing. "Gary Sheffield's bat is one of the most impressive in baseball."

The media caravan brought Sheffield back to Detroit three months after the Tigers ended his stint with the Yankees by beating New York in the AL division series.

"I got to see firsthand that this is a great up-and-coming ballclub," he said. "I especially got to see that pitching staff. It was discouraging to face those guys, because you'd be facing one guy who threw hard, and then the bullpen doors would open and someone who threw even harder would come out."

While Sheffield will be happy to avoid facing the likes of Jeremy Bonderman, Justin Verlander and Joel Zumaya, he does have some regrets about leaving New York.

"I wish I could have won a championship for the Yankees. We got close but we could never finish it off," said Sheffield, who hit .298 in an injury-shortened 2006 season. "I think my numbers show that I could have still helped New York, but this is a business, and I had to go somewhere else."

Unlike many players who have struggled in the New York spotlight, Sheffield basked in it.

"The fans in New York push you so hard, and I welcome that," he said. "I'm a get-in-your-face kind of guy, and so are the Yankees fans. When they got on me, it motivated me. Some guys didn't see it that way -- they felt it as pressure -- but I loved it."

The nine-time All-Star isn't leaving the Bronx silently, though. His autobiography "Inside Power," scheduled for a spring release, reportedly discusses his time as a Yankee as well as his relationship with Barry Bonds and his involvement in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative steroid scandal.

In the book "Game of Shadows," two San Francisco Chronicle reporters wrote that Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson, put Sheffield on injectable testosterone and human growth hormone in 2002, and later sold him designer steroids known as "the cream" and "the clear."

Sheffield, who testified before the 2003 BALCO grand jury, has admitted using a cream he got from Anderson but said in a 2004 interview with Sports Illustrated that he did not knowingly use steroids.

With Bonds closing in on Hank Aaron's career home run record, Sheffield felt the time was right to put his thoughts on paper.

"By writing the book, I've put my side of the story -- the true side of the story -- out there," he said. "I don't even think about it anymore. Barry has his issues to deal with, but I don't have those issues."

Sheffield expects to spend most of his time as Detroit's designated hitter, with spot duty in the outfield. He doesn't expect a repeat of his uncomfortable stint as New York's first baseman when he returned from a wrist injury last season.

"That was a mistake. I came back too soon because I knew I had to show other teams that I could still play," he said. "I just wanted to get onto the field, and I didn't care where they put me."

Sheffield's new teammates don't care if he plays the field or not, as long as he gets a chance to hit.

"He's one of the best hitters in baseball, but this isn't a great move just because of his bat," outfielder Magglio Ordonez said. "He has a presence on the field and in the clubhouse. This is huge for us."