December 1, 2003
Shef for Hire
Gary Sheffield has committed an unforgivable sin -- he has left the Braves for the Yankees. On one level, you might have trouble understanding why this is so horrible. If you're a fan of a struggling franchise, you probably have a hard time feeling sorry for me. The Braves have been great for 13 straight years. Your team very well may not have made the playoffs during that time. I'm sure it's difficult for you to imagine how slighted I feel by the fact that Sheffield left the Braves for the franchise I consider to be the most evil on the entire planet.
Look closer, though, and you'll see that Sheffield has committed a much more egregious crime: in leaving the Braves for the Yankees, he showed the world that he has no pride. It's one thing for a top player from a downtrodden organization to take a great team's money and get a chance to win. This I can understand. Gary Sheffield, though, just like Jason Giambi before him, left a team and a city where he was not only by all accounts happy, but was a hero -- the baseball hero -- in the town. He was the best position player the Braves have ever had, and he was being counted on to help lead a great regular season team to another World Series crown, reaping untold glory in the process. If he had any professional dignity at all, the man would have said, "Screw the Yankees. Let's get this done in ATL, where we started it." Now he's just another faceless drone in the Evil Empire. Hey, if the money is that important to you, Gary (reports I'm reading have it that Sheffield got offered in the vicinity of 3 years, 36 million from the Yankees against 2 years, 20 million from the Braves), it's your choice to go after it. But please, please, please don't stand up at your press conference and pretend that it's all about winning "The Ring." The ring is obviously important, and I suppose you have a slightly better shot at getting one in New York, but there's no doubt in my mind that if the money were the same or even close, the man affectionately known as "The Shef" would still be swatting big flies into the left field stands at The Ted in '04 and beyond.
Professionalism, pride and loyalty are forgotten concepts. It's all about the money. That, I am almost cynical enough to understand. It would be nice if Gary Sheffield respected our intelligence enough to admit it.
-Matt Stroup
Copyright ©2003 instant-replays.com
