Monday, July 30, 2007

Gary Sheffield Lashes Out...Again


As my internet connection was down all last night, I couldn't post about the rumblings that I constantly ponder.

Lytedogg's post last week about future Hall of Fame pitchers opened up a whole new can of worms for me...as in which current hitters are Hall of Fame worthy? In particular, Gary Sheffield. As such, I manually wrote down my distinct thoughts on Sheffield's career and credentials (for blog purposes, I'll now wait until tomorrow to post my opinions).

That is...until it was reported that Sheffield opened his mouth again. Yes, Sheffield is a crazy man. But, at the same time, Sheffield generally speaks the truth. He's just not eloquent in his delivery. In fact, he is the complete opposite of "eloquent".

Steroid Nation reports Sheffield's latest rant:

"Bud Selig is making himself the face of the steroid era,'' Sheffield told USA Today.

"Why doesn't Bud Selig tell the truth? Why does he keep lying and saying he doesn't know nothing about nothing? It's a bunch of hogwash. It's a cop-out. He knew everything (about steroids) we knew."

"Bud Selig wants to talk about the integrity of the game? To him, the integrity of the game is how much money they make.''


Selig and Sheffield have a long history together. Selig owned the Milwaukee Brewers when the Brewers drafted Sheffield in 1986, and when they brought a 19-year-old Sheffield to the big leagues two years later. This year, Selig fined Sheffield after the Tiger designated hitter was quoted as saying that umpires lie and that the umpiring system is "corrupt.''

...In short, Gary Sheffield's above quotes hit on everything I have been saying for years now. Along with baseball's owners, Bud Selig has long known about AND welcomed steroids in the game of baseball. Instead, he just didn't want the general public knowing about steroids. In the late 90's, steroids are what brought the game back to epic levels. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa resurrected the game. Steroids resurrected the game. Not just chicks "dig the long ball"...nearly all fans do -- as indicated by all attendance and television ratings.

Bud Selig is the biggest hypocrite in sports. For that reason, he has been bullied by the players and the Players Union for 14 years now (since being named "acting commissioner" in 1994). He sucks. He deserves praise for adding the Wild Card, but NOTHING else.

Allan Huber "Bud" Selig created the steroid issue. Bud Selig created the fiasco which has become Barry Bonds. For this reason, the LEAST Selig can do is acknowledge the "corrupt" home run record which he, himself, is most guilty of.

You'd figure a 73-year-old man would know a little something about "accountability" by now, wouldn't you? Instead, Selig will sit down and review these above comments by Sheffield -- and likely suspend him...for telling the general public exactly what most educated fans already know.

* In other news, Ken Rosenthal is reporting that Mark Teixeira and lefty reliever were just traded to the Braves -- in return, the Rangers will receive Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Elvis Andrus, and two pitching prospects.

This simply reaffirms that Braves GM John Schuerholz is the very best GM in the game. I pray that he becomes MLB's Commissioner in 2009, when Selig steps down.

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