I absolutely cannot take Sheffield as a player, but even I have to give him his due as a major-leaguer; he has put up some big numbers. He's approaching 500 homers, and he tied my all-time favorite, Al Kaline, for No. 35 on the career RBI list on Friday night.
Sheffield will forever remain one of my most despised players, along with Paul Coffey and Pudge Rodriguez. These three will be hall-of-famers, but I hated the way they played their respective games. Sheffield and Pudge are such selfish, overrated hitters. I wonder what Ted Williams, who approached hitting as a science, would say about these two? I find them almost clueless at the plate; they succeed on talent alone, and when good pitching does rise its ugly head, both Sheff and Pudge are more like Punch and Judy. Oh, yes, I found Coffey to be one of the most corner-shy players in the history of the NHL.
They have ability, talent, a heaven-sent athletic gift. But I would NEVER want each of them on my teams. That said, Rodriguez was great when the Marlins won their World Series in 1997.
But to watch Sheffield tie my favorite Tiger, perhaps my favorite athlete ever (although it's awful close with Gordie, No. 9) on the career RBI list, boy, that was tough.
Friday, May 9, 2008
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