Gary Sheffield

Gary Antonian Sheffield (born November 18, 1968) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball for eight teams from 1988 to 2009.

In retirement, he is a sports agent.

For most of his career, Sheffield played right field, though he has also played left field, third base, shortstop, and a handful of games at first base.

He played for the Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, Florida Marlins, Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, and the New York Mets.

The team made it to the finals of the 1980 Little League World Series but lost to Taiwan 4–3.

In 1983, Sheffield made the Hillsborough High School varsity baseball team.

During his junior year, he bulked up to 175 pounds and was a pitcher and third baseman.

During his senior year, his fastball reached the upper 80's and he frequently showed home run power.

As a batter, Sheffield hit .500 and 15 home runs, in only 62 official at-bats.

At the end of the season he was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year.

Sheffield was a first-round pick of the Brewers, who selected him sixth overall in the 1986 amateur draft after a standout prep career at Hillsborough High School in Tampa, Florida.

He batted and threw right-handed.

After high school, the Milwaukee Brewers drafted Sheffield with the sixth pick of the first round of the 1986 MLB draft.

Sheffield later said that if he had not been drafted in the first round, he probably would have played college baseball for the Miami Hurricanes.

After being drafted he was shipped to Helena of the Pioneer League, where he had a .365 batting average and 71 RBIs in 57 games.

The only question was what position he would play.

He was slotted at shortstop, but struggled at the position, committing many errors and wild throws.

In 1987, he was assigned to Stockton of the Class-A California League, where his defense improved and he produced at the plate.

His batting average went below .300, but he led the league in RBIs with 103, and at the end of the year he was voted the Brewers' best prospect.

In his third season, he went from Double-A to the majors.

In 134 games for the El Paso Diablos and Denver, he batted .327 with 28 homers and 118 RBIs.

Sheffield was mentioned in the Mitchell Report and implicated in the 2004 BALCO scandal with respect to the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Sheffield was born in Tampa, Florida, and grew up in Belmont Heights, near the Ponce de Leon projects.

He and his family lived with his uncle, Dwight Gooden, who would go on to become the ace pitcher for the New York Mets.

They played baseball frequently and Sheffield learned how to hit a fastball from Gooden, who is only four years older than he is.

Sheffield was a good hitter in the Little Leagues.

However, Sheffield had problems with his temper and attitude, which would continue in the Major Leagues.

Once, when he was late to practice, his coach benched him and Sheffield picked up a bat and chased the coach all over the field, resulting in him being kicked off the team for a year.

When Sheffield was eleven, he was selected to the Belmont Heights Little League All-Stars, which included future Chicago Cubs #1 pick Ty Griffin, future Major Leaguer Derek Bell, and other future Major League Baseball (MLB) players.

Sheffield hit his 500th home run on April 17, 2009.

As of his last game, Sheffield ranked second among all active players in walks (1,475), third in runs (1,636), fourth in RBIs (1,676), fifth in hits (2,689) and home runs (509), and sixth in hit by pitches (135).

He is the only player in history to record 100 RBIs in a season for five different teams.

Sheffield's batting swing was an exemplary mix of savage speed and pinpoint control.

Despite his high home run total, Sheffield only topped 80 strikeouts twice in 22 seasons, while finishing his career among the all-time top 20 walks leaders.

Because of his combination of skill, sportswriter Joe Posnanski wrote, "I can't imagine there has ever been a scarier hitter to face."

His first manager Tom Trebelhorn said, "Gary can turn on a 38-caliber bullet.”

He is the nephew of Dwight Gooden.

After retirement, he started to work as an agent.

His clients include former reliever Jason Grilli.

He set a record for doubles that would be broken in 2012 by Bradley Smith.