Change of decades

[Rob D.]

My favorite Sheffield-as-a-teammate-story:

There was a long-standing tradition in El Paso (for all I know they might still be doing it) that when a Diablos player hit a home run, after he crossed the plate, he'd walk along where the stands meet the field with his helmet and fans could come down and place dollar bills in it. Depending on how popular of a player you were, the importance of the homer and how many outs there were when you hit it, you could easily collect $100-$300, which was significant on a Double-A salary. (A guy named Alan Cartwright, who played in El Paso a few years before me, once hit a home run to win a game in the bottom of the ninth on the night when there were Fourth of July fireworks after the game. Because the fans weren't going anywhere, he was able to collect money for nearly an hour and came back to the clubhouse with nearly $1,000.)

Anyway, as cool as this sounds (and it was very cool), the first time you do it you feel like an idiot. It's just so surreal. You almost feel like you're begging. But the fans expect players to do it, because it gives them a chance to show their appreciation in an "up close and personal" way.

Well, the first time Sheffield homered at home, he didn't re-emerge from the dugout to collect his money. I think his exact words were, "F**k it, I ain't going out there." Worse, he sent a batboy out with a helmet. The fans started booing, and both papers in town made a huge deal of it the next day, one running the headline "Sheffield snubs fans."

The next night, upon going to the parking lot after the game, Sheffield found that someone had vandalized his car, which happened to be the latest model Trans Am -- red and gold with just about every option -- that his uncle Dwight Gooden had bought for him. Major crap hit the fan and culminated the next day with Sheffield calling Milwaukee's farm director and demanding they move him to another team.

Sadly, that request wasn't honored.