DODGERS NOTEBOOK: SHEFFIELD STANDS BY HIS OPINION OF GAME'S RACISM.Byline: Jill Painter Staff Writer Gary Sheffield
Gary Antonian Sheffield (born November 18, 1968 in Tampa, Florida) is a Major League Baseball designated hitter and outfielder for the Detroit Tigers. isn't about to back down on this one. In the May 14 issue of ESPN The Magazine ESPN The Magazine is a bi-weekly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in New Britain, CT in the United States. The first issue was published on March 11, 1998. , Sheffield berated Major League Baseball "MLB" and "Major Leagues" redirect here. For other uses, see MLB (disambiguation) and Major Leagues (disambiguation). Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. for racism, including stereotyping and not calling up talented blacks from the minor leagues in favor of white players. On Sunday, Sheffield said he was ``very happy'' with the article, which quoted him: ``You say Jackie Robinson Noun 1. Jackie Robinson - United States baseball player; first Black to play in the major leagues (1919-1972) Jack Roosevelt Robinson, Robinson came into baseball and things changed but have they really? When blacks like me get injured hustling, we're injury-prone; when they get injured hustling, they're hustling. They want to win; we don't want to win. There's just a lot of stereotyping and judging. ... ``We've got guys in the minors who can run circles around some big leaguers, but those big leaguers play golf with the manager.'' Sheffield said he's received all positive feedback, especially from minor-league players who have called him. ``Guys in my stature should speak up because it is a problem,'' Sheffield said. ``We're not in this game just to walk through this game and have success. We've got to let people know what's really going on.'' When asked about the article, Dodgers manager Jim Tracy
``I'm not going to tell Gary Sheffield what to say and what not to say,'' Tracy said. ``I know this, and we've seen it from day one, all he has done this year is everything you can ask any baseball player to do, when he goes between the lines Between the lines can refer to:
Sheffield is batting .345 with 11 home runs and 24 RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in - all team highs. He's won three games for the Dodgers with solo home runs in 1-0 victories, including Saturday's game against the Braves. He's in a position to get people to listen. He feels it's his duty to bring an awareness to these baseball issues. ``They're doing it in the NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= ,'' Sheffield said. ``Somebody had to do it. They do it in the NBA so we might as well bring an awareness to baseball. ... ``Absolutely - I don't have respect for black ballplayers that don't speak. I don't have respect for none of 'em because they know the problems is there. They're out to get theirs. The first thing they will say is, 'I'm not going to say anything because it might affect my family.' What about the people that paved the way for you and what they had to go through? I'm willing to pay the price, whatever the price is.'' --Injury report: Catcher Paul LoDuca (strained left hamstring) took batting practice in the cage on Sunday. |
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