Gary Sheffield, keepin’ it verbose

July 30th, 2007 | Posted by PostmanE

One thing about Gary Sheffield, whether you like him or not: he’s a tremendous quote. And he seems — seems — to have his heart in the right place, even if he says awful things (i.e. his thoughts on Derek Jeter’s race). Still, at least someone in the league isn’t afraid to call out his own commish, even on threat of suspension:

This time Gary Sheffield’s mouth is going to get him suspended. Bud Selig would only offer a terse “no comment” when asked on arriving at the Hall of Fame for his response to Sheffield calling him a liar and a grandstander in regard to Barry Bonds and the steroids issue, but sources close to the commissioner say he has no choice but to levy a severe penalty on the outspoken Tigers outfielder.

In USA Today Friday, Sheffield said he was “sick of the way (Selig) and MLB have been grandstanding” and asked: “Why doesn’t Bud Selig tell the truth? Why does he keep lying, saying he doesn’t know nothing (about steroids use in baseball though the ’90s)? He knew everything we knew.”

Said one longtime baseball exec: “For the integrity of the commissioner’s office alone, Bud has got to suspend Sheffield. You can’t be saying things like that.”

Probably true, but it seems a bit unfair and unwieldy that Selig will suspend Sheff for these latest comments, when he remained seemingly silent and unmoved when Gary threw a bunch of race-related nuggets at the Yankees’ front office. One insult (racist) is no less serious than another one (complacency in policing illegality in the sport); if Selig decides to punish Sheffield now, it’s not hard to see why. But it also seems more than a little self-serving.

(HT: FanHouse)