In yesterday’s recaps
I wondered whether it was time for Brewers fans to finally stop booing
Gary Sheffield. Almost everyone that responded disagreed, noting that
Sheffield is a special case inasmuch as his alleged tanking in
Milwaukee was way worse than your usual knucklehead behavior. I guess I
understand that. And, as The Star-Ledger’s Brian Costa notes, it’s not like Brewers fans are alone:
Sheffield has been booed loudly in several stadiums this season, a
constant reminder of the bad will he has left behind in cities where he
once played.
Eighteen years have passed since Sheffield last played for the
Brewers, longer than Brett Favre’s entire tenure in Green Bay, yet he
is still treated like a public enemy here. Only a day off Wednesday
spared him from more boos . . . But Brewers fans still remember. So do
Braves fans, who booed Sheffield at Turner Field. And Dodgers fans, who
booed him at Dodger Stadium.
So I understand why he is booed in Milwaukee, and I understand Los
Angeles too — he publicly bad-mouthed the front office and kept
demanding to be traded while playing for the Dodgers — but I don’t get
the booing in Atlanta.
The Braves traded for him in January 2002. The guys they gave up:
Brian Jordan, Odalis Perez, and Andrew Brown — did nothing after
leaving to make Braves fans regret the trade (Jordan was popular in
Atlanta, but not THAT popular). Sheffield, on the other hand, was
spectacular in Atlanta: in 2002 he hit .307/.404/.512 and in 2003 he
was even better: .330/.419/.604. I recall no incidents of him mouthing
off like he did elsewhere. He even had a little cheering section of
guys who wore chef hats and stuff. When he left, it wasn’t because he
demanded to leave. He simply became a free agent and the Yankees, as
they tend to do, offered far more than the Braves were willing to
offer.
It’s possible that I’m just forgetting some big incident, but short
of that, the only possible explanation I have for booing in Atlanta was
that, years later, it was revealed that Sheffield used steroids, likely
when he played for the Braves. But that doesn’t make much sense either
because Braves fans have never really gone out of their way to boo
Mitchell Report players not named Barry Bonds, let alone ones that
played in Atlanta. They kind of don’t care about anything, really,
which is sometimes good and sometimes bad.
Either way, though, it makes me wonder why they booed Sheff. Inertia? Bad day at the office? Anyone have any other ideas?
