Gary Sheffield Waits for the Pitch to Hit

MELBOURNE, Fla. —  It’s a familiar scene at Florida Marlins games: Gary Sheffield takes ball four, discards his bat in disgust and heads for first base, walking with the enthusiasm of a teen-ager mowing the lawn.

This is not what the Marlins pay Sheffield to do, and it’s not what fans pay to see. Watching him cut grass would be more exciting. But Florida’s best hitter walked 121 times last year and 142 times in 1996.

“For a stretch of two months last year, he got walked three times a game. Or he got hit twice,” manager Jim Leyland said. “The guy is respected by everybody as one of the top offensive players in the game.”

So Sheffield seldom gets to swing, and at first glance, it would appear the problem will persist this year. The World Series champions dismantled their roster, leaving less support in the lineup for Sheffield. If the Marlins aren’t as good, he’ll see even fewer good pitches, right?

Wrong, Leyland said.

“If we’re not a real good team, they’ll probably pitch to him more,” Leyland said. “If we get behind 6-1, they’re going to pitch to Gary Sheffield. If it’s a close game, there’s not a manager in the league that’s going to pitch to him.”

A scarcity of good pitches disrupted Sheffield’s rhythm at the start of last season, sending him into a long slump. He hit just .250 with 21 homers and 71 RBIs, his worst full-season totals since 1991.

But because he walked frequently and was hit by 15 pitches, Sheffield ranked fifth in the National League in on-base percentage at .424. Eleven of the walks were intentional, and he took nearly two out of every three pitches (64 percent), which ranked fifth in the NL.

Sheffield finally started to hit in September, and in the postseason he batted .320 with three homers despite 20 walks, a major league record.

This year, Sheffield pledges that he won’t become frustrated by bad pitches.

“I’ve got my World Series ring now, and that’s all that matters,” he said. “I’m an older, more mature guy.”

Some would challenge that assertion. The enigmatic Sheffield received last-minute permission to report six days late for spring training, then missed the first workout he was supposed to attend. In his first weekend at camp, he complained about the Marlins’ medical staff, announced he would exercise his right to veto any trade, then said he would like to play for the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Sheffield also has made contradictory statements regarding whether he’ll be healthy enough to play on opening day, March 31. He is nursing a sore back and shoulder, and although he has been taking batting practice, he has yet to play in a spring training game.

With the roster depleted by payroll cuts, the Marlins need a healthy Sheffield--the one who hit 42 homers with 120 RBIs in 1996 despite ranking second in the NL in walks.

“When I’m healthy,” he said, “no matter what kind of pitches I see, I’m going to produce.”