Gary Sheffield Quotes (67 Quotes)



    I don't want anybody to take my kindness as a weakness. Like I said before, this is where I want to be, but don't test me. It never was a done deal. It was a possibility. I'm happy about that. But there's two sides to that. On one side, I trust you, but don't play me. I don't care who it is, if it's the Boss, if it's him, don't play me. There are plenty of other teams out there that want my services ... that's the bottom line.

    It's a little tight. I feel it right now. I don't think it's that serious. If I feel better tomorrow, I'll get in there.

    Though Sheffield says he was under doctor's orders not to run because of his knee, he did so anyway because Bonds and his trainers wanted him to. Now all of a sudden my knee was hurting, ... He said something to me about being late. I did not respond, because if I did respond at that particular moment, I would have knocked him out. That's how I was feeling. But I said to myself, No, I'm just going to walk away, and when I say walk away I mean walk away.

    I've never had an organization come to me and say, 'Eventually, we're going to take care of you. I've never had anyone say, 'I'm going to take care of you.' Why shouldn't I be happy That's a first for me in 17 years.


    I tell him the truth. I just tell him how it looks - how he looks 'Dude, you look like an addict.' But he doesn't see it.


    Sheffield served as the Yankees' designated hitter in all six games on the road trip, getting the start there again on Monday night. I hope I can get out there and help the team that way, because we're a better team when I'm out there, ... I'm being positive. Hopefully, one day I'll wake up and it will feel a little better.

    If I have to go somewhere else, a lot of things are going to have to be changed or you're going to have an unhappy player, If I'm not happy, you don't want me on your team. It's that simple. I'll make that known to anybody.

    I don't think it's that serious. If I feel good tomorrow and I feel like I'm not going to jeopardize missing games or hurt the team, I'll play. Otherwise, I'll sit down.

    I love my uncle to death. It just breaks my heart. It's hard for me to (believe) that this drug is that powerful.

    When it's done, that's the right time. When it happens, I'm sure it will catch me off-guard and I'll be happy. And if it doesn't happen, I'll have to do what I have to do. I just want to put on the uniform and do what I do. It's the fans that make me play the way I play. When I get the energy out of right field, especially in the Yankees uniform, those fans make me do what I do. I couldn't have played with one arm in Colorado. You can't motivate me enough to do that. Only the Yankees fans bring that out of me.

    Imagine if you came to work and you wanted to be positive, and somebody made a positive situation negative. I don't want to be negative. I've been fighting for 17 years, always negative. Why can't I have something positive done

    You got to do the right thing, you've got to live a certain way and do the right things that's required. If you're not doing it, you can't expect to be working for somebody. So they did what they had to do, and his situation I'm sure got to him and hopefully he can overcome it.

    I've had this happen before. I'll give it one day and be ready to go (today).

    That just proves I wasn't in the wrong, and that's what this is all about. Yeah, you try to represent the game the right way, but then being told you're in the wrong for reacting to something you didn't start, that's kind of disturbing. That just makes me feel like it's a hypocritical society.

    The only thing I wanted to see is that whatever takes place ... is to try to send a strong message that fans can't throw things or hit people or put their hands on anybody. If you're out on the street, I guarantee that same guy doesn't put his hands on me. So why should we be penalized for a situation like that because we're on a baseball field.

    That hurt me - that's what drove me into depression where I didn't care. Once I saw my grandmother and him, I lost all of what I had in me. I said, 'He's the reason she looks like that.' I'm still not out of it. I get real disturbed at night. Imagine this person you came out of the womb looking up to. It's just tough, man.

    Even if it's on paper, it's still in my hands. Trust me on that. I know how to get out of anything I want to get out of. Trust me.

    I can get through it, ... It's one of those that as long as I can walk, I'll be fine.

    Everybody knows good pitching stops good hitting. Our guys are pitching great.

    Well, everybody is trying to make this a money thing. If you send me to another team, let's see what I ask for. I won't ask for nothing. I'll play under the same terms. So it is not Gary wants more money. Gary has money. What else do I need?

    I thought I would turn the corner when I didn't play. It wasn't feeling that bad when I'd walk up stairs, so I thought it was getting better. Once I took one step out of the batter's box trying for a double, I couldn't do it. I don't have time to be waiting.

    That would be devastating to me. I should be able to come back quicker than if it was a hamstring. I'm going to get the anti-inflammatories and see how I feel tomorrow.

    I really don't care what they do, to be honest with you.

    Sheffield says he and Bonds enjoyed a casual friendship when the Giants leftfielder invited Sheffield to live and train with him in San Francisco for a few weeks before the 2002 season. He said, 'I got guys here, they can get your urine and blood and prescribe a vitamin specifically for your blood type and what your body needs,' ... And that's what I did.

    They used to confide in me about how they hated it. I told them, 'You knew what you were getting into. You accept his money. You accept the status when you're around him. But you don't want to deal with the backlash of what comes out of his mouth, and you want to complain to me.'

    I know these guys are out of it and trying to be spoilers, ... I was just trying to get the team as fired up as you can. When a team is out of it, you try to take the wind out of them. But they showed their resiliency.

    Now, we just have to run the table. And we're capable of doing that.

    It's a testament to why he's been here 11 years. I think this one was a little more intense. I just felt the conviction behind it. . . . When he says it a certain way, it has some meaning behind it and today it felt different.

    I don't care how I feel. When they need me, I'll be there. There's no tomorrow every game counts. If not, I probably would have gone on the DL, gotten it healthy and come back strong. Right now, I don't have that time.

    Oh yeah, we got plenty of incentive. I just know that I couldn't wait to see Mariano (Rivera) coming in there and getting the last out. We didn't get that last year. But now we've got one more game to play to finish off this story.

    I don't care what they do. I've said what I had to say about it. I'm done with it.

    I'm a year at a time guy. If I have a good year, go on the next one. I want to go out on a high note.

    If I have to, I will. I'll do whatever the law (requires) me to do, but other than that, it's a waste of my time.

    I never wished anything bad on Bonds. I want him to achieve what he wants to achieve, but what I want more is that his life gets right. That he can have compassion for other people. And that's what I want the most.

    I like to make a difference in both places, ... We are a stronger team if I am on the field. I would like to let the guys who are used to be the DH, be the DH.

    I love my wife and I vow again to stand by her through any trial or tribulation.

    I feel good. I wanted to go ahead and do everything, but the eyes were on me and told me not to. I just hit and took it easy, then did the running, which turned out OK.

    It's always my situation. It's always, I've got to be somewhere for one or two years, they re-evaluate you from here and there and then go from there.

    My season is when I get paid. I'm not sacrificing my body or taking a chance on injury for something that is made up. A lot of guys feel that way. They won't say it, but I will.

    I'm just letting it go. I'm swinging at what I need to swing at. And when the time comes, I'll just do what I always done. It's just a matter of going out and feeling better. I feel like I'm involved in spring training and when that's the case I'm going to be myself.

    I think it was needed because at this point in my career my body needs to heal. I wasn't giving it a chance to heal. I think that's why the injuries affected me late in the season. Now I get a chance to get in shape at spring training and start off fresh.

    It did help. I didn't have to think about defense. I felt good today. I felt strong in my last at-bat.

    I'm getting on top of the plate like I did last year. I'm just trying to compensate and make adjustments. Running, I'm pretty much about half speed. That's about all I got.

    Alex has got toughness about him. It's just that you spend so much time trying to find out what other people want, as opposed to doing what you got to do. You're trying to please everybody and do what everybody expects you to do. And the thing is, they ain't under the same gun.

    Soon after Sheffield arrived in San Francisco, the friendship between him and Bonds began to sour. Bonds insisted that Sheffield stay at his house and not rent a car. He insisted that Sheffield not pay for anything, though Sheffield did bring his personal chef. It was, 'It's my way or no way,' ... I'm not a child. I make 11 million. I can buy what I want.

    He's going to make sure it's done. It's always calm, but he had that look.

    Manager Joe Torre has been trying to get me a day off for a while now, but we're trying to fight to get back in it, so I don't want to be sitting down, ... I've tried to stay in there as much as possible, despite how I feel. I just play through it. It might have been a blessing to sit out a game, but now it's out of the way and I can go forward.

    This is nothing to be talked about, to be honest with you. Turn the lights on and I'll be ready.


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