milky_way
08-12-2004, 04:08 AM
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/nyy/news/nyy_news.jsp?ymd=20040811&content_id=825510&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp
Notes: Sheffield weighs options
Mussina makes first rehab start for Columbus
By Mark Feinsand / MLB.com
ARLINGTON -- Gary Sheffield was back in the lineup on Wednesday for the Yankees, but the outfielder believes that he may get a cortisone shot in his aching left shoulder sooner than he had planned.
Sheffield, who was removed from the game in the eighth inning on Tuesday, has been battling a sore shoulder for most of the season. Originally diagnosed with bursitis, Sheffield received a shot on June 21, but the injection didn't do much to relieve the pain.
Last month, Sheffield said he would consider taking another shot, but he said he would try to wait until it got closer to the postseason to make sure he felt good in October.
"I told [trainer Gene Monahan] we might be pushing the date up," Sheffield said. "I wanted to wait until September, but I might not be able to wait until then. I've got to do something."
Manager Joe Torre gave Sheffield the option of starting at designated hitter on Wednesday, but Sheffield wanted to play in the outfield.
"He's in pretty good spirits today," Torre said. "It's irritating, but there's nothing that he's doing that he can injure it further. Swinging the bat, reaching for the ball, it can hurt, but he can't do any more damage."
"He (Torre) knows what I can take, the extent of what I can contribute to this team with what I have," Sheffield said. "We'd all like to be 100 percent, but if you can help this team win ballgames at less than 100 percent, it's worth the effort."
Sheffield, who is in the first year of a three-year, $39 million contract, said that he will have to reassess his options after the season. One option would be to have surgery on his shoulder, another would be to rest it and hope it heals by itself. A third, less likely option, would be retirement, something Sheffield says he thinks about from time to time.
"There are a lot of emotions that go with playing like I'm playing," Sheffield said. "I don't have to play this game, and that's one of the things you fight with. I have the luxury to say 'I don't need this game,' to just walk away. But you still have the love inside you to play this game, so you don't walk away.
"Nobody wants to walk away from the game, walk away from $26 million," he added. "But it's like someone saying they'll cut your leg off and you have to keep walking. How long can you do it? That's what you have to ask yourself."
But Sheffield also doesn't seem excited about the prospect of offseason surgery, which would require him to rehab in order to be ready for Spring Training.
"At this point in my career, to go through an offseason of rehab and not vacationing, doing what I want to do, that's a stretch," he said. "I've been through a lot of surgeries in my career. There are certain things I refuse to go through. ... I'm not ruling out anything. I might feel different tomorrow."
Sheffield has talked to doctors and trainers about the possibility of resting his shoulder for a week or two, but he says that he has been told that it wouldn't help him.
"I have an obligation to George [Yankees owner Steinbrenner], and every day I go out there, I'm paid to do something" he said. "I'm not the type of person, my daddy didn't raise me to sit in my seat and watch other guys do what I should be doing. I've always believed in that. That's the way I was brought up."
Despite batting .295 with 26 home runs and a team-leading 83 RBIs, Sheffield is not satisfied with his production this season.
"I haven't shown you all what I can really do. That's what frustrates me," Sheffield said. "I know what I can do, what level I can go to, and I planned on going to that level when I became a Yankee. I haven't been able to do that."
I've been so impressed with Sheff. To think we were actually concerned about his ATTITUDE in the offseason :hmm:. It seems like he's the perfect teammate.
How many people would walk away from $26 million?... :eek:
Notes: Sheffield weighs options
Mussina makes first rehab start for Columbus
By Mark Feinsand / MLB.com
ARLINGTON -- Gary Sheffield was back in the lineup on Wednesday for the Yankees, but the outfielder believes that he may get a cortisone shot in his aching left shoulder sooner than he had planned.
Sheffield, who was removed from the game in the eighth inning on Tuesday, has been battling a sore shoulder for most of the season. Originally diagnosed with bursitis, Sheffield received a shot on June 21, but the injection didn't do much to relieve the pain.
Last month, Sheffield said he would consider taking another shot, but he said he would try to wait until it got closer to the postseason to make sure he felt good in October.
"I told [trainer Gene Monahan] we might be pushing the date up," Sheffield said. "I wanted to wait until September, but I might not be able to wait until then. I've got to do something."
Manager Joe Torre gave Sheffield the option of starting at designated hitter on Wednesday, but Sheffield wanted to play in the outfield.
"He's in pretty good spirits today," Torre said. "It's irritating, but there's nothing that he's doing that he can injure it further. Swinging the bat, reaching for the ball, it can hurt, but he can't do any more damage."
"He (Torre) knows what I can take, the extent of what I can contribute to this team with what I have," Sheffield said. "We'd all like to be 100 percent, but if you can help this team win ballgames at less than 100 percent, it's worth the effort."
Sheffield, who is in the first year of a three-year, $39 million contract, said that he will have to reassess his options after the season. One option would be to have surgery on his shoulder, another would be to rest it and hope it heals by itself. A third, less likely option, would be retirement, something Sheffield says he thinks about from time to time.
"There are a lot of emotions that go with playing like I'm playing," Sheffield said. "I don't have to play this game, and that's one of the things you fight with. I have the luxury to say 'I don't need this game,' to just walk away. But you still have the love inside you to play this game, so you don't walk away.
"Nobody wants to walk away from the game, walk away from $26 million," he added. "But it's like someone saying they'll cut your leg off and you have to keep walking. How long can you do it? That's what you have to ask yourself."
But Sheffield also doesn't seem excited about the prospect of offseason surgery, which would require him to rehab in order to be ready for Spring Training.
"At this point in my career, to go through an offseason of rehab and not vacationing, doing what I want to do, that's a stretch," he said. "I've been through a lot of surgeries in my career. There are certain things I refuse to go through. ... I'm not ruling out anything. I might feel different tomorrow."
Sheffield has talked to doctors and trainers about the possibility of resting his shoulder for a week or two, but he says that he has been told that it wouldn't help him.
"I have an obligation to George [Yankees owner Steinbrenner], and every day I go out there, I'm paid to do something" he said. "I'm not the type of person, my daddy didn't raise me to sit in my seat and watch other guys do what I should be doing. I've always believed in that. That's the way I was brought up."
Despite batting .295 with 26 home runs and a team-leading 83 RBIs, Sheffield is not satisfied with his production this season.
"I haven't shown you all what I can really do. That's what frustrates me," Sheffield said. "I know what I can do, what level I can go to, and I planned on going to that level when I became a Yankee. I haven't been able to do that."
I've been so impressed with Sheff. To think we were actually concerned about his ATTITUDE in the offseason :hmm:. It seems like he's the perfect teammate.
How many people would walk away from $26 million?... :eek: