Sportsfrog.com

I really do like Gary Sheffield. I always have. I watched him play a few times in high school when he was just a former Little League World Series star and Doc Gooden’s nephew.

Possessing tremendously fierce bat speed, he has struck fear in third base coaches everywhere. His frank honesty during interviews is often refreshing and in stark contrast to other’s frequent cliched answers. But sometimes, like today, he does make us scratch our collective heads.

Sheffield denied throwing the bat handle at umpire Greg Gibson.

“If I want to throw a bat at an umpire, I’ll turn around and throw it at him,” Sheffield told The Detroit News. “The only thing I had in my hand was a little piece of the handle and I threw it towards our dugout, anyway.

“When I threw the bat down, I was letting him know I was [angry], but that’s it, and then I was going to go to the dugout. Then he said something to me, telling me not to throw the bat like that.

“I said, ‘Last time I checked, I paid for the bat, I can throw it any way I want. How should I throw it?’ At the point, he said, ‘You’re outta here.’ That’s when it boiled over. That’s when I told him what I think of him as a person and as an umpire.”

Sheffield suggested to the Detroit Free Press that he would expose a “conspiracy” within the game if he is not cleared of wrongdoing.”

Sheff will keep playing for now as he has appealed his suspension. As soon as he learned of the suspension he called Umpire Greg Gibson a bald-faced liar. I don’t scare easy, but I wouldn’t want Sheff pissed at me. There has always been something a little off with him.