NO MORE TROUBLE BREWING : New Padre Gary Sheffield Says He Left His Troubles in Milwaukee

The cab pulled up Saturday morning in front of the Padre spring-training complex. Fans stopped to gawk. They stood with their mouths agape, and cameras flashing.

Out stepped a 23-year-old man, wearing a chic blue-and-black sweat suit, a gold chain around his neck, a diamond earring in his left earlobe, a leather pouch around his waist and a portable phone in his hand.

No question about it, Gary Antonian Sheffield was in town.

The Padres had waited all morning for Sheffield’s arrival. They were told he would report to camp early in the morning after being traded Friday from the Milwaukee Brewers, and Manager Greg Riddoch even penciled him in the lineup against the Oakland Athletics.

Instead, Sheffield arrived only 30 minutes before game time, saying his flight was delayed from Phoenix. Riddoch had no choice but to scratch him from the lineup, and play Craig Shipley at third base.

Finally, at the end of the first inning, the outfield gate opened, and across the field sauntered Sheffield. As fans realized his identity, they began to cheer, yelling out his name, welcoming him to their team.

The Padre players, who have heard about his reputation and read about the controversy that surrounds him, nonetheless greeted him warmly, introducing themselves one by one.

“From everything you heard about him, he had enough problems where he was at,” Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn said. “But like anybody else traded here with a problem, he’s got a clean slate with me.”

Sheffield, 23, wants badly to make a new impression. He blamed the Milwaukee media for creating a lot of his problems. He never cared for the Brewer organization, and it reciprocated. This time, he promised, everything would be different.

“Nothing went right there, nothing at all,” Sheffield said. “There were always rumors about me, always something. After my rookie year, I knew I wouldn’t fit in Milwaukee.

“I pretty much used the press just to get out of the organization. That was the tactic I used. I guess it worked.

“But I know it also damaged my reputation.”

Sheffield’s antics reached such a point that the Brewers finally traded him--although many say he was the finest high school hitter they’ve seen, a talent who made it to the major leagues by age 19 and homered in his first big-league at-bat.

“Without taking sides,” Brewer Manager Phil Garner said, “I don’t know what happened to Gary. Things have not been right for him through this organization. He was very bitter about it and it showed.

“He has talent, offensive talent and defensive talent, but it was a situation where it was best for him to be in another organization.”

Said Brewer veteran Paul Molitor: “I definitely have mixed emotions about it. Even though he created some of the feelings himself, there was a collective frustration. He was a guy labeled a superstar before he hit the clubhouse, and there was nothing but speed bumps along the way.

Said Brewer catcher B.J. Surhoff: “All in all, he’s not a bad person. He just had a different way of expressing himself. It became a distraction.”

The Padre front office and coaching staff, cognizant of the problems that have haunted Sheffield, already have begun damage-control sessions. Riddoch brought in first baseman Fred McGriff and Gwynn for private sessions, asking them to be Sheffield’s guardian angels.

“He’ll be all right,” said McGriff, who has worked out with Sheffield during the past two winters in Tampa, Fla. “He just needs some maturity. He’s said some crazy things in the past, and has done some things he probably regrets, but the main thing is that he’s out of Milwaukee.

“Believe me, that’s the best thing that could have happened to him.”

Padre pitcher Mark Knudson cautiously watched Sheffield enter the clubhouse. They have been together the past four seasons, meeting in triple-A Denver, and playing with one another since with the Brewers.

No one in the Padre organization better knows what Sheffield endured the past four years than Knudson. No one better knows the problems he created. And perhaps, no one has a better feel whether Sheffield can adapt to his new surroundings.

“There’s not too many people that have his ability,” Knudson said, “but I think it also worked against him because there was so much expected of him so soon. It seems like it’s always been tough on him. He made it that way most of the time.

“The guy has been forced to grow up quickly in this business, and I just don’t think he’s been ready for it.”

Sheffield was hailed by scouts as one of the greatest high school players in history. Al Goldis, Brewer vice president, said he was the best hitter he ever scouted. Padre General Manager Joe McIlvaine ranked him among the top three high school hitters.

In his senior season at Hillsborough High in Tampa, Sheffield batted .500 with 14 homers and 31 RBIs in 22 games. Not once did he strike out in 62 at-bats. And when he wasn’t playing shortstop, he was pitching, compiling a 6-3 record and 1.81 ERA.

Everyone at Hillsborough knew that his uncle was Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets, that Sheffield was the son of Dwight’s sister, Betty. The only debate was who’d be better.

The two were only separated by only four years, and the families temporarily lived together, with Dwight and Gary sharing a bedroom. They grew to be more like brothers.

“I remember we had a big old field in the back of our yard,” Sheffield said. “We made the field into a baseball field, and drew lines. We even built a backstop of our own with bricks.

“(Gooden) used to wake me up in the morning, and make me go the field without taking a bat or eating. He used to hit the ball real hard, and then it would hit something, and hit me hard. It hurt.”

Said Gooden: “I just wanted him to do the same thing I was doing. He wasn’t really into it, so I just demanded it. I used to throw the ball up and hit it, and it would bounce and him in the face.

“He’d cry and I’d make him stay out there.

“I think it paid off.”

Sheffield was the sixth selection in the 1986 June free agent draft, and by the time he was 19, he was in the big leagues. It’s when he arrived in Milwaukee, however, that his problems began. He wanted to continue playing shortstop, but Brewer Manager Tom Trebelhorn converted him to third base. Sheffield never forgave him.

“That started the trouble right there,” Knudson said. “Gary thought he should be the shortstop. Even though he was in the majors, he considered it a slap to his face that he wasn’t a shortstop. It was like a demotion to him.

“I still think it bothers him to this day.”

The discontent was just starting. He began a series of attacks on Brewer management, and then ridiculed his pitching staff for not retaliating when he kept being knocked down at the plate.

“The veterans didn’t care for him to begin with,” Knudson said, “because he didn’t show them respect. He didn’t want to be treated like a rookie. He wanted to be treated like a veteran.

“Then, he called us a bunch of girls for not protecting him at the plate. Well, that alienated him from the whole ballclub, and I don’t think we ever forgot.”

The tension eased after the Brewers signed free agent Dave Parker before the 1990 season, but when Parker was traded away, Sheffield became even more bitter. The Brewers tried to appease Sheffield by hiring Don Baylor as the batting coach, but instead of the two becoming friends, they became adversaries.

“Don’s from the old school, and he didn’t care for him at all,” Knudson said. “Don kept saying, ‘You’re 22 years old, you’re in the major leagues, what more do you want?’ It just never worked, they were too different.”

The Brewers were hoping Sheffield would change this spring, maybe fooling themselves that everything would be resolved. Instead, Sheffield ripped into Trebelhorn and owner Bud Selig, accusing them of forcing him to play hurt last season.

That sealed his fate.

Sheffield stepped to the plate Saturday in the eighth inning, facing Dennis Eckersley. There were runners on first and third, one out, and the Padres clinging to a 3-2 lead over the Oakland Athletics.

Sheffield struck out on four pitches.

Then, he heard a strange sound.

The fans started clapping in appreciation, almost to offer condolences.

“That was a great, great feeling,” Sheffield said, “something I hadn’t had in a while.”

More than anything now, Sheffield said, he wants to be treated like just another player in the Padre organization. No special treatment. No wondrous expectations. Please, no pressure.

“I just want to fit in, that’s all,” Sheffield said. “I’m not a bad guy. I don’t use drugs. I don’t get arrested. I don’t do any of that stuff.

“All I’ve ever wanted is to be wanted. To be appreciated. To be myself. But Milwaukee wouldn’t let me. They never get me a chance. Hell, they thought I was crazy.

“I’ll work my hardest. I’ll do everything I can to win. I just want to be Gary.”

Sheffield, who was acquired in exchange for pitcher Ricky Bones, shortstop Jose Valentin and outfielder Matt Mieske, also is hoping his talents will emerge. Forget the guy who batted .194 last season, playing in only 50 games because of shoulder and wrist injuries. Remember the guy who batted .294 with 10 homers and 67 RBIs in 1990, proving he could be one of the best third baseman in the game when he produced.

“I can’t wait to get started here,” Sheffield said, “I’m still trying to wipe the smile off my face. I really think this is going to be the perfect situation for me.”

The Padres have equally high hopes. They plan to bat Sheffield third in the order, and believe they’ll have the most potent 2-3-4 punch in the league with Sheffield sandwiched by Gwynn and McGriff.

“Hopefully, this is what Gary needs,” Knudson said. “The biggest problem for Gary in Milwaukee was that we allowed him to get in a clique with a few young guys. He was alienated from us. I don’t think Fred McGriff and Tony Gwynn will let that happen here.

“He has to understand the grass is not always greener on the other side. Just like everything’s been in his life, it’s all up to Gary.”