Sheffield Delivers in Grand Fashion : Padres: Grand slam supports pitching of Jim Deshaies in 5-1 victory over Cincinnati.

Third baseman Gary Sheffield gazed out the window Friday on the team bus before the Padres’ 5-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds and suddenly was overwhelmed by painful memories.

Now a leading candidate to win the National League’s Most Valuable Player award and a threat to win the triple crown, Sheffield remembered the trepidation that obsessed him only four months ago.

“I’m telling you,” Sheffield said, “I was scared to death. I was wondering if I’d make it in this league. I was given a second opportunity, and I was afraid I was blowing it.”

Four months ago, he telephoned his family in panic from this city--he even arrived at the ballpark at 8 in the morning one day because of his inability to sleep. Now Gary Antonian Sheffield has come full circle.

“I remember how easy the Reds were getting me out when we were here at the start of the season,” Sheffield said. “They were making me look bad, man. I was wondering if I could even hit in this league.

“Now, it’s kind of crazy. My confidence level is so high, I can’t even surprise myself anymore. It’s like I believe I’m going to get a hit every time up there.

“It’s almost scary.”

Sheffield, who is producing one of the greatest all-around seasons in the National League in the last 55 years, once again took care of the opposition almost single-handedly Friday. He hit a grand slam over the left-field fence in the second inning, made three dazzling defensive plays and left yet another opposing manager in awe of his talents.

The homer was Sheffield’s 25th home run of the season and boosted his RBI total to 83, tied for the league lead. He also had his ninth consecutive multi-hit game, raising his batting average to a league-high .343.

If not for Cesar Hernandez’s leaping catch over the left-field fence in the sixth inning, Sheffield would have had two homers and a career-high seven RBIs. In fact, if 5-foot-9 Bip Roberts had not been ejected in the previous inning, the ball probably would have cleared the fence with Roberts in left.

“That’s what everybody was talking about on the bench,” Sheffield said. “I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”

No matter, Sheffield still leads the league in six offensive categories and is second in four others. At the moment, teammate Fred McGriff, who has 27 homers, is the only man standing in the way of Sheffield winning the triple crown.

“The more you watch him, the more in awe you are,” said Padre starter Jim Deshaies (3-2), who came within two outs of pitching his first shutout since Oct. 1, 1989. “He’s the MVP if you ask me.”

Said Reds Manager Lou Piniella, who has seen his team lose seven of their last 10 games: “He’s swinging the quickest bat I’ve seen all year. The only thing you can do is just keep men off base in front of him. My God, what a player.”

The Reds, who dropped to a season-high 5 1/2 games behind Atlanta, learned the hard way.

It appeared it would be a harmless second inning, particularly when Kevin Ward struck out for the second out. Hammond then inexplicably walked Deshaies, advancing Tim Teufel to second. Tony Fernandez followed with a single to left, loading the bases, and Hammond forced in a run by walking Tony Gwynn on five pitches.

That brought up Sheffield, who is batting .422 with two outs and runners in scoring position.

“He was struggling with his control,” Sheffield said. “He couldn’t get his breaking ball over. When he fell behind 1-0, I knew he had to throw a fastball and knew he had to throw it over the middle of the plate.

“So I waited for it. I felt I couldn’t afford to miss it.”

The ball was gone the moment it left his bat, and it was all that was needed for the Padres (64-52) to win their eighth game in the last 10. They remain 6 1/2 behind the Braves, who defeated Pittsburgh, 15-0.

“The numbers are against us,” said Deshaies, “just because of what Atlanta is doing. Gee, they scored two touchdowns, and against the Steeler defense no less.”

Still, as long as the Padres have Sheffield in their lineup, they know there’s hope. In the last 50 games, he is hitting .393 with 15 homers and 44 RBIs.

“The only thing the Padres have to worry about is locking that guy up (contractually),” Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox said Thursday. “I mean, what do you give a guy like that?”

And to think Sheffield was worrying about the National League after going hitless in his first two games without getting the ball out of the infield.

“I was so uptight, so tense when the season started,” said Sheffield, who was acquired March 27 from the Milwaukee Brewers. “It was like a World Series, like it was the biggest game of my life. Everybody has butterflies when the season starts, but I was beyond that.

“And when I couldn’t get a hit those first two days, I was starting to panic. I was wondering if the whole year was going to be like this. I mean, we hadn’t even faced the Mets yet with Dwight (Gooden) and David Cone.

“So I finally called Dwight (his uncle), and said, ‘Hey, does everyone throw like this? If they do, I’m in big trouble.’ ”

Gooden assured him that he was indeed facing two of the best in the business in Jose Rijo and Tom Browning, and there was no need to worry.

Four months later, the rest of the league is panicking.

“Right now,” Sheffield said, “I feel like I can do just about anything.”

While everyone has been asking Sheffield about winning the MVP, or his chances of winning the triple crown, there’s actually another goal he has in mind.

He wants to win the batting title.

“That would mean more to me than anything,” Sheffield said. “That would be the ultimate. People forget who wins RBI and home run titles each year. No one forgets a batting champion.

“I always felt I had the power to hit 30 homers some day, but to hit like this in the big leagues, that’s something different.

“It’s been some season, hasn’t it?”