Sheffield Plugs Himself : Baseball: Before Padres’ 4-1 loss to Reds, third baseman says he deserves to be MVP.

There no longer is the need for pretense. The days of being grateful for mere attention and praise are over.

The time has come, Padre third baseman Gary Sheffield said Friday before the Padres’ 4-1 defeat to the Cincinnati Reds, to be perfectly honest about this.

Sheffield dearly covets the National League’s Most Valuable Player award, and he believes the award should belong to him.

“If I don’t win it,” Sheffield said, “who should?

“I don’t want to sound arrogant or cocky about it, but look at my numbers. I’m going to finish with at least a .300 batting average, 30 homers and 100 RBIs.

“What more can you do? It’s hard to go behind that unless you put up Canseco-type numbers.”

Sheffield went two for four Friday and is batting .333 for the season--tied with Pittsburgh’s Andy Van Slyke for the league lead. He also has 30 homers and 92 RBIs. That ranks him second to teammate Fred McGriff’s 34 homers, and leaves him in a three-way tie for second behind Philadelphia catcher Darren Daulton’s 99 RBIs.

The Padres were stymied by Reds starter Tim Pugh (2-1). He allowed only five hits in eight innings before giving way to Rob Dibble, who saved his 19th game.

The defeat, in front of only 14,067 fans at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, dropped the Padres (75-65) back into third place. They are 10 games behind the division-leading Atlanta Braves, leaving the Braves’ magic number at 13 to eliminate the Padres.

It was the 14th time this season that the Padres have scored two or fewer runs in one of Andy Benes’ starts. Benes, however, lasted only 4 1/3 innings, surrendered nine hits and four runs (three earned).

“We just didn’t have a whole lot going offensively,” Benes said, “or on the mound.”

The Padres are left with the only suspense of Sheffield’s triple crown pursuit. Yet Sheffield said he’d be content simply to win the MVP award.

“Winning the MVP award would be the best thing that’s ever happened to me in my life,” Sheffield said. “That would say I’m the best player in the league for an entire year, and nobody could ever take that away from me.

“If you ask me, I really think I deserve to win it.”

The ballots for the MVP award will be distributed within the next two weeks. There’ll be 24 ballots, distributed to two writers in each National League city. The ballots are due before the start of the playoffs, and the outcome will be announced in mid-November.

Sheffield asks voters to weigh his performance this season, hoping attitudes toward him from his days in Milwaukee are forgotten.

“What happened in the past,” Sheffield said, “should have nothing to do with this year.”

Sheffield said it’s time for people to dismiss the notion that he made errors on purpose while playing for the Milwaukee Brewers. Comments he made to that effect (The Times, June 9) were uttered out of lingering frustration from his Milwaukee days.

Said Sheffield: “I’ve said some things I regret, but when you say something honestly--something that’s between positive and negative--people turn it to negative. That’s what’s happening in Milwaukee.

“I feel people in Milwaukee want to focus on what I did there, instead of what I’m doing now. It’s almost like they want to bring me down.”

Said Don Baylor, who spent two years as the Brewer batting coach: “I’ve been around a lot of players during my career, and I can honestly say I’ve never seen a more competitive player. This guy absolutely hates to lose.

“I don’t believe for a minute he ever let down. He never even cared about his numbers. The bottom line for him was wins and losses.”

Said Sheffield: “I’ve made a statement this year that I can play the game, and I want to continue making that statement.”

Who could argue? Sheffield has obliterated every record by a Padre third baseman. Even if he does not win the triple crown, he could become only the 20th player in history to finish in the top three in all of the major categories.

Sheffield wonders what more could anyone want?

“You look around, and there are four guys having great years this season,” Reds Manager Lou Piniella said. “(Barry) Bonds, (Terry) Pendleton and McGriff are having spectacular seasons.

“But I don’t know if you can say anyone is having a better year than Sheffield. My God, he’s doing it all.”

Perhaps the biggest challenge for Sheffield is whether he’ll be penalized playing for a team that is out of playoff contention. Voters might turn their attention to Pendleton and Bonds.

“Don’t get me wrong, I respect Terry and Barry to the utmost,” Sheffield said. “They’ve had great seasons, too. I just think mine’s better.

“Besides, those guys have already won their awards, so let me have one.”

Triple Crown Watch Batting Average Gary Sheffield, Padres: .333 Andy Van Slyke, Pittsburgh: .333 John Kruk, Philadelphia: .322 Home Runs Fred McGriff, Padres: 34 Gary Sheffield, Padres: 30 Barry Bonds, Pittsburgh: 28 Runs Batted In Darren Daulton, Philadelphia: 99 Fred McGriff, Padres: 93 Terry Pendelton, Braves: 93 Gary Sheffield, Padres: 93