Sheffield Recants, Accepts His All-Star Assignment

On second thought, Dodger outfielder Gary Sheffield accepted an invitation to the All-Star game.

Sheffield said Tuesday he would not represent the Dodgers if he was selected as a National League reserve because he wanted to spend the three-day all-star break in Tampa, Fla., with his three children.

Sheffield was named to the team Wednesday. He changed his position about participating in the game Tuesday at Denver after speaking briefly Wednesday afternoon with interim General Manager Tom Lasorda.

“Just wearing this uniform is different from any other uniform I’ve worn in the past,” Sheffield said. “This is an organization with a lot of tradition, and it’s an honor to go and represent one of the best organizations in baseball.”

Sheffield was selected to his fourth All-Star game by National League Manager Jim Leyland, for whom he played with the Florida Marlins until he was traded to the Dodgers on May 15 in the Mike Piazza deal.

In 40 games since the trade, Sheffield is batting .333 (45 for 135) with seven home runs and 30 RBIs. Overall, Sheffield is batting .303 (82 for 271) with 13 homers and 58 RBIs.

He is the organization’s lone representative in the game, and club officials were concerned about the public fallout if Sheffield--the team’s highest-paid player with a contract that averages $11 million annually--skipped the event during his first season in Dodger Blue.

But Sheffield said he hasn’t spent enough time with his children this season because of the chaotic situations in Florida and Los Angeles, and he also wanted to rest his sore back during the break.

Lasorda granted Sheffield permission to arrive in Denver on Tuesday, missing the first day of all-star festivities at Coors Field.

“It wasn’t anything against the All-Star game,” Sheffield said. “I’ve gone before and it’s an honor, but my kids have been sending me Teddy bears and calling me all the time.

“It’s making me homesick, and I need to see their faces. They’re missing me, and that’s been killing me.”

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Although club officials likely won’t exercise the $5.6-million option in Ramon Martinez’s contract for next season--buying it out for $600,000--they will attempt to re-sign the all-star pitcher, who would become a free agent.

Martinez underwent season-ending shoulder surgery Tuesday and isn’t expected to resume pitching for at least a year.

The nine-year major league veteran, who has been with the organization since signing as a 16-year-old free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 1984, wants to be reunited with his brother, Pedro, an all-star pitcher with the Boston Red Sox.

Stay tuned.

TONIGHT

DODGERS’ CHAN HO PARK (6-5, 5.17 ERA) vs. RANGERS’ DARREN OLIVER (4-5, 6.81 ERA)

The Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, 5:30 p.m. PDT.

TV--Channel 5. Radio--AM 1150, KWKW (1330).

* Update--Pitcher Dennis Reyes was optioned to Class-A San Bernardino after the game, and catcher Paul LoDuca was recalled from triple-A Albuquerque. Reyes will start Tuesday for San Bernardino and be recalled to start next Sunday for the Dodgers.