Sheffield’s Appeal Is Delayed Again

Further extending the process, major league baseball Friday postponed Gary Sheffield’s second suspension appeal hearing.

Commissioner Bud Selig was scheduled to hear the Dodger left fielder’s appeal of a five-game suspension--ordered and upheld on the initial appeal after a brawl at Wrigley Field in Chicago--next week in Atlanta.

However, Selig and other baseball executives decided the hearing should instead occur after the three-day All-Star break because it might distract from Tuesday’s game at Turner Field. Sheffield and pitcher Kevin Brown are on the National League team.

A new hearing date has not been scheduled. Moreover, it is unclear where Selig will meet Sheffield and officials from the Major League Players Assn., who are handling the appeal.

The All-Star break was chosen because the Dodgers do not return this season to New York, where appeals are usually heard at the commissioner’s office. Selig is not expected to travel to Los Angeles, and the Dodgers make only two more East Coast trips.

Sheffield hoped the situation would be resolved soon, but now wonders whether it will ever end.

“I don’t know what to think about any of it anymore,” he said. “Obviously, I’m upset about it because I thought it was almost over. We’ve been dealing with it for a long time now, and it just doesn’t seem to end.

“I’ve tried to block it out and not let it be a distraction because I’ve got a job to do. We’ve got games to win, and I can’t have that stuff on my mind. But when it keeps dragging out like this, when you don’t know what’s going on, it’s hard not to think about it.”

Sheffield was scheduled to begin serving the suspension Friday. He also owes $5,000 in fines.

The six-time all-star said he plans to have a good time in Atlanta despite being disappointed about the postponement.

“I’m going to see some friends and still have fun, I just wish this was over,” Sheffield said. “This has been frustrating for me and the organization. You just don’t know what to make of [the process].”

*

Alex Rodriguez, knocked out of Friday’s game, almost became a Dodger in 1993.

The Seattle Mariners selected the all-star shortstop with the first overall pick in the amateur draft, and the Dodgers chose Darren Dreifort with the second. But Rodriguez thought he was headed to Chavez Ravine.

“It was a done deal,” he said. “I was going to L.A. and [Dreifort] was going to the Mariners, but it didn’t work out that way.

“I’ve thought about that [being drafted by the Dodgers]. It’s funny, who knows? It could have been night and day.”

Rodriguez is the top position player in the upcoming free-agent class, and the Dodgers are expected to pursue the 24-year-old slugger.

Some believe Rodriguez will become baseball’s first $150-million to $200-million player with an average-annual salary of more than $20 million. Dodger Chairman Bob Daly and General Manager Kevin Malone know what it takes to complete big deals.

Daly and Rodriguez’s agent, Scott Boras, understand each other after negotiating third baseman Adrian Beltre’s three-year contract in spring training. Daly and Boras won’t discuss Rodriguez because of tampering rules.

And Rodriguez?

“I can say blue is my favorite color,” Rodriguez said, smiling. “But I like a lot of colors.”

*

Second baseman Mark Grudzielanek was scratched from Friday’s lineup because of flu-like symptoms. Grudzielanek is batting .370 (10 for 27) on the trip. . . . The Dodgers hope to activate right-handed reliever Gregg Olson after the break. Olson has been sidelined since April 11 because of a strained right forearm. . . . Seattle left fielder Rickey Henderson walked in the fifth inning. It was the 2,020th walk of his career, moving him past Ted Williams for second place to Babe Ruth (2,062).

TONIGHT

DODGERS’

ERIC GAGNE

(1-4, 4.58 ERA)

vs.

MARINERS’

AARON SELE

(10-3, 4.21 ERA)

Safeco Field, 6 p.m.

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

* Update--Gagne has given up three earned runs or less in 10 of 12 appearances. The rookie right-hander is making his first start against the Mariners. Sele is third in the American League in victories.