Sheffield Had Better Hope He Starts Fast

The laid-back atmosphere of Dodger Stadium is certain to change in April. Gary Sheffield only can hope the fans arrive even later and leave even earlier.

What can the Dodgers do to soften the negative response Sheffield will hear on opening day at Dodger Stadium?

Nothing more, basically, than to advise him to continue to keep his mouth shut and perform.

“Gary has to accept the fact that it’s going to last for a while,” Chairman Bob Daly said Monday in making it official: He is satisfied with Sheffield’s apology and has removed him from the trading block--at least for now.

Otherwise, Sheffield basically is on his own.

Think Blue? Think boo is likely to be the new motto of Dodger Stadium patrons.

After all, didn’t Sheffield demand to be traded with three years and an option left on his contract and say he might not be able to perform at his best if he stayed?

The Dodgers correctly feel that anything they would attempt to do in the way of a marketing or community effort to sway opinion regarding Sheffield would be perceived as contrived.

The marketing program they had planned to build around Sheffield now will be built around the team.

Their hope is that Sheffield’s performance will defuse the response over time and that they gradually can give him a more prominent role again in their promotional campaigns.

The bottom line: If it is more important than ever for the Dodgers to get off to a fast start with the new unbalanced schedule that requires them to play 18 of their first 19 games against National League West opponents, it is even more important for Sheffield.

A slow start by the left fielder will intensify and prolong the boos, possibly prompting Sheffield to revive his trade demand.

“We’re fairly optimistic this will not rear its head again,” Daly said. “But there are no guarantees and we would be foolish to think there are.”

Indeed. When it comes to Sheffield’s career pattern and behavior, the only guarantees are those he demands in his contracts.

“Obviously, his history is one of those things we took into account [before deciding to retain him],” Daly said. “We also took into account the fact that he was a team leader and model citizen last year, and we believe he can be that again.”

Perhaps, but the other thing the Dodgers took into account was the accounting. They have invested $110 million in this team. General Manager Kevin Malone’s job is on the line, and maybe even Daly’s. Think back. When Hideo Nomo said he didn’t want to be a Dodger anymore, then-general manager Fred Claire saw to his departure almost the next day. He didn’t wait for an apology or allow the situation to fester for several weeks. He wouldn’t force anyone to play for the Dodgers who didn’t want to.

The current administration knows it can’t win without Sheffield and wasn’t going to get comparable value trading him under duress.

Yes, Daly insisted he would have traded him had Sheffield not apologized, but then it took more than three weeks to get the apology--and then only after Sheffield changed agents.

Make no mistake: Daly made a pragmatic decision relating directly to his team’s need to compete this season, swallowing the trash Sheffield dumped on him and the possibility all of this could resurface.

For now, however, the chairman claims to believe in the sincerity of Sheffield’s apology and that the Dodgers could even emerge more unified.

He believes the clubhouse tension was eased by Sheffield’s apology to teammates during a recent players meeting. He believes this will be the best team the Dodgers have fielded in several years.

Could it be that the former studio chief is still living in the make-believe world of Hollywood?

The one certainty resides in what all the e-mails, letters and phone calls tell the Dodgers: A rude reception awaits Sheffield, or as Eric Karros said Monday, “They even booed Mike Piazza, so that says it all. I mean, they were ready to put a statue of that guy in front of the stadium.”

There will be no statues to the man who created this monumental fuss, and who remained conciliatory on the day Daly said he will open the season as a Dodger.

“Like I’ve been saying, I’m just focusing on playing baseball and trying to help the Dodgers win,” Sheffield said. “I’m concentrating on the game and helping the Dodgers win a championship. I’m going to give everything I have to give the fans the best performance I can. That’s all I’m thinking about.”

Said Karros: “Nobody was trashed more than Bob Daly. If he can accept Sheffield’s apology, so can we. We can’t control what the fans do, and they have a right to react any way they like, but we can be there to support him, as we would for any teammate.”

Despite that support, however, Sheffield may be a solitary figure in the hostile atmosphere of Dodger Stadium, the ultimate hope being that his actions speak louder than all of his misguided words.

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DODGERS MOVE ON

The Dodgers can now turn their attention to their other areas of concern. D5

ANGELS

Darin Erstad welcomes challenge of moving from left field to center. D5