It's funny how some things work out in Major League Baseball. Chipper Jones and Gary Sheffield are both having Hall of Fame careers yet one just signed an extension to keep him a lifelong Brave and another guy just got released less than a week before the season starts and only 1 home run short of 500.
Chipper who is 36 years old is the only switch hitter in Major League history to bat over .300(.310 currently) with 300 plus home runs in his career. His 408 long balls trails only Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray in career home runs for a switch hitter. The guy has been banging home runs in Atlanta almost as long as he has been banging Hooters waitresses on the road. I'm sure one of those girls gave him a STD which he used as his excuse for his chronic hamstring injury (translation: herpes flare up) but he is a ballplayer. Did you honestly expect him not to bang them? Didn't think so. He was rewarded for his loyalty to the Braves franchise today by receiving a 3 year contract extension that will pay him handsomely. He can basically order as many Hooters wings and servers as he wants. I'm going to be completely honest with you the readers. I like Chipper. He seems like a good teammate and he has taken less money or deferred it in the past to stay in Atlanta and field a competitive team. This includes renegotiating his contract in order to get better players in Atlanta. Essentially the antithesis of Tom Glavine. Chipper is not a me first player and I respect that.
On the other hand you have Gary Sheffield. The 41 year old designated hitter has worn out his welcome in every city he has played in. Whether it be as a loud mouth know it all in Milwaukee, San Diego, Florida, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York and now Detroit, Sheffield has always left on bad terms. Don't get me wrong, the guy is a hell of a hitter. I used to emulate his swing with his hands rocking back and forth. But the guy is just an arrogant ME first type of player. The 9-time All Star sits just one home run short of 500 for his career and he is released. That should tell it all. Detroit is missing out on the publicity of Sheffield hitting the historic mark by eating his $14 million in salary just so he will go away. His productivity has declined dramatically with his age but you would think if Sheffield was a good guy then the Tigers would have kept him around. It's a shame and I wonder how the writers who vote for the Hall of Fame will view him. Personally I think he is a Hall of Fame player. His on base percentage is near 40 percent and he has been a serious RBI threat for over 15 years. I would think some team has to pick up Sheffield even if he is a pain in the ass. The publicity of 500 home runs is too much to ignore. I got my fingers crossed for the New York Mets!
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