About Gary Sheffield
Gary Antonian Sheffield (born November 18, 1968) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for eight teams from 1988 to 2009. After his playing career, he became a sports agent. For most of his career, Sheffield played right field, though he has also played left field, third base, shortstop, and a handful of games at first base. He played for the Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, Florida Marlins, Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, and the New York Mets. Sheffield was a first-round pick of the Brewers, who selected him sixth overall in the 1986 amateur draft after a standout prep career at Hillsborough High School in Tampa, Florida. He batted and threw right-handed. Sheffield hit his 500th home run on April 17, 2009. As of his last game, Sheffield ranked second among all active players in walks (1,475), third in runs (1,636), fourth in RBIs (1,676), fifth in hits (2,689) and home runs (509), and sixth in hit by pitches (135). He is the only player in history to record 100 RBIs in a season for five different teams. Sheffield's batting swing was an exemplary mix of savage speed and pinpoint control. Despite his high home run total, Sheffield only topped 80 strikeouts twice in 22 seasons, while finishing his career among the all-time top 20 walks leaders. Because of his combination of skill, sportswriter Joe Posnanski wrote, "I can't imagine there has ever been a scarier hitter to face." His first manager Tom Trebelhorn said, "Gary can turn on a 38-caliber bullet.” He is the nephew of Dwight Gooden. After retirement, he started to work as an agent. His clients include former reliever Jason Grilli. Sheffield was mentioned in the Mitchell Report and implicated in the BALCO scandal with respect to the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.