Sheffield delivers blasts on, off field

By: Associated Press | Friday, July 13, 2007 11:40 PM PDT ∞

Gary Sheffield stood behind his controversial comments about Joe Torre, Barry Bonds and the New York Yankees before the game, then put the focus back to his on-field performance.

Sheffield hit the 12th grand slam of his career, providing all the offense Detroit starter Jeremy Bonderman needed as the Tigers beat the host Seattle Mariners 6-3 on Friday night.

It was a long day for Sheffield, who fielded questions before the game about his comments to HBO's "Real Sports" regarding the treatment of black and white players by Torre in the Yankees' clubhouse and his past relationship with Bonds.

In the interview with HBO, Sheffield says the black players on the Yankees' roster would be "called out" in the clubhouse by Torre. Sheffield also denied he ever took steroids, but admitted taking the "clear" and the "cream" ---- two designer steroids created by BALCO. Sheffield said he didn't know they were steroids, said he trusted and felt himself being controlled by Bonds. But, Sheffield claimed, "if I took what Barry Bonds took, why don't I look like him?"

Sheffield's strongest opinions were about the Yankees and Torre. Sheffield said Friday he felt disrespected from the time he arrived in New York, claiming early in his New York tenure that Torre said the Yankees should have instead acquired Vladimir Guerrero.

"When you're hearing that from your manager when you are out there busting your butt for him, that's disrespectful," Sheffield said. "But no one came to my defense to say it was disrespectful."

Sheffield claims black and white players in the Yankees clubhouse were treated differently, specifically how players Tony Womack and Kenny Lofton were handled by Torre. In the interview with HBO, Sheffield says the black players on the Yankees' roster would be "called out" in the clubhouse by Torre, while the white players would be called into Torre's office to discuss matters.

Torre had little to say about Sheffield's comments.

"I just don't even want to answer those types of questions because I feel comfort not answering," Torre said.

Angels 2, Rangers 1

At Anaheim: Casey Kotchman hit an RBI single in the ninth inning to give Los Angeles a victory over Texas.

Twins 5, Athletics 3

At Minneapolis: Johan Santana allowed four hits and struck out eight in seven scoreless innings to lead Minnesota to a victory over Oakland.

Blue Jays 6, Red Sox 5

At Boston: Alex Rios had three hits and drove in the go-ahead run for Toronto, and Shaun Marcum survived a shaky start to win for the first time in nearly a month.

Devil Rays 6, Yankees 4

At St. Petersburg, Fla.: Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in six innings to outpitch Roger Clemens and earn his first win at home in more than a year.

Orioles 2, White Sox 0

At Baltimore: Erik Bedard allowed three hits over seven innings and Nick Markakis and Corey Patterson homered off Mark Buehrle to lead Baltimore.

Indians 5, Royals 4

At Cleveland: Ryan Garko singled home the winning run with one out in the ninth inning for Cleveland.

First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, e-mail addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. Attempts to misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person will not be approved. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.