Gary Sheffield to Rob Parker: “I Played Clean All My Life”

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In an interview released today on Rob Parker’s Inside the (Rob) Parker podcast, MLB legend Gary Sheffield revealed a few things about his career that deserve some attention.

First, when Parker asked Sheffield about his Hall of Fame chances, he said he believes he’s deserving of the honor and that the steroid rumors are just rumors.

“I know I’m a Hall of Famer. They know I’m a Hall of Famer. So it’s just a matter of technicality. What was going on with baseball and everybody has their opinions, but everybody don’t have facts. And then the bottom line is that I can live with my facts, and I did it the right way. I played clean all my life. You know, like I told them, you can test me, freeze my blood for 100 years if you want to. I don’t care. I’m an easy target to put negativity towards. When you’re an outspoken person, it’s easy to pin anything on you and most people will believe it.”

-Gary Sheffield on Inside the (Rob) Parker

While I do think Gary Sheffield is a Hall of Famer, given his 500-plus home runs, World Series ring, and 1992 batting crowd, he did admit to Sports Illustrated that he used “the cream” in 2002. At the same time, he claims he didn’t know it was a PED, which is fair, and it was before the league began a strict testing process.

In terms of the HOF, I don’t think you should hold his admission against him; a testosterone-based cream isn’t a needle in your butt, after all, and it didn’t sky-rocket his numbers or anything. The year in question (2002) was his only season between 1999-2005 that he hit less than 30 homers and collected fewer than 100 RBIs. He never tested positive, so that one admission is really the only rock-solid proof of PED use that people can point towards. To taint his entire career because of that, and keep him out of Cooperstown, isn’t fair…

That said, he can’t quite say he played clean all his life, as he did in the interview with Parker.

Another thing Sheffield noted, which is really interesting, is that the Florida Marlins denied his request to retire as a member of the team in 2010.

I don’t know why the Marlins would do such a thing. I mean, they’re the Marlins…they shouldn’t be turning down any opportunities to get positive press. But, then again, they’re the Marlins, so it sort of makes sense.

During his career, Sheffield made nine All-Star appearances, hit 509 home runs, and collected 2,689 hits…definitely HOF numbers.

You can listen to the full episode here.