Wedded Sheffield finds renewal

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 16, 2000

Gary Sheffield is hitting .338, has 30 homers, has knocked in 75 runs. He's on pace for the best season of his career and probably has been the most valuable player on a Dodgers team that might yet make a run at the NL West title.

Not bad for a guy who says he "had full intention" to quit the game a few years ago.

His plan changed when he met De Leon Richards, a gospel singerwho would become his wife in February 1999.

For that matter, so did his life.

"You go through that dead period where it wasn't worth it to me," Sheffield said during the All-Star break in Atlanta. "It was like, I've got enough money. I've got enough everything. I don't really need this game. When you get disappointed so many times with this game and they single you out a lot of times, sometimes you just say, "What the heck. I'm going to go do something else. I don't need that.'

"And that's what I was feeling. I just went through a dead period in my life. When my wife came aboard we sat down and talked about it, and I was rejuvenated."

Sheffield talked with his uncle, Dwight Gooden, whose passion for the game has always been obvious. He talked with Barry Bonds. He talked with other players.

But Richards had the biggest impact. Or at least, she did after Sheffield got around to telling her that he was a pro ballplayer -- about two months after they met in a New York hotel lobby.

"She wouldn't come visit me because she was a Christian woman and the only visits she could make to me were with her parents," Sheffield said. "They'd come down and we'd sit around and talk and I'd be trying to avoid the question of what did I do."

Sheffield feared Richards would be turned off to know he was a ballplayer, but eventually he told her. "It wasn't good," he said. "But she went by the time we'd spent together before. She didn't see that side, the things she'd heard about athletes."

Now, they sound like a normal, happy couple. Or at least as normal as can be when spouse is performing concerts and recording CDs (she has six out, he says) while the other is playing big-league baseball.

And as for any concerns that Sheffield would go Hollywood?

"I don't go anywhere," he said. "Believe it or not, I sleep. Then I wake up, sit there and watch TV, go to the ballpark and come right back home afterward. The body lasts a whole lot longer that way."

HOT DOG: Detroit's Hideo Nomo was relishing his victory Sunday after winning the County Stadium sausage race. Dressed as the Italian sausage, Nomo beat the Polish sausage, the Bratwurst and the Hot Dog in the daily dash from the leftfield corner to home plate. Nomo, who apparently loved the sausage race when pitching for the Brewers last season, said, "This is unique, only done here."

CUBBY LOVE: Awesome ballpark. Day games. Great city. Life as a Chicago Cub has its benefits, but winning is not often among them. Mark Grace has seen a lot during his 13 years, but not a World Series, the longest such run of any active player. "I've played on some bad baseball teams," he said. "There's no question about that. I've had a lot of help. You have to take the good with the bad. Unfortunately, I've taken a lot more bad than good."

FIGHTING MAD: The Indians say they haven't given up. But with tempers boiling (the brothers Alomar got into it just before the break) and trade rumors brewing, the chances of them catching the White Sox seem unlikely. And they're starting to realize that. "We've got to play for the wild card now," shortstop Omar Vizquel said. "This is going to be a great challenge for us because we've never been in this situation the last five years."

RAIN MAN: Marlins rookie Brad Penny endured rain delays five times in a nine-outing stretch.

MONEY MATTERS: Brad Radke insists the small matter of a four-year, $36-million contract isn't going to change him. It's the rest of the world he's concerned about. "I'm not going to think about it," he said. "I know that people will say things about it, that if you make so much money and don't pitch well you are going to get ripped. It's a shame people have to say stuff like that. You sign a big contract and people expect you to pitch better."

TAMPA BAY NORTH: The Devil Rays aren't the only team that brought in veterans with hopes of making a playoff run, only to be derailed by injuries and inconsistency. It's also the Philadelphia story. According to Scott Rolen, the expectations may have been wrong from the start. "Some people got out over their skis," he said. "Everybody was talking about the playoffs. That was a great idea. But we hadn't even had a winning season yet."

A LITTLE TOUCHY? He's 37 years old and changed teams nine times in 13 years, but Atlanta left-hander Terry Mulholland keeps going, bringing a 9-8 record into Monday's start against the Rays. "People have been reporting on my demise for 10 years," Mulholland said. "I hope they keep reporting on it for another 10 years."

DID YOU NOTICE THAT: The Marlins have the same number of wins as the Yankees. ... Phillies rookie Pat Burrell had 33 RBI in his first 41 games. ... Anaheim's Darin Erstad is on pace to break George Sisler's 80-year-old record of 257 hits. ... New Yankee Denny Neagle is 14-2 since the end of August and 98-62 for his career.

FINAL WORD: Blue Jays catcher Darrin Fletcher, who recorded his second career stolen base nearly three years after his first: "That's like Halley's comet. You miss that and you're not going to see another for years."

- Information from other news organizations was used in compiling this report.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

Headlines

Americans Lose in 1st Round of Davis Cup

---