It's Not Easy Being Sheff

Gary Sheffield's played with big-time pain this year, participated in the huge ALCS loss to the Red Sox, has been called in before a grand jury in the BALCO investigation, and has had to admit to "unknowing" steroid use back in the days when he used to hang with Barry Bonds.

That's a tough year. One thing you don't need to hear after a year like that is about things your wife supposedly did back when she was dating R. Kelly, much less be blackmailed by some jackass who has gotten a copy of one of Mr. Kelly's amateur films.

In a word, yuck!

The timing of this release, coming fast on the heels of Sheff's second-place finish in the AL MVP race, is fishy. Were Sheff's people holding the announcement, so it wouldn't detract from Gary's MVP hopes? Or were the tabloids holding the story, hoping to piggy-back this on an MVP award?

We'll probably never know.

Sheff's shown a lot of grace this year--in everything other than how he handled his relationship with former friend Barry Bonds, that is. But he played hurt, he produced on offense, he came clean with the grand jury, and now he's sticking up for his wife. Good job, all around.

NOTES

Congrats to Vlad Guerrero, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Johan Santana for their MVP/Cy Young honors. Also congrats to former Yankee manager Buck Showalter on his AL Manager of the Year award.

Check out today's Prospectus Triple Play over at Baseball Prospectus. It's near and dear to our heart, and it gives some good explanations on why the Yanks shouldn't sign Carl Pavano, why dropping Jon Lieber's option was probably a good idea, and reveals at long last who was the Yank's ALCS LVP (that's Least Valuable Player).