YANKEE NOTES
If Gary Sheffield is included among the American League All-Stars announced today, he will let George Steinbrenner decide if the Yankees’ best player across the first half of the season travels to Houston for the July 13 midseason classic or rests an aching left shoulder.
Sheffield has heard about Steinbrenner not liking his players with physical problems participating in the All-Star Game.
“It’s up to George,” Sheffield said. “If he says I can go, I go.”
Sheffield has been bothered for two weeks with a problem that has been diagnosed as bursitis. Sheffield, who has taken a shot of cortisone, believes it’s worse and thinks off-season surgery will be required.
Sheffield, 35, fell out of the top three balloting among outfielders but could be voted in by the players or Yankee and AL manager Joe Torre, who will choose seven players, four of whom have to be pitchers.
“It’s a Catch-22 thing,” says Sheffield, an eight-time All Star. “You want to represent the Yankees at the All-Star Game because that’s an achievement. It’s just OK to represent a losing team because they have to take somebody. But the Yankees are different.”
Since Jason Giambi, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui are expected to be voted in and Torre will certainly pick Mariano Rivera, that means Tom Gordon, Jorge Posada and Sheffield could get caught in a number’s game.
Gordon’s strong season has garnered a lot of support from his teammates for his second All Star team.
“I haven’t thought about it, but I would love to go,” said the 36-year-old Gordon, an All-Star in 1998 who was 2-2 with a 1.55 ERA in 40 games going into yesterday’s action.
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Joe Torre believed Jason Giambi was feeling better yesterday based on his first baseman’s appetite and personality.
“He was in [the clubhouse] eating breakfast foods and he sounded better,” Torre said of Giambi, who hasn’t started a game in a week due to an intestinal parasite in his stomach and fanned as a pinch-hitter Thursday night. “He wants to play. Nobody wants to sit and watch the other guys have fun. We will see if he can play off the bench and then see about [today].”
Torre said Kevin Brown’s attitude about being diagnosed with the same problem Giambi is fighting has improved, too. However, Brown won’t return from the DL until after the All-Star break, since he would require at least two bullpen sessions before pitching a game. Brown hasn’t pitched since June 9.
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Players Association honcho Donald Fehr was at Shea yesterday. He visited with Mets reliever John Franco and Yankee first baseman Tony Clark, but Clark said Fehr was just saying hello and there was no union crisis to discuss.
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With John Flaherty catching a day game after a night tilt and Jorge Posada sitting it out, Torre wanted Bernie Williams in the middle of the lineup, even if the switch-hitter was hitless in 15 at-bats coming into yesterday’s action. So, instead of hitting Williams first, Torre went with Miguel Cairo in front of Derek Jeter.
The move worked in the first inning when Cairo walked, went to third on Jeter’s single and scored on Alex Rodriguez’ grounder to the right side.