The Feed: Joe Torre's Gary Sheffield Problem

Shefftorre

Unless you spent all weekend under a rock you've already heard Gary Sheffield's comments to HBO's Real Sports about Joe Torre. For those who might have been under that rock we'll give you a quick recap. Sheff, a regular observer of baseball's racial landscape, said that Torre treats black and white players differently and that every black player who was in the Bronx with Sheffield had issues with the organization.

"They had an issue with Joe Torre. They weren't treated like everybody else. I got called out in a couple of meetings that I thought were unfair." According to Sheffield, Torre used him to get a message across to the team. White players, Sheffield said, were brought in to Torre's office and "treated like a man." Sheffield said he did not think Torre was racist, only that he treated black and white players differently...African-American players who were with the Yankees during Sheffield's 2004-06 tenure were Jeter, Kenny Lofton, Homer Bush, Tony Clark, Tom Gordon, Tony Womack, Matt Lawton, Shawn Chacon and Kevin Thompson. Kremer pointed out to Sheffield that the Yankees' most prominent player is black. Sheffield responded, "Who?" Told Derek Jeter, Sheffield said, "Derek Jeter is black and white."

Jeter's father is African-American and his mother is white. Sheffield said of that, "There's really no significance. You just ain't all the way black."

Torre hasn't said much, other than that he disagrees with Sheffield's assertion, but others who have spent a lot of time around the Yankees are more open about debunking the Tiger slugger. Buster Olney, who covered the Yankees for the New York Times, is one such voice.

But in this case, Sheffield's words about Torre are sharp and vicious, whether he meant them to be or not. It feels like he is slinging around words recklessly -- hurtful words which, when coming from a star player like Sheffield, can label someone for life. You cannot on one hand indicate that Torre treats black players differently than white players, and on the other hand say that he is not a racist. That makes no sense, and it is irresponsible.

And then there are those who are backing Sheffield up. Kenny Lofton, who played in 83 games for the 2004 Yankees, was asked to comment about the maelstrom. "All I can say is, Sheffield knows what he's talking about. That's all I'm going to say," was his response. There's little comparison between the two players. Lofton complained about batting ninth on a typically loaded Yankee team even though he barely hit in spring training and was never happy about splitting time with Ruben Sierra, Bernie Williams and others in the Yankee lineup. His sour grapes are nothing like Sheffield's because Sheff had two monster years in pinstripes before injuries cost him most of last season.

Lofton should probably be ignored as the whinings of a malcontent. If Tony Womack or Matt Lawton wants to weigh in with something similar, it would be best to treat it with just as little seriousness. The one thing most of the players listed above share it's an unsuccessful on-field tenure in the Bronx. If Torre's treatment was to blame how come few of them have gone on to find success anywhere else?

Sheffield, who created a tempest when he spoke about black and Latin players earlier this season, has both a stronger leg to stand on and a knack for saying outrageous things on a regular basis. Some of them, like the black/Latin comparison have merit while some, as this appears to be, are just for the sake of being outrageous. If he's going to say that Torre isn't racist, despite treating black and white players differently, then it sounds much more like a Joe Torre-Gary Sheffield problem. Adding race to the equation makes for a sexier story and a snappier soundbite but that doesn't make it any more true. If he'd cited Kyle Farnsworth's continued role as set-up man, however, as part of Torre's predilection for going easy on the white man I'd be the first to jump to Sheffield's defense.