» June 7, 1986: University of Arkansas's Jeff King, The Sporting News college player of the year, is the first choice in the June draft. The Pirates take the third baseman. U. of Texas P Greg Swindell is the next pick by Cleveland. Neither will sign for six weeks but Swindell will be in the major leagues after going 2–1 in the minors. The Giants take UNLV's Matt Williams with the 3rd pick; Texas, picking 4th, selects Kevin Brown, followed by high schooler Kent Mercker (Braves), Gary Sheffield (Brewers) and Brad Brink (Phillies). After being skipped over because scouts are convinced the Heisman Trophy winner is headed to the NFL, Bo Jackson is taken in the 4th round by the Royals. College Pitcher of the Year Mike Loynd is taken by Texas in the 7th Round. A total of 331 high schoolers are drafted, the most since 1979, due mainly to the dissolution of the January draft. » March 27, 1992: The Brewers trade IF Gary Sheffield and P Geoff Kellogg to the Padres in exchange for P Ricky Bones, SS Jose Valentin and OF Matt Mieske.
» August 6, 1992: Padres Gary Sheffield and Fred McGriff become the first teammates to swat back-to-back HRs twice in the same game since Ernie Banks and Dee Fondy of the Cubs in 1955. The Padres win the game over the Astros, 7-5.
» August 7, 1992:
As of today, the No. one hitters in the AL and NL, Edgar Martinez and John Kruk, are both hitting .341. The No. two hitters in each league, Kirby Puckett and Andy Van Slyke, are both hitting .331. The No. three hitters in each league, Shane Mack and Gary Sheffield, are both hitting .329.
» August 28, 1992:
The Padres outslug the Pirates, 11-6, with Fred McGriff collecting three hits and providing the longest HR in the majors this season at 473 feet. It is Fred's 30th. Gary Sheffield adds his 28th.
» November 17, 1992: Baseball holds the expansion draft to stock the rosters of the National League's two new teams, the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies. A total of 72 players are chosen. P David Nied is the 1st pick of the Rockies, while OF Nigel Wilson is selected 1st by the Marlins. The Fish take Jose Martinez with #2, while the Rocks pick vet Charlie Hayes. The best picks for Florida are #4 Trevor Hoffman, eventually packaged for Gary Sheffield; #11 Jeff Conine, who will hit 81 homers in four years; and #18 Cris Carpenter, later dealt to Texas for Robb Nen. For Colorado, they will find gold with #6 Eric Young, #10 Joe Girardi, #16 Vinny Castilla, and #18 Armando Reynoso. Picks #13 and 14 are good ones -- Andy Ashby, Brad Ausmus and Doug Bochtler -— but they'll all go to the Padres in 1993 in an ill-fated deal for pricey vet pitchers Bruce Hurst and Greg Harris.
» June 24, 1993:
The Marlins obtain OF Gary Sheffield and P Rich Rodriguez from the Padres for P Trevor Hoffman, Andres Berumen and Jose Martinez. The Fish will give Sheffield a 4-year contract extension in September.
» July 14, 1993: The American League defeats the National League, 9-3, in the All-Star Game. Kirby Puckett, Roberto Alomar, and Gary Sheffield hit home runs, while the win goes to Jack McDowell. Craig Biggio is at 2B for the NL: last year he was on the team as a catcher, the first player ever to make it at those two positions. A highlight of the game is Randy Johnson firing a 95-MPH fastball over John Kruk's head. Kruk bails out on the next two pitches, saying afterwards, he's going to kill somebody."
» September 17, 1995: Florida's Pat Rapp 1-hits Colorado as the Marlins trounce the Rockies, 17-0. It's Rapp's 7th win in a row as a bloop single by Dante Bichette is Colorado's only safety. The Marlins pound six Rockies' pitchers for 21 safeties, including five for OF Gary Sheffield, who drives in four runs before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the 8th. Rapp will shut out the Mets in five days in a rain shortened game, the first Marlin to toss two shutouts in a row.
» September 18, 1995: Gary Sheffield follows up his 5-for-5 performance of yesterday with three hits in three ABs—8 straight hits—for seven RBIs, in Florida's 13-10 loss to Philadelphia. Sheffield, who was on the DL, will hit 10 homers and club record 27 RBI in September.
» April 26, 1996:
Gary Sheffield cracks a 2-run homer in the first inning off San Francisco starter Osvaldo Fernandez, but that's all the Marlin scoring as the Giants win, 3–2. For Sheffield, it is his 11th homer of April, matching the major league record for the month.
» April 28, 1996: Visiting Texas scores four runs in the 10th and holds on for a 5–4 win over the Orioles. Baltimore's Brady Anderson cracks his 11th homer of April, joining Gary Sheffield, who hit his 11th of Friday, Willie Stargell (1971), Graig Nettles (1974), and Mike Schmidt (1976) as the only players to hit that many in the month.
» May 13, 1996: In Miami, Terry Pendleton smashes a dramatic two-out grand slam in the 6th inning, following the ejection of starter Alan Benes, to lift the Marlins to a 5–2 win over the Cardinals. Benes (1–6) is ejected for hitting Gary Sheffield with a pitch that sparks a bench-clearing by both teams. Pendleton has driven in 11 runs in the past three games as the Marlins win their 8th straight.
» August 15, 1996:
Larry Walker, out two months with a broken collarbone, makes his first start for the Rockies, but it doesn't help as they lose for the 10th straight time at Joe Robbie Stadium, 7–6. The Marlins score three in the 8th to win. Gary Sheffield belts his 34th homer for the Fish.
» November 1, 1996: The major league All-Star team opens their 8-game series in Japan with a 6–5 loss to the Japan All-Stars. Players include Cal Ripken, Sammy Sosa, Steve Finley, Brady Anderson, Barry Bonds, Mike Piazza, Hideo Nomo, Gary Sheffield, Alex Rodriguez, and Shane Reynolds.
» April 2, 1997:
Gary Sheffield signs a 6-year, $61 million contract with the Marlins, the largest in baseball history.
» July 13, 1997:
The Marlins use an 8-run 4th inning to wallop the Phillies, 9–3. Gary Sheffield is the main man with two homers in the inning, hitting a solo shot and a 3-run homer, before leaving with a pulled hamstring.
» October 21, 1997: In a slugfest, the Marlins plate seven runs in the 9th inning to outscore the Indians, 14-11, and take Game 3. Gary Sheffield drives in five runs for Florida on three hits, including a double and home run. Darren Daulton and Jim Eisenreich also homer for the Fish, while Jim Thome connects for Cleveland.
» May 15, 1998: In one of the biggest trades in recent years, the Dodgers send All-Star C Mike Piazza and 3B Todd Zeile to the Florida Marlins in exchange for outfielders Gary Sheffield and Jim Eisenreich, C Charles Johnson, 3B Bobby Bonilla, and P Manuel Barrios.
» September 14, 1999: The Expos defeat the Dodgers, 3-0, behind Javier Vazquez' 1-hitter. Vazquez allows just a leadoff single to Mark Grudzielanek in the 4th inning, and a walk to Gary Sheffield in the same frame, while fanning 10.
» August 8, 2000: The Dodgers defeat the Cubs, 7-5, hitting four home runs (Kevin Elster, Darren Dreifort, Gary Sheffield, and Shawn Green) in the 4th inning off Chicago P Phil Norton, making his ML debut. Pitcher Darren Dreifort hits two homers in the contest for LA, becoming the first pitcher to do so since 1990. Norton also sets a record becoming the first Cub pitcher in the team's 124-year history to surrender four homers in an inning.
» April 2, 2001:
Gary Sheffield homers over the CF fence as the Dodgers beat Milwaukee, 1–0, to give new manager Jim Tracy his first win. Chan Ho Park is the winner, running his consecutive scoreless innings to 32 over two seasons.
» May 7, 2001: Kevin Brown retires 17 straight batters, allows two hits as the Dodgers subdue the Marlins, 1–0. For the first of three times in six weeks, Gary Sheffield provides the only scoring with a home run. Teeing it up is A.J. Burnett, just off the DL after five weeks with a stress fracture in his foot.
» May 12, 2001:
The Dodgers edge the Braves, 1–0, on Gary Sheffield's 9th inning home run off Matt Whiteside. Kevin Brown is the winner. Rookie Jason Marquis makes his first start a good one going 5 innings. Sheffield becomes the first player in major-league history to win three 1-0 games in a season with a
home run. He also supplied the only scoring by homering on April 2, 2001 versus Milwaukee and on May 7, 2001 against Florida.
» July 24, 2001:
The Brewers lose their 11th in a row as the Dodgers whip them, 7–2. Shawn Green and Gary Sheffield homer in the 6-run 5th inning.
» January 15, 2002: The Braves obtain All–Star OF Gary Sheffield from the Dodgers in exchange for OF Brian Jordan, P Odalis Perez, and minor league P Andy Brown.
» October 2, 2002:
The Giants shock the Braves by pounding Tom Glavine for six runs in five innings on their way to an 8–5 win in the 1st game of their division series. Gary Sheffield and Javy Lopez homer in the 8th to make the game close, but Robb Nen comes in to save the game for starter Russ Ortiz.
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