Sheffield Says Comments on Malone Misconstrued

Dodger left fielder Gary Sheffield on Friday attempted to set the record straight, saying reporters misconstrued supposedly critical comments he made about General Manager Kevin Malone.

On Thursday, Joe Christensen of the Riverside Press-Enterprise asked Sheffield if he thought teams were playing harder against the Dodgers after the injury-ravaged San Diego Padres completed a three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium. Sheffield said he did, adding, “Especially when you make comments about winning the World Series, teams are going to come after you.”

The quote was perceived as a thinly veiled attack against Malone, who during spring training made tongue-in-cheek comments about the Dodgers playing the New York Yankees in the World Series this season. Sheffield’s comment, as well as Malone’s, quickly became fodder for sports-talk radio, and it stirred concern among Dodger officials.

Sheffield, however, said his comment was taken out of context. Moreover, Sheffield said he has a strong relationship with Malone, and he has been deeply hurt by the misunderstanding.

“Kevin Malone is a good man and a good friend of mine, and I would never say anything bad about him,” Sheffield said. “We were talking about teams playing hard against us, and then somebody said something about the stuff Kevin had said. I didn’t even remember what he said, somebody had to remind me about it. When they did, we all started laughing about it.

“I was laughing when I said it like, ‘Oh, yeah, now I remember.’ But I never meant it like I thought Kevin did something wrong. It was clear what I meant, and now this whole thing looks like I’m criticizing Kevin. That’s just not the way it happened. Maybe I was giving them [the reporters] too much credit, but I thought they understood. I’ve never been hurt by anything in this game like I’ve been hurt by this.”

Malone, accompanying the team on the trip to San Francisco, met privately with Sheffield to discuss the situation.

“Sheff and I have a very good relationship,” Malone said. “I know Sheff wouldn’t say something like that about me, at least not the way people think he meant it. A lot of people don’t understand what this guy is all about.

“They think they know him; that if they see something like that [the quote], then he must mean it in a bad way. I know this guy. I know how much he cares about people. I’ve got no problems with Sheff.”