gary sheffield is in my hall of famer collection

it will be about 22 hours after this post goes live that we will learn whether or not gary sheffield will be inducted to the national baseball hall of fame via the writer's association. regardless of what is announced, sheffield is now a member of my hall of famer collection, with this card as his entry:

that's a 2020 topps chrome black autograph card. here's the back:

and yes, i have another one of these in my dodger collection.

to me, sheffield is a dodger. he absolutely mashed during his time in los angeles (his .998 ops in those three and a half seasons is the best all-time for a dodger of any significant tenure) and helped me get over the loss of mike piazza. of course, just when i was ready to consider him as a favorite, he decided he wanted out and so the dodgers traded him to the braves.

that's kind of the story with sheffield - he played in a lot of different places. starting in milwaukee, he was traded to the padres, who eventually traded him to the marlins. from there he was traded to the dodgers and then the braves before signing as a free agent with the yankees who eventually traded him to the tigers. the tigers released him after two seasons, and he signed with the mets to finish out his career.

i did get to see sheffield play in person a few times, including on june 16, 1998 when the dodgers were playing in san diego. he went 3 for 5 that day with a home run and 3 rbi. his home run came off of former (and future) teammate kevin brown in the top of the first. he also homered the next time i saw him - august 28, 1998 against the mets in mike piazza's return to dodger stadium. that was a three-run shot, also in the first inning. piazza also homered in that game, by the way.

i saw him twice in saint louis in 1999 (he was 4 for 9 with two doubles and 3 rbi in those games), and then saw him back in los angeles on opening day (april 2) 2001. he was actually standing at the left field entrance to dodger stadium handing out the rally towel giveaways at one point. i doubled back after my dad mentioned it to me, and i am pretty sure sheffield isn't 5'11" like it says on the back of his cards. he was definitely imposing, however. he hit a solo homer that day.

the last time i saw him play in person was on june 10, 2002. sheffield was a brave at that time, and they were playing in the metrodome. the game went 15 innings and my friend and i stayed for the duration. sheffield played the whole game, too, going 1 for 5 with two walks.

sheffield hit a total of 509 home runs (good for 24th all-time at the time of his retirement as we will see in a moment) and drove in 1,676 runs. he also stole over 250 bases and walked 1,475 times. these are all top-30 numbers in the history of the game, and i think they make sheffield a hall of famer. if he is not elected, it will be because of performing enhancing drug suspicions (he has admitted to using "the cream" at one point). i don't think that should keep him out, just like i don't think known user of "the cream" and "the clear" barry bonds should be kept out.

i also pulled some of his 2010 cards to add to my final tribute collection, including his topps base

and heritage releases

both have his full career stats

on the backs

there's the note that he retired 24th all-time in home runs (he's now 27th) and 25th in rbi (now 30th). that's hall of fame material to me.

as a reminder, you can see sheffield and the other members of my hall of famer collection here!