Gary Sheffield Quotes & Sayings

“I had no interest in steroids. I didn't need them, and I didn't want them. I never wanted them. From the get-go, I've frequently mouthed off about their negative impact on the game.”

“The rage was in me, and if it wasn't for the rage, then I wouldn't know how to be calm. They feed off of each other. Just like when Malcolm X fed off Martin Luther King. They needed each other.”

“This is what people don't understand. When they might see me do something that's not 'God-like,' then they say, 'Well, I thought you were saved?' I am saved. I'm not perfect. I have emotions still. My name's still Gary. These things here are not all cleaned up. I'm showing you my path.”

“Most people figured I'd be in jail. I've been proving people wrong my whole life.”

“When McGwire started the home run mania, attendance came back. The owners understood that the sudden spike in homers wasn't accidental. All baseball knew it. But baseball is run on money, and home runs meant money. Baseball turned a blind eye.”

“I wanted to retire after I played for the Mets. My family said wait one year, that there was no need to rush it. I gave it a year and now it's time to say goodbye.”

“My dad's a bodybuilder. My whole life I've been taught to train the hard way. I believe in earning strength, not buying it. My grandfather raised me old school: In baseball, you work for whatever you get.”

“Black players had an issue with Joe Torre. They weren't treated like everybody else. Even I got called out in a couple of meetings that I thought was unfair.”

“Derek Jeter used to come to me and try to tell you what Joe Torre is all about, he's a good man, he's this, he's that, but like I tell Derek Jeter, that's you. It's one thing that they treat you a certain way; you don't feel what other people feel.”

“If I'm coming in at 4:00 in the morning and my kids have been in bed since 8:00, 9:00, that's not setting a good example. The responsibility that I have kids inside my household has made me realize now that I have to be an example.”