Gary Sheffield is making more comments on race relations, this time involving the Yankees and Joe Torre.
Sheffield's strongest opinions were about the Yankees and Torre. Sheffield said Friday he felt disrespected from the time he arrived in New York, claiming early in his New York tenure that Torre said the Yankees should have instead acquired Vladimir Guerrero.
"When you're hearing that from your manager when you are out there busting your butt for him, that's disrespectful," Sheffield said. "But no one came to my defense to say it was disrespectful."
Sheffield claims black and white players in the Yankees clubhouse were treated differently, specifically how players Tony Womack and Kenny Lofton were handled by Torre. In the interview with HBO, Sheffield says the black players on the Yankees' roster would be "called out" in the clubhouse by Torre, while the white players would be called into Torre's office to discuss matters.
"I think it's a, a way of, the way they do things around there, you know," Sheffield told Real Sports. "They run their ship differently" (source).
Sheffield has previously said that Latin baseball players are easier to control, and that is why they are more abundant than black players.
In retrospect, I agree with Torre saying that they should've acquired Vladimir Guerrero. However, Tony Womack and Kenny Lofton were awful and most likely deserved to get called out in the clubhouse. I doubt it had to do with them being black.
