His first hit in the Majors was a home run for the Milwaukee Brewers, so it is fitting that his latest home run was against them.
New York Mets slugger Gary Sheffield thrilled the 36,436 in attendance when he hit home run Number 500 and became the 25th player to accomplish the feat. I laid out his Hall of Fame candidacy a few weeks back after the Tigers released him…no need to repeat it.
That being said…here are ten OTHER things that might interest you about Sheff’s 500 dingers.
250,000
On September 8, 2008 (as a member of the Detroit Tigers), Sheffield’s grand slam against Oakland was determined to be the 250,000 home run in Major League history.
334
Sheffield went yard against 334 different pitchers. The first…Mark Langston. The latest…Mitch Stetter. Tom Glavine and Jamey Wright were victimized the most, giving up six long balls apiece.
51
Sheffield’s home run Friday night was his 51st game tying home run. Over his career, 203 of his 500 were go ahead shots, while another 4 were grand slams.
42
In 1996, Sheffield went deep 42 times for the Florida Marlins, setting a franchise record for the fish. In 6 seasons in Miami, Sheffield hit 122 home runs.
41
When Sheffield sent one out of Citi Field Friday night, it meant he had hit a home run in 41 different Major League ballparks.
30…31?
Sheffield has hit a home run against all 30 Major League teams. If you count the Montreal Expos…he’s hit one against 31.
17.9
Sheffield hits a home run every 17.9 at bats, which nestles him right near Hall of Famers Reggie Jackson (17.52) and Duke Snider (17.6) on the all-time list.
8
Sheffield has played for and gone deep for eight teams. Milwaukee (1988-1991), San Diego (1992-1993), Florida (1993-1998), Los Angeles (1998-2001), Atlanta (2002-2003), New York Yankees (2004-2006), Detroit (2007-2008) and New York Mets (2009).
2
In 28 pinch hit at bats, Sheffield has 10 hits…2 of them (Friday night’s included) have been home runs. The other was July 20, 1994 off Jeff Brantley.
0
Sheffield is 6 for 21 (.286 batting average) against his legendary uncle Dwight Gooden. The “0” stands for how many times he circled the bases against him.
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