Gary Sheffield will forever be remembered for his bat waggle, leg kick, violent swing, and undeniable power. His iconic batting stance helped him hit 500-plus home runs, 400-plus doubles, and win five Silver Slugger awards across 22 major league seasons.
But the game Sheffield, 52, grew up with has disappeared, as has the game that treated him well for over two decades. And he has no interest in watching MLB's current product, which is chock-full of strikeouts, dead time, and three true outcomes.
"I don't watch baseball at all," Sheffield told CBS Sports Radio's Tiki and Tierney show on Friday. "I was kind of forced to watch baseball, because I was working with TBS. And so I had to remember, really find out who were these players. I'll tell you the secret now: I never watched the games during the season. I would get educated on it when I got there... It's not something that I could watch, based on what I'm seeing, because I'll be a complainer... This is the first time I've ever said that out loud, but I'm just truly disappointed with what I watch...
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"[Baseball was exciting] when I was playing. They implemented all these rules now and they've changed the game so much, they're making it more hitter-friendly -- even without having success. These guys can go out there and strike out 180, 190 times, and it's okay... Now, a home run is less appealing, when a home run was a big deal and more appealing [when I played] because it wasn't happening as often as it is now... I see a pop-up up player that everybody gravitates to -- he's the face of the team, the face of the city -- and he has 100 strikeouts in April...
"When I see stuff like that, I'm not one of those older players that scoffs at the game and then talks about the game in a negative light... that doesn't mean I have to watch it."
Sheffield also places blame on advanced analytics for baseball's decline in action and overall popularity.
"[Former Cubs executive] Theo Epstein walked away from the general manager position because he's the one that pretty much sought all the sabermetrics stuff," Sheffield said. "[Oakland A's executive] Billy Beane did the whole 'Moneyball' thing and he looked for on-base percentage, but really, Theo Epstein dove so deep into this, now analytics have taken over the game. And I think a lot of these managers -- the way they used to manage games and the players they were looking for -- they're no longer looking for those players now because you couldn't get a job as a manager if you weren't into this stuff..."
The entire baseball conversation between Sheffield and Tiki and Tierney can be accessed in the video and audio players above.
You can follow the Tiki and Tierney Show on Twitter @TikiAndTierney and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.