Sheffield: Torre treated blacks, whites differently

Detroit slugger Gary Sheffield had an idyllic view of the New York Yankees when he joined the team before the 2004 season.

Sheffield also had a strong friendship with Barry Bonds when he went to California and to train with the slugger one offseason. Those opinions quickly changed.

Sheffield's latest controversy surfaced yesterday over comments he made to HBO's "Real Sports," in an episode scheduled to air Tuesday night.

Sheffield said yesterday he felt disrespected from the time he arrived in New York, claiming that early in his tenure, manager Joe Torre said the team should have instead acquired Vladimir Guerrero.

In the HBO interview, Sheffield says 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.

In the visiting clubhouse at Seattle's Safeco Field, Sheffield stood behind what he said to HBO - that Torre is not a racist - but also tried to clarify some statements. In the piece, when it was mentioned that the Yankees' most prominent player - Derek Jeter - is black, Sheffield quickly clarified that Jeter is "black and white."

When asked the significance of that, Sheffield said: "It's really no significance. It's just you ain't all the way black."

Sheffield also addressed his past relationship with San Francisco slugger Barry Bonds. The two spent an offseason working out together in California after Bonds hit his record 73 homers during the 2001 season.

Sheffield denied to HBO that he ever took steroids, but admitted to taking the "clear" and the "cream" - two designer steroids created by BALCO. Sheffield said he didn't know they were steroids, claiming, "In a million years, I don't care what nobody say. Steroids is something you shoot in your butt. You know, I do know that."

Sheffield told HBO he trusted Bonds, and said he felt himself being controlled by Bonds. But, Sheffield claimed, "If I took what Barry Bonds took, why don't I look like him?"

Sheffield said yesterday he doesn't speak with Bonds, but has no hard feelings.

"We don't have no communication," Sheffield said.

In another matter, the Tigers traded pitcher Roman Colon, charged last month with assault in a locker room scuffle with a Triple A teammate, to the Royals for a player to be named.

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* At Anaheim, Casey Kotchman's ninth-inning single drove in Gary Matthews and gave the Angels a 2-1 win over Texas.

* At St. Petersburg, Fla., Scott Kazmir (6-6) allowed four hits in six innings as Tampa Bay beat the Yankees, 6-4.

* At Seattle, Gary Sheffield hit a third-inning grand slam, powering Detroit to a 6-3 win over the Mariners.

* At Cleveland, Ryan Garko singled home the winning run with one out in the ninth. giving the Indians a 5-4 win over Kansas City.

* At Minneapolis, Johan Santana (11-6) allowed four hits in seven scoreless innings to lead the Twins to a 5-3 win over Oakland.

* At Boston, Alex Rios had three hits and drove in the go-ahead run and Toronto beat the Red Sox, 6-5. *