Gary Sheffield is no stranger to slow starts. Remember last year? On April 22, 2007, he was batting a puny .119 with one home run and five RBI. By late July, before he fell on his right shoulder chasing a fly ball in the outfield, he was batting .298 with 23 HRs and 67 RBIs
        In other words, don’t be too quick to write Gary Sheffield off _ even at age 39, even after a dozen surgeries, including three on each shoulder, during his 20-year big league career.
        “I’ve been proving people wrong for 20 years,” Sheffield said.
        Sheffield’s best years are behind him. There is no denying that.
         But anyone who remembers how he hit last year during the months of May (10 HRs, 22 RBI), June (6 HRs, 22 RBI), and July (5 HRs, 15 RBIs)  knows what a difference Sheffield can make in the Tigers’ lineup when he’s hitting.
        Like Curtis Granderson, Sheffield makes every batter in the order better.
        “Gary Sheffield will be the first guy to come in this office and tell me if he doesn’t think he can help this team,” Jim Leyland said the other day. “If he can’t be the Gary Sheffield he wants to be, he’ll tell me.
        “Do I think he’ll hit like the Gary Sheffield of old? No, I don’t. But I think he’ll do enough to be a productive hitter in our lineup. I think he’ll hit.
        “We don’t know yet if we’re seeing the real Gary Sheffield or not,” continued Leyland, who admitted he himself sometimes wonders what the future holds for his right handed slugger with the ferocious swing. “We don’t know if he’s slowed down enough to where he’s not going to be effective. But we’re going to find out.”
        Sheffield’s wicked swing is his livelihood. But how much does he have left?
        “I still think he’s one of the most feared and respected hitters in the game,” Leyland said. “We’ll see. But I don’t think this short period of time is enough to see.
        “The one thing I’m encouraged about is, it’s not like pitchers are throwing the ball by him,” Leyland said. “It’s not like his bat is slow. He’s still pulling the ball hard. The ball still jumps off his bat. There don’t seem to be any restrictions in his shoulder when he swings. He just doesn’t have his timing right yet. He’s pulling the ball foul. I think he’s coming off the ball a little bit.
        “There was a time when Gary Sheffield and Barry Bonds were the two most feared hitters in baseball, bar none,” Leyland continued. “Obviously that’s not true now. Bonds isn’t playing and Sheffield is struggling.
        “But I think some pitchers in this league still pitch Sheffield as tough as anybody else on this team. Of course, if he continues to struggle that won’t continue to happen.”
        We shall see.