he was late to practice, his coach benched him and Sheffield picked up a bat and chased the coach all over the field, resulting in him being kicked off the team for a year. When Sheffield was eleven, he was selected to the Belmont Heights Little League All-Stars, which included future Chicago Cubs #1 pick Ty Griffin, future Major Leaguer Derek Bell, and other future MLB players. The team made it to the finals of the 1980 Little League World Series but lost to Taiwan 4–3. He set a record for doubles that would be broken in 2012 by Bradley Smith. High school In 1983, Sheffield made the Hillsborough High School varsity baseball team. During his junior year, he bulked up to 175 pounds and was a pitcher and third baseman. During his senior year, his fastball reached the upper 80's and he frequently showed home run power. As a batter, Sheffield hit .500 and 15 home runs, in only 62 official at-bats. At the end of the season he was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year. Professional baseball career Minor leagues After high school, the Milwaukee Brewers drafted Sheffield with the sixth pick of the first round of the 1986 MLB draft. Sheffield later said that if he had not been drafted in the first round, he probably would have played college baseball for the Miami Hurricanes. After being drafted he was shipped to Helena of the Pioneer League, where he had a .365 batting average and 71 RBIs in 57 games. The only question was what position he would play. He was slotted at shortstop, but struggled at the position, committing many errors and wild throws. In 1987, he was assigned to Stockton of the Class-A California League, where his defense improved and he produced at the plate. His batting average went below .300, but he led the league in RBIs with 103, and at the end of the year he was voted the Brewers' best prospect. In his third season, he went from Double-A to the majors. In 134 games for the El Paso Diablos and Denver, he batted .327 with 28 homers and 118 RBIs. Milwaukee Brewers Sheffield was called up from the minors when rosters were expanded in September and made his major league debut on September 3, 1988. As a teenager, he got off to a fast start, with his first career