Gary Sheffield’s pursuit of home run No. 500 was put on hold Monday, when the 40-year-old slugger was cut loose by the Detroit Tigers. Becoming the 25th player to hit 500 homers seemed just around the corner for the 21-year veteran, who finished the 2008 season at 499.

Following shoulder surgery in October 2007, Sheffield lacked his typical power stroke for most of last season. Also bothered by a torn finger tendon and an oblique strain, he also didn’t make contact as consistently, batting .225 with 19 homer and 57 RBIs in 114 games.

Although Sheffield was just 8-for-45 (.178) this spring with three home runs, it's all but certain that he will find a team willing to take a chance on tapping into his power. With the Tigers forced to pay his $14 million salary, Sheffield is a cheap risk to provide some pop off the bench.

On the other hand, the tough economic times have forced dozens of players into retirement, as teams are more likely to give opportunities to young players over marginal veterans. If that’s how the next week were to play out for Sheffield, he would have to settle for 499 career homers.

Only two major leaguers in history have retired within 10 home runs of 500 without getting there.

The first was Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig, who had 493 home runs at age 35 when the 1938 campaign came to a close. His physical decline began that summer, when the Yankees’ first baseman was no longer parking pitches he normally hit out. He batted .295 that year, the same as he did as a rookie in 1925, and those are the only two full seasons he failed to hit .300. Gehrig connected on just 29 homers in 1938, his lowest total in a decade. Teammates noticed his physical problems off the field as well.

The weakness caused by ALS was originally misdiagnosed as a gall bladder ailment, but it became increasingly clear that something much more serious was wrong by the time the 1939 season rolled around. After going 4-for-28 without a home run in his first eight games of the new season, Gehrig sat for the first time to end his streak of playing 2,130 consecutive contests. He never hit another home run or played another game, and soon after, his ALS was properly diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic. He was honored at Yankee Stadium on that Fourth of July and died less than two years later.

The other major leaguer to fall just short of 500 homers also stalled at 493. That was slugging first baseman Fred McGriff. Playing for the Rays and Cubs, the left-handed hitter stroked 31 homers in 2001 and 30 more in 2002. His 40th birthday was just months away the following spring, when the Cubs turned first base over to Hee-Seop Choi and Eric Karros and McGriff signed with the Dodgers. McGriff started slowly and was lost for two months to a groin injury in June, and he failed to produce when he returned. He finished the season with a .249 average and 13 home runs in 86 games, giving him 491 for his career.

The next spring, McGriff returned to Tampa Bay, where he had played three-plus seasons and drilled 97 homers. He never regained the stroke that made him a feared slugger. After McGriff batted .181 and hit just two dingers in 27 games during the first half, he called it quits in July.

Most of the star players of Sheffield’s era already have reached the 500 milestone -- Barry Bonds (762), Ken Griffey Jr. (611), Sammy Sosa (609), Mark McGwire (583), Rafael Palmeiro (569), Alex Rodriguez (553), Jim Thome (541), Manny Ramirez (527) and Frank Thomas (521) -- and Sheffield should get his chance.

Looking beyond Sheffield, who’s the next threat to flirt with 500 home runs? Only two other active players have as many as 400. Next in line is 36-year-old Carlos Delgado with 469. Off in the distance is Chipper Jones, who at age 36 has 408 and just agreed to a three-year contract extension with the Braves this week.