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Friday, April 15, 2005
COLUMN: Kevin Thomas
Sheffield showed restraint, but not a whole lot of sense
Copyright © 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||
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BOSTON - It's a good thing Gary Sheffield has his priorities straight. It was the eighth inning of a close game. Jason Varitek ripped a triple that rolled around that crazy short wall in right field. Sheffield finally got to the ball but was grazed by a fan who presumably also was going for the ball. There may be a play to be made, maybe a runner to be thrown out. Hurry, Gary, throw it in. Not so fast. First, Sheffield had to give the offending fan a push, and THEN he threw the ball in. No, you can't make this stuff up, not when it comes to the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. Something always happens. In this case, during an 8-5 Red Sox win Thursday night at Fenway Park, Sheffield got into it with a fan. Yes, the fan was a dolt. He should have stayed out of the way. But that's no excuse for Sheffield. Why he wasn't thrown out of the game is a wonder. No, wait. Did you see some of the calls Thursday night? Allowing Sheffield to stay in the game just went along with the madness. And what was Sheffield's response to why he pushed the fan before throwing the ball back in? "Just look at the tape," Sheffield said. What? Is Sheffield a coach who needs to review the tape to see the play? No. Sheffield was the main actor in this play. Sheffield's overwhelming response was he acted with restraint. "I felt something hit me in the mouth," he said. "It could have been worse if I didn't hold my composure." Sheffield is talking about after he threw the ball in. The heck with seeing how the game was going. Sheffield turned back to the fan, his hand in a fist. But he stopped himself. Sheffield didn't mention that a Fenway security guard was already there. No, it was Sheffield showing all the maturity. "I almost snapped," he said. "The thing is I thought about the consequences." So the reason Sheffield didn't pop the guy wasn't out of any sense of right or wrong. Sheffield might have been punished. Perfect. Any 5-year-old would have the same response. Yankees Manager Joe Torre emphasized he didn't see the play. He seemed to think the fan jumped out of the stands. "Going into the stands (after a fan) is one thing," Torre said. "Defending yourself is another. No question, these people shouldn't be allowed to walk the street, much less come to a ballgame." Granted, this wasn't as bad as the Yankees bullpen fight in the 2003 ALCS, when two New York players went at it with a Red Sox employee. And this didn't have the same edginess of the leather pasting Jason Varitek applied to Alex Rodriguez last July. The Sheffield shove just joins the list of sideshows that accompanies this rivalry. Red Sox Manager Terry Francona didn't see the play. He already had been ejected. "We have two great teams and two great baseball cities and a lot of emotion," Francona said. This game was strange from the first batter. Tony Womack beat out a ground ball. First baseman Kevin Millar made a useless swipe, yet first-base umpire Brian Runge called Womack out. The second inning featured the catch of the day - from a former NFL quarterback. Doug Flutie gloved a foul ball. In the fourth, Boston starter Bronson Arroyo got in trouble with his command. Some of the pitches called balls were borderline. Batting coach Ron Jackson, normally mild-mannered, was thrown out for something he said from the dugout. In the bottom of the fourth, when a low, inside fastball from Randy Johnson was called a strike against Bill Mueller, Francona got himself thrown out. It's an automatic ejection to come out and argue balls and strikes, but Francona felt he needed to make a point. Gibson immediately threw him out, but Francona still got his say in. It was all just a warmup to the Sheffield antics. These teams will meet again May 27 in New York. No telling what the next sideshow will be. Staff Writer Kevin Thomas can be contacted at 791-6411 or at:
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