Sheffield investigation begins
BALTIMORE -- Major League Baseball is investigating Thursday night's incident in which Gary Sheffield confronted a fan in the Fenway Park stands after being hit by the man, but no action has been taken against the outfielder.
Sheffield spoke with representatives from MLB, as well as his attorney, Rufus Williams, and Yankees president Randy Levine and general manager Brian Cashman on Friday. He was told to withhold any further comment regarding the incident, though he did speak briefly with reporters in the visiting clubhouse at Camden Yards.
"They advised me to go play baseball, concentrate on what I do best," Sheffield said. "I'll hold my opinion to myself and let my people handle it. I just want to play baseball."
"It's in the Commissioner's hands," said George Steinbrenner through his publicist, Howard Rubenstein.
The incident took place in the eighth inning of Thursday night's Yankees-Red Sox game in Boston. Sheffield was at the right-field wall, trying to field Jason Varitek's triple, when a fan hit him in the face while reaching over the wall.
"He wasn't going for a ball," said manager Joe Torre. "I didn't think there was any doubt in my mind that it was on purpose. He knew what he wanted to do."
"You'll have to look at the tape and pass your own judgment," said Sheffield, who saw the replay a few times on Friday. "I didn't know all of that took place in that short period of time. It's a strange situation."
Sheffield approached the fan and appeared to shove his arms at him, though no contact was made between the two. After throwing the ball back to the infield, Sheffield returned to the wall to confront the fan, while a security guard jumped over the wall after coming in from the bullpen to get between the two men.
"The one guy you really have to take your hat off to is the kid who came out of the bullpen and jumped in between," said Torre. "It was impressive how quickly he got there."
Kevin Hallinan, MLB's director of security, and his chief investigator, George Hanna, were in Baltimore on Friday to discuss the incident with Sheffield and Torre. Hallinan said that the league's Spring Training security meetings with each team addressed similar scenarios, and he was pleased to see Sheffield show restraint.
"Gary used the discretion we talked about in Spring Training," said Hallinan. "We were pleased to see that our training was successful."
Hallinan is investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident, although Bob Watson, MLB's vice president in charge of on-field operations, will be the one to decide whether Sheffield should be fined or suspended as a result of the confrontation. Torre said that he would be surprised if Sheffield were suspended.
"I watched it three or four times last night, and then again today," he said. "I thought Gary exercised what was suggested."
Hallinan said that Commissioner Bud Selig has asked him to complete his investigation "fairly quickly," most likely within the next week.
"Certainly, we can learn from something like this," said Hallinan. "It's important for us to get in, do a good, thorough job, and whatever comes out of us, we take care of our fans and our players."
Williams said that he and Sheffield had discussed the possibility of pressing charges against the fan, though that decision hasn't been made yet.
"We've spoken about a number of things," said Williams. "The thought has come up, but have we decided to do that? These things play themselves out."
Sheffield went on with life as usual on Friday, preparing for the Yankees' series opener against the Orioles.
"That was the past series," he said of the incident. "I can't worry about what happened there. We have a game to play, so I have to focus on the game."
<span style='color:royalblue'>I think Sheff handled it well and no suspensions or fines should be brought against him. On the other hand the fan who swung at him and the fat guy in the GAP sweatshirt should be fined and have there tickets revoked for life!!! Thats my story and I'm stickin to it!!!</span>
