Sheffield attacks fan

[Southpaw]

Could have been " clear sports cream " rage. Nice way to control yourself Gary. That was the most feeble case of CYA by a ballplayer I have ever heard. Maybe that was a " Sonny Liston " phantom punch that enraged Gary.

 

[insider]

Could have been " clear sports cream " rage. Nice way to control yourself Gary. That was the most feeble case of CYA by a ballplayer I have ever heard. Maybe that was a " Sonny Liston " phantom punch that enraged Gary.

The fan reached out on to the field. Nice way to lay the blame though.

 

[Southpaw]

The fan reached out on to the field. Nice way to lay the blame though.

That is why they have "ground rule double" rules. Gary didn't need to punch the guy. The BoSox sell those expensive , on the field seats to fans and then expect absolutely no interaction. Gary is an idiot and should face assault charges. PSSST Gary. Nobody hit you. That was less offending than the underhanded cup toss in Detroit Pistons/Pacers game.

 

[CatBoxBackFan]

The fan reached out on to the field.

Does this look like he reached out on the field?

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But this looks like a punch

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[Djaughe]

ESPN and sportscasters seem to be ripping on the fan...and what a wonderful job that Shef. showed 'restraint'...but everytime I see the replay - It looks like some inadvertant contact that got overblown.

 

[Cardinal Bob]

Whether or not the fan intended to hit Sheffield, or was merely trying to distract him and/or go for the ball, the guy reached over the wall into the field of play and that is unexcuseable. Stand there and scream every name/insult/whatever at Sheffield as he comes to play the ball, but do not interfere with play. I can not and will not defend this "fan" depsite my Red Sox fandom.

It made me laugh to hear Sheffield say how he "kept his composure" though. I guess going back at the fan with a punch/two-handed-push BEFORE throwing the ball back to the infield is "keeping his composure" according to Gary.

 

[Clif]

Give me a break the guy threw an elbow at sheffield. Regardless of whether he hit him or not. ( I think he did but hard to tell if he made contact)


I do think ESPN overdid the "restraint" part. Then again the whole yankees - red sox crap is way overblown... the rest of the world DOESN'T CARE!!!

 

[NickelBack]

BoSox security ejected the fan, didn't they?

 

[Cheesebeef]

total over-reaction on the media's part - because it didn't look AT ALL like the fan was trying to "punch" Sheffield - he took a swipe at the ball, missed and tried to interfere with the play(for that, he's an idiot) - for Sheff - inthe heat in battle and not seeing anything, all he probably felt was a fan's hand grace his face - and it was only natural for him to shove him. To Sheff it probably did feel like a punch and these players are no doubt on edge after all that's happened in sports lately, so I can't condemn Sheff forshoving back after what he probably rightly perceivied to be a punch.

But the commentators ragging on the fans - calling this a punch - are just pandering to the athletes. The fan made a fan mistake - putting himself in the field of play and should have rightly so been kicked out - but this guy didn't take a swipe at Sheff as others cojntend - at least that's not what it looked like to me.

 

[moviegeekjn]

...but everytime I see the replay - It looks like some inadvertant contact that got overblown.

Look closer. The fan contact was NOT inadvertant, nor was the beer tossing.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Is anyone suprised this incident is overblown? Haven't we learned that the media is going to find every excuse to hype this rivalry and shove it down the throat of every American sports fan?

The fan was wrong by entering the field of play, Sheffield constrained himself pretty well considering although in my opinion swiping at the guy before he had thrown the ball to the cutoff man was pretty weak in a baseball sense. This really isn't that big of a deal, the chair tossing last year in Oakland, umpire assaults in Chicago, and the hat theft in Wrigley a few years back were all bigger issues when it comes to fan security but I'm sure we'll have to hear about this incident ad nauseum for the next decade or so.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Look closer. The fan contact was NOT inadvertant, nor was the beer tossing.

sorry man - but if I'm trying to PUNCH someone in the face - I'm not looking somewhere completely different.

The beer tossing wasn't inadvertant, but the "punch" was IMO.

 

[moviegeekjn]

Deliberate punch to Sheffield's face could be argued as inadvertent... in the sense that the fan "may" have deliberately swiped at the ball without realizing that he would come in contact with Sheffield... but the fan's actions were still illegal with the ball in play, and he did interfere with Sheffield's face

 

[AzCards21]

OT but I thought Sheffield was a D-Back.

 

[Clif]

OT but I thought Sheffield was a D-Back.

in what alternate universe??

 

[Djaughe]

Look closer. The fan contact was NOT inadvertant, nor was the beer tossing.

Looked at it again.

A woman fell away from shef....raised her arms...and pushed up the elbow of the guy (with beer) and it spilled toward shef when pulling his arm outta the way.

I don't see how the 'swipe' look like it was itended. The fan looked like he an idea to get the ball - but changed his mind and brushed shef.

Mao is right - ESPN's been overlapping the incident with the history of 'Red Sox/Yankee' altercations like its some type of WWF show.

 

[MikeOnTheMic]

What I don't get is that the fan never appeared to look in Shef's direction. Almost like he was watching a different play altogether.

Also it looked like Shef anticipated somebody doing something stupid. Either that or he's been working on the ol' "retrieve ball, shove fan, hit the cuttoff man" play in Spring Training.

 

[moviegeekjn]

Is anyone suprised this incident is overblown? Haven't we learned that the media is going to find every excuse to hype this rivalry and shove it down the throat of every American sports fan?

Media hypes incidents like this because they know WWF type promos work... they increase ratings, increase sales, and gain much more attention than actually focussing on the game itself.

Fans are automatically drawn to things like this ... check any baseball message board out there

 

[AzCards21]

in what alternate universe??

In my baseball doesn't really count until the D-Backs are in the playoffs universe. lol!

I assumed he was since his kid is in school here.

 

[Southpaw]

I must be watching a different ESPN than some. I still haven't seen the Phantom punch, this fan supposedly threw. Sheffield's an overblown idiot with a permanent chip on his shoulder his whole career. If the D A and Cops had any cajones, they would put a warrant out on him for assaulting the fans.

I am anticipating MLB's official reaction to this. Suspension ??????

 

[WaywardFan]

I must be watching a different ESPN than some. I still haven't seen the Phantom punch, this fan supposedly threw. Sheffield's an overblown idiot with a permanent chip on his shoulder his whole career. If the D A and Cops had any cajones, they would put a warrant out on him for assaulting the fans.

Exactly! I totally agree with you!

And I can now!

 

[Clif]

I must be watching a different ESPN than some. I still haven't seen the Phantom punch, this fan supposedly threw. Sheffield's an overblown idiot with a permanent chip on his shoulder his whole career. If the D A and Cops had any cajones, they would put a warrant out on him for assaulting the fans.

I am anticipating MLB's official reaction to this. Suspension ??????

I'm sorry but this is pretty weak. No matter what you think of Sheffield past or present the guy was over the line. Why do people have such a hard time letting the players play and stay off the field?

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Sounds like Wally has an anti-Sheff agenda. The facts are that the guy crossed the line between player and fan by reaching into field of play and hitting Sheffield. Whether the fan's behavior was intentional or not is irrelevant.

 

[moviegeekjn]

I must be watching a different ESPN than some. I still haven't seen the Phantom punch, this fan supposedly threw. Sheffield's an overblown idiot with a permanent chip on his shoulder his whole career. If the D A and Cops had any cajones, they would put a warrant out on him for assaulting the fans.

:roll:

Oy! ESPN from a parallel universe perhaps?

 

[Djaughe]

Aww come on folks! Ease up on wally.

He still has issues about Sheff getting traded away by the marlins....and hasn't yet come to terms...