Compliments To The Sheff

Tonight I write my first editorial here at Bleacher Report, and I do so humbly.  I've been thinking it for weeks, but tonight I am forced to make an admission: I was wrong about Gary Sheffield. 

I don't mean that I was wrong to say that he's washed up (he may be) and I don't mean that I was wrong to think that this move could potentially be negative.  Ryan Church absolutely deserves the confidence of this organization, and this coaching staff.  He has earned it. 

My fear all along has been that this Sheffield move could send this bad message to Ryan: The club lacks confidence in him.  There is a veteran clubber breathing down his neck and if he starts to struggle, he could lose his job. 

What made this message all the more troublesome for me is that it could be truly disheartening to Church when there is a far less experienced and shorter tenured corner outfielder in left.  But since the club is so enamoured with Daniel Murphy as the number two hitter, Church still finds himself on the hot seat.

These fears had already begun to be assuaged in recent days, my reaction tempered by the apparent acceptance by Sheff of his role on this team.  The pressure isn't quite on Church yet, and it seems if someone loses a job to Sheff, it will be because he shows that he is back. 

Tonight's game, however, laid all my lingering worry to rest.  We have in Sheff (at nearly no cost) a veteran presence in the clubhouse, a true homerun threat, whether in the lineup or looming on the bench, an inspiration to the young, and the less young, hitters on this team. 

Tonight Jose Reyes, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Daniel Murphy, and Ryan Church, as well as the rest of the mets, saw one of the best reach a hallmark moment, and it wasn't just a highlight reel moment on Baseball Tonight, it was a clutch hit that tied a game for their team, in their park, that sparked the comeback win that has slipped through their fingers more than once already in this young season.  

They watched, in person, a 40 year old Superstar get up off the bench and hit a game-tying pinch-hit home run, the 500th of his career, and then celebrated that monumental achievement with him.  And then they sat back down on the bench together. If all goes well, somewhere towards the end of this season, they can watch another great, Carlos Delgado, reach the same mark. 

What I realize tonight, that perhaps I hadn't realized earlier, is that what Gary Sheffield brings to this team, more than the numbers he may or may not contribute over the course of the season, is a tangible, real life, sitting here on the bench right next to you, example of greatness.  His greatest contribution to this team may be just another reminder, to David, Jose, Ryan, Daniel, and Carlos, that greatness is within reach.

Maybe after the last two seasons, it's the confidence that such a reminder could instill that is the greatest thing missing with this team.  And maybe Gary Sheffield, at this stage in his career, is just the right man to bring this team that confidence.