Gary Sheffield Needs to Shut His Mouth

Look closely at that picture. That's what you get when you run your mouth off and charge the mound.

You get put in a headlock by a 6'4'' Dominican who proceeds to beat you like you stole something.

For those of you who are unclear about what happened last night, allow me to fill you in.

Fausto Carmona was on the mound for the Indians in the top of the seventh when Miguel Cabrera hit his second home run of the evening to propel the Tigers ahead of the Indians 4-2. Two batters later, Gary Sheffield stepped up to the plate and was struck on the elbow by Carmona.

Sheffield took exception to the pitch, and made it clear on his slow walk to first base holding his bat. Carmona took his place on the mound and looked in for the signal. He then fired a pick-off attempt to first base attempting to catch Sheffield napping. This development prompted the Tigers slugger to shout to Carmona, "Throw to home."

What did he expect? A kind nod and a quick delivery to the plate?

It was clear from the way in which Sheffield walked to first that there would be a brawl between the two players. All it took was one more spark to send the two to the ground.

Which brings me to my main point: why on earth was Gary Sheffield looking for a fight?

Could it be because he is mired in a season-long slump in which he has only hit .220 with 53 RBI in only 108 games? Perhaps. Or maybe it's that in his 20th professional season, he is no longer a feared and respected hitter as he once was. Or it could have been the amazing disappointment and frustration that has been the entire 2008 season for the $100 million+ Detroit Tigers that finally got to Sheff.

However, the most persuasive argument might just be that he is a hot-headed player who has a tendency to run his mouth off (see: Joe Torre comments) and have his mouth write checks that he can't cash as a player any longer.

Whatever it is, I would be hard pressed to place this one on Carmona. He leads the Indians in hit batters this season, in an injury shortened season.

Sheffield claims this to be the third time the lefty has plunked him (young Andrew Gribble of Indians.com did some research that seems to disagree) and that Carmona "called him out". When Sheffield is called out, he "answers the call".

Unlike his brawling counterpart, Carmona refused to speak of the incident post-game. He took the high road and let Sheffield do what he does best and run his mouth off to the press.

I doubt that Sheffield has learned any lessons from this, despite Carmona trying to pound one into his head. He will undoubtedly spout off again and enrage other aspiring journalists.

We can hope that maybe next time he will remember where his stature has fallen to as a player before he does so. It looks doubtful though.

Let us not forget the most important part of this game either: the Indians won.