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Gary, Joe, and Gil

© Harold Friend

It was bound to happen, and after it happened, no one reported it. Gary Sheffield dropped a fly ball in the third inning of yesterday's game when the ball hit the middle of his glove, which was next to his left hip, and popped out. Fortunately for the self declared Yankees' team leader, the Texas Rangers had a runner on first, enabling the quick witted, never give in, "I don't strike out when I don't want to" Sheffield to fire the fallen baseball to Robinson Cano, who in turn fired to Derek Jeter to force Kevin Mensch at second.

Not one of New York's three major newspapers reported the play in their lead stories the following day. Fans who didn't see the game read that Bernie Williams won the game with an eleventh inning home run after the Yankees blew a 5-1 eighth inning lead, but there was no mention of Sheffield's mistake.

No, the mistake was not having the ball bounce out of his glove. The mistake is Sheffield attempting to make catches with his glove off to the side, below his waist. The mistake was nonchalanting the play. It was the defensive equivalent of Barry Bonds watching a "home run" hit off the top of the wall and then getting thrown out at third base attempting to stretch a triple into a triple.

But Sheffield is the Yankees' problem. A much greater problem is the selective reporting that exists from the mainstream media. Thirty years ago, Sheffield's play would have been one of the headline stories, but today, it is not even mentioned. No harm done by Sheffield's play, so it doesn't matter, only it does matter.

What if there had not been a runner on first? What if the same thing happens in the playoffs, if the Yankees even get to the playoffs? One cannot assume anything. There are proper, time tested ways of making catches of simple fly balls. Sheffield knows what they are, but he plays his own game, which brings us to Yankees' manager Joe Torre.

Gary Sheffield singled home Robinson Cano with the Yankees' fifth run in the seventh inning to give the Yankees their 5-1 lead. Torre sent in Bubba Crosby to run for Sheffield. When was the last time someone ran for Sheffield before yesterday?

The year was 1969, the team was New York's other team, and the manager was Gil Hodges. The Mets had just lost the first game of a doubleheader to the Astros and were behind in the second game. Joe Durso, the great New York baseball reporter and journalist, wrote that Hodges was not amused by the day's events. Durso went on to report that

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