BALTIMORE -Joe Torre was talking about Gary Sheffield’s most productive game as a Yankee, but the manager could have been rapping about his high-profile lineup late Wednesday night.
“These are games that I have been sitting back expecting,” Torre said of Sheffield’s six-RBI night in a 12-9 win over the Orioles that included a three-run homer and four hits. “I don’t care how many times he made an out or got an infield single, I just visualized this, and it felt very good to see it.”
Alex Rodriguez was the Yankees’ marquee addition, but George Steinbrenner didn’t drop $39 million on Sheffield to be Raul Mondesi. However, going into Wednesday night’s action, Sheffield was batting .265 with three homers and 19 RBIs. For a barometer of how bad that was, Derek Jeter, who was in the worst two-month stretch of his career, was batting .189 and had 17 RBIs. And Jeter was hitting first or second, not fourth or fifth, in what was hailed to be The Greatest Lineup Ever.
As Torre watched Sheffield attack pitches with that vicious swing and not come through, he said, “Somebody is going to pay.” Wednesday night it was a suspect Orioles staff.
“I wouldn’t say I was pressing, but I never felt comfortable at the plate or with my hands,” said Sheffield, who was adjusting to pitches off the plate away being called strikes on him. “It was a constant battle.”
The Yankees have their fingers crossed the battle is about to be won by the 35-year-old. With regular cleanup hitter Jason Giambi on the disabled list (sprained ankle), the Yankees are playing Tony Clark at first base and batting him eighth. When was the last time you saw an AL team hit a corner infielder that low in the lineup? It’s a run-producing position, and switch-hitting Clark has done OK, but he isn’t Giambi.
Prior to Wednesday night’s game, Sheffield was in a foul mood and confused about what to do with pitches he insisted weren’t strikes being called strikes. He offered a Post reporter a peek at the video of his first at-bat Tuesday night, and a pitch that was well off the plate called a strike by umpire Jerry Davis.
“That’s not a strike,” Sheffield said, noting the catcher received the pitch outside of his right knee, which is outside the strike zone.
Sheffield’s frustration continued in the first inning when he forgot the count and strolled to first base on ball three. And by the time center fielder Luis Matos made a back-to-the-plate catch on his fly ball to deny him a two-run double and end the third inning, Sheffield was perplexed.
“I looked at Ruben [Sierra] and said, everybody is jumping out of the stands to catch my balls,” Sheffield said.
You had to be sitting in the seats to grab the next ball Sheffield hit, a three-run blast off Rodrigo Lopez in the fifth. He added an RBI single in the sixth, a two-run single in the five-run seventh, and a one-out single in the ninth.
While Torre was waiting for Sheffield to punish balls, he was pleased with the quiet man in the clubhouse.
“He is a players’ player, a guy who maybe came over with some baggage. You hear things, but when you meet him, you realize that he plays hard and he does a lot of things managers and teammates like to see,” Torre said. “I talked to [Braves manager] Bobby Cox in the spring and he couldn’t say enough good things about him.”
Joy of six
Garry Sheffield had six RBIs in the Yankees’ win over the Orioles on Wednesday. It took him much longer to get six at various stretches during this season.
Here’s a look at how long it took Sheff to cook up six RBIs:
First six: 8 games (March 30-April 11)
Next six: 14 games (April 11-April 28)
Next six: 14 games (April 29-May 15)
Another six: 1 game (May 26)
Note: Sheffield had one RBI from May 16-May 25