EDIT (09/08/07): A few photos from the game at Flickr.
I've never heard anyone, in about 25 in-person viewings, be booed as loud as Gary Sheffield today. Not Carlos Delgado when he refused to acknowledge the national anthem (or "God Bless America," I forget which) because of his opposition to the war. Not when the Red Sox have been in town. Nor have I heard such boos in another ballpark for anyone.
Obviously, the fans who attend Orioles games (who must not be the real fans) never boo (or cheer) anyone much. But even at a Pedro-Wells game in July 2003 at Fenway, the boos weren't of that magnitude. Sheff is Public Enemy No. 1.
Unfortunately, such antagonism generally incited Sheffield to greatness. He swung a mean bat the first three times up, reaching safely each time. The Rocket, Roger Clemens, was a strike machine -- 8Ks, no walks. Unfortunately, he missed in the zone, giving up 10 hits and getting lucky and key outs to keep the damage to two runs. He looked sharp, in great shape and was hitting 94 several times on the Stadium gun.
Who knew Kyle Farnsworth would save the day? Getting Sheff to swing wildly and then punching out Magglio Ordonez (who, bless him and his .355 BA, looked awful today) was a huge boost in so many ways. Derek Jeter made it a point to run over and give Farns a smack with the glove before the reliever reached a dugout -- a display of supportive emotion the Captain is often, fairly, accused of not doing.
Mariano Rivera had a nice ninth, retiring Sheff as the final out, and all was well in Yankeeland.
Notes: Clemens looked good -- six innings, two runs, eight Ks is acceptable at this point. It was the first time I'd seen him live since his 39th birthday in 2001...he looked better today, I think, and he didn't pitch badly back then.
The wind was really kicking up, but the Army parachuters managed to land in the outfield before the game. A bunch of fly balls gave the outfielders fits, but it didn't seem to be anything that a major leaguer shouldn't cope with.
Jorge Posada is awesome. Every time he goes up, in person or on TV, you expect a hit, or at least a hard-hit ball. In the latter category, he was four-for-four today.
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