Baseball Begins Its Inquiry

Major League Baseball began its investigation into Thursday night’s scuffle between New York Yankee outfielder Gary Sheffield and a fan in Boston’s Fenway Park, the Red Sox said they would heighten security on the field’s perimeters, and the fiancee of the man accused of taking a swing at Sheffield said he was attempting to catch the ball and made no contact with the outfielder.

Opinions within baseball, and in the Yankee clubhouse in particular, appeared to favor Sheffield, who said he believed he had been struck in the face by the man leaning over the short wall in the right-field corner, season-ticket holder Chris House. Chasing what would be a triple by Jason Varitek in the eighth inning, Sheffield gathered the ball, struck House, then completed the play before turning again to confront him.

However, House’s fiancee, Jodi Ingerbritson, told the Boston Herald, “He just said he was going for the ball.”

Bob Watson, baseball’s vice president of on-field operations, and security chief Kevin Hallinan will lead the inquiry; Watson will investigate Sheffield’s conduct, while Hallinan will focus on the particulars in the stands. A second, apparently unidentified, fan whose beer drenched Sheffield is being sought. Baseball officials did not expect a decision until early next week.

“Everything happened so fast,” Sheffield told reporters Friday in Baltimore, where the Yankees opened a three-game series. “You have to look at the tape and pass your own judgment. I can’t stand here and try to convince you one way or the other.... I hold my opinion to myself.”

Sheffield, who cocked his fist before being separated from the fans by fast-acting security officials, was asked if he would react differently, given another chance.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “I doubt it.”

The Sheffield confrontation comes at a time when baseball and other American professional sports have seen a handful of incidents pitting fans against players, the latest one arising in baseball’s most celebrated rivalry.

In September, Texas Ranger pitcher Frank Francisco threw a chair into the stands in Oakland, broke a woman’s nose and was arrested. Later that month, Dodger outfielder Milton Bradley slammed a plastic bottle into the seats along Dodger Stadium’s right-field line. And, in November, Ron Artest, four other players and seven fans were charged after a brawl during an NBA game in Detroit.

Sheffield was not ejected from the game; House was removed from the ballpark, but not arrested. Baseball officials were expected to interview House. On Friday, Sheffield spoke with Hallinan and baseball investigator George Hannah.

MLB President Bob DuPuy, at Dodger Stadium on Friday night for Jackie Robinson Day, said he hoped extreme security measures would be unnecessary. The Red Sox said they would post signs along the walls reminding fans not to interfere with the game or its players.

“Any time a fan interacts with a player in that way it’s unfortunate,” DuPuy said. “Our fans are terrific, but they need to be fans and not participants.”

During the 2003 American League championship series, Yankees Jeff Nelson and Karim Garcia brawled with a Fenway Park groundskeeper and were charged with assault. In a similarly volatile environment -- the Yankees and Red Sox played six times in the season’s first 13 days -- the Yankees praised Sheffield for his composure, and many laid the blame on House.

“The guy’s an idiot,” Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter said. “His intentions were not to go for the ball. The repercussions have to be better. You can’t take a swing and just get kicked out of the game. If that’s the case, everybody would be doing it.”

Manager Joe Torre called it “an unfortunate incident” and said, “It was somebody being nonchalant about swinging his arms. He wasn’t going for the ball. There’s no doubt in my mind.”

The longtime American League East rivals have met in the league championship series in each of the last two seasons, both going seven games. The Yankees advanced in 2003 and the Red Sox, from a three-game deficit, won last season, then won the World Series for the first time since 1918. They meet again May 27 at Yankee Stadium and return to Boston on July 14, immediately after the All-Star break.