Not really a meaningful story, but a classic example of something that ESPN and talk radio will oversaturate sports fans with in order to create controversy.

Not a particularly big story, except for the following: Sheffield, who isn't exactly renowned as a model of cool headed behaviour, showed admirable restraint after being cuffed by a yahoo Boston fan near the right field wall. He pushed the fan away threw the ball (which was fair, not foul) back to the infield and then started back at the fan for a couple of steps before geting control of himself and letting security handle it. After the circus performance that was Ron Artest in Detroit, it was commendable behaviour from a professional athlete, particularly one with a well-deserved reputation as a head-case. The Red Sox have, quite properly, pulled the so-called fan's season tickets for the balance of the season. Said fan has come up with a cavalcade of lies about what he was really trying to do, none of which holds up to the most cursory examination of the video-tape, which clearly shows him deliberately cuffing Sheffields head as he goes for the ball. I've been a Red Sox fan for almost forty years, and I've hated the Yankees just as long, and I've never cared much for Sheffield; but he's totally in the right here, and the fan is utterly in the wrong. Well done, Mr. Sheffield, in showing restraint, and well done Red Sox for punishing the moron.