Say Anything Blog

Karim Garcia and Jeff Nelson face possible charges for assaulting a Boston Red Sox grounds keeper during Saturday's game.

"The Red Sox are terribly concerned and distressed about the attack on our employee tonight," Steinberg said.

The Yankees denied the players were to blame in the fight with Paul Williams, a member of the ballpark's grounds crew.

"A security incident like this would never be tolerated at Yankee Stadium," president Randy Levine told The Associated Press. "Unfortunately, there was an atmosphere of lawlessness that was allowed to be perpetrated all day long. The events of the entire day were disgraceful and shameful, and if it happened at our ballpark, we would apologize, and that's what the Red Sox should do here."

This was not the strangest event of the night.

Manny Ramirez got Boston off to a good start with a two-RBI single in the bottom of the first scoring Johnny Damon and Todd Walker. The Yankees cut the lead in half during the top of the second with Jorge Posada doubling and then being drove in by a Karim Garcia single. Derek Jeter chipped in with a first-pitch, solo home run in the top of the third inning to tie the score.

In the fourth inning things began to get exciting. Posada drew a walk from Pedro and Nick Johnson moved him over to third base on a single to left field. Hideki Matsui then hit a ground-rule double scoring Posada and moving Johnson over to third base. Pedro, apparently frustrated, then threw a pitch over Nick Johnson's head and slightly grazing him. Wild pitches are a rarity for Martinez who is known for his control. The pitch at Garcia was almost certainly intentional. Garcia and the Yankees bench had words with Martinez to which Pedro responded by pointing at the bench and pointing at his head, implying that he would not be opposed to beaning more players. Alfonso Soriano hit into a double play which allowed Johnson to score from third. Enrique Wilson popped out to end the inning.

In the bottom of the fourth inning Roger Clemens threw a high and slightly inside pitch to Manny Ramirez after throwing him two pitches outside. The pitch was nowhere near hitting Ramirez but he reacted by brandishing his bat and advancing towards Clemens. Both benches cleared while the teams exchanged words while 72 year old Don Zimmer, a Yankees bench coach, charged Pedro Martinez who promptly grabbed him by the ears and threw him to the ground.

Zimmer, a baseball icon, charging Martinez was for the most part comical until he remained on the ground as Martinez walked away. While Zimmer's actions were certainly not warranted, one can understand his reaction to Pedro's cavalier attitude towards beaning batters when you realize that he had surgery to his skull, and nearly lost his life, after being beaned back in the 1950's. Pedro certainly could have stepped away from Zimmer rather than throwing him to the ground.

After the smoke cleared the umpires re-commenced the game with, surprisingly, no ejections. Clemens finished out the inning strong not allowing any hits.

Boston scored again in the seventh inning. Felix Heredia, who had just relieved Roger Clemens, walked David Ortiz, the first batter of the inning. Heredia was relieved by Jose Contreras who gave up a single to Millar with Ortiz advancing to third. Ortiz scored on a double play ball hit by Trot Nixon but the inning was over when Jason Varitek fouled out to Aaron Boone.

Mariano Rivera came in for yet another two-inning save and effectively shut down the Red Sox. Is there anyone you'd rather have in your bullpen during the postseason then Rivera?

During the 8th inning Garcia was forced to leave after getting involved in the scuffle in the Yankees' bullpen with a member of the Red Sox grounds crew. He was seen to be holding a towel around his hand after the fight and was soon replaced by Juan Rivera. The crew member is claiming that he was attacked by Garcia and Nelson after he cheered for the Red Sox. What a member of the grounds crew was doing in the Yankees bullpen has not been answered. The Red Sox have asked Major League Baseball to investigate the situation. The Boston Police Department has not yet decide whether or not charges will be brought against Nelson or Garcia.

It has been rumored that the crew member was the same man who had caused troubles at Fenway during the 1999 playoffs.