Sheffield says he got hit in face

"I just felt something hit me in the mouth," Sheffield said. "It felt like a hand hit me in the mouth, but I have to look at the tape.

"I don't know if it punched me or not, but it felt like it. I thought my lip was busted. I continued with the play, then I thought about it and didn't react. It could have been worse if I didn't hold my composure. I almost snapped. I thought about the consequences."

Asked what consequences came to mind, Sheffield said: "Ron Artest," a reference to the Indiana Pacers basketball player who was suspended for the season after brawling with fans at the Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich., in a game against the Detroit Pistons.

"That's the first thing that came to mind," he said. "'Don't react, and that's what I did."

Television replays appeared to show spectators leaning over the railing in Row A of Box 86 in Section 4, near the right-field foul pole, as Sheffield tried to field Jason Varitek's eighth-inning triple. A spectator who was wearing a blue baseball cap seemed to strike Sheffield's face as he was reaching for the ball, and a beer spilled onto Sheffield in the hubbub of other fans reaching for the ball.

Within a minute, according to other spectators in the section, police and security officials descended on the man, while Yankee teammates, including reliever Tanyon Sturtze, restrained Sheffield. The spectator was immediately taken away.

"Everybody was just going for the ball as it was banging around," said Keith Whamond of New Haven, who was sitting directly behind the spectator who made contact with Sheffield.

"Beer was flying, people were reaching over the wall, straining against the wall," said Whamond, who took video of the incident on his cellphone camera and said he did not see Sheffield strike the spectator. "Sheffield said, `Don't [expletive] punch me. He kept saying, `This guy tried to punch me.' "

Whamond said ushers had come down several times earlier in the game, warning the spectactors not to leave beers on the railing.