Sheffield Joins 500-HR Club

NEW YORK -- After his dad ripped a fastball into the left-field stands at Citi Field on Friday, 6-year-old Jaden Sheffield got a piece of paper and a blue magic marker and wrote:

"Hooray you hit it, you hit your 500th home run."

For Gary Sheffield, it might as well be on sheepskin.

"Now I can say I'm in the club," Sheffield said after reaching the milestone in the Mets' defeat of the Brewers. "It's like getting your degree. No one can ever take it away from you."

Sheffield's shot off Milwaukee lefty Mitch Stetter was just fair to left, his first home run since joining the Mets after being released by the Tigers in spring training.

"I never thought it was going to happen like this," said Sheffield, whose only other pinch homer came on July 20, 1994.

After battling Stetter for eight pitches leading off the bottom of the seventh inning, Sheffield "was just thinking of trying to get on base." But he turned on Stetter's 87 mph fastball, and as Sheffield danced down the first-base line, he thrust his arms in the air and then threw a fist in celebration. When he crossed home plate, tying the game 4-4, he raised his arms again and pointed both index fingers to the sky.

His new teammates poured out of the dugout to congratulate him, with Sheffield and David Wright exchanging a bear hug.

"He has been a great addition to the chemistry of the team," Mets manager Jerry Manuel said. "When he's not playing, he's talking to guys about hitting, what he looks for, those types of things. And every time you call on him, he seems to put together a pretty good at-bat.

"I'm glad he accomplished that feat and can move on to other things."

Then came a curtain call.

"I don't even really know what I was feeling," Sheffield said. "I was just numb at that time."

Sheffield, 40, became the first player to hit his 499th and 500th homers for different teams. He has homered for eight teams and off 334 pitchers.

No other member of the 500-homer club homered for more than five clubs (Frank Robinson and Eddie Murray).

Every player who has hit 500 home runs and is eligible for the Hall of Fame has been inducted, except for Mark McGwire. Whether Sheffield is thought of in Cooperstown terms remains to be seen.

"He's definitely always a most-feared hitter," said Milwaukee's Craig Counsell, who played with Sheffield on the 1997 Marlins. "He's always been the type of hitter (who) the manager is always aware of when he's coming up."