You knew Gary Sheffield was going to be suspended for his part in Friday night's brawl with Fausto Carmona.  The only question was how many games would Sheff be sitting out.

MLB just passed down its judgment on the scrum.  Sheffield has been suspended for four games, and won't be filing an appeal, so the suspension begins tonight.  By sitting out now, when rosters are expanded, instead of at the beginning of next season, the Tigers wouldn't be one man short on the 25-man roster when the 2009 season starts.

No word yet as to which Cleveland players were suspended besides Carmona, though I'm betting Asdrubal Cabrera and Victor Martinez will be joining him in MLB's jailhouse for playing decidedly non-peacekeeping roles during the fracas. 

The suspension presumably kills any chance Sheffield had at getting his 500th home run during this season.  Unless he hits at least one in each of the remaining three games he'll be allowed to play.

Unfortunately, this doesn't end the matter in Sheffield's mind.  He insists it's not over with whichever players he believes hit him from behind in the melee. 

“When you get into brawls -- when somebody’s back is toward you -- you pull each other apart.  That is what you’re supposed to do.  But when guys take cheap shots, I take that personal.

“When I find out who they are, they are going to have to deal with me . . . They’re going to be penalized by me.”

[...]

“Don’t worry.  You’ll see.  I’m not one of those guys to sit there and talk about what I’m going to do.  I’m just going to do what I’m going to do.”

Gary, Gary, Gary - that's not going to help anybody.  (Although I do enjoy him saying "They're going to be penalized by me" because it sounds like something Schwarzenegger or Stallone would've said in the 80's.)  I thought Sheff's suspension would be about five games, but comments such as those made me wonder if he might get slapped with a larger penalty. 

Oh, here's another good one:

“It’s on.  It will never end until I get you.  I told you from Day One.  I don’t mess with (anybody).  I don’t bother anybody.  But when you bother me, it’s on.  Trust me.”

You heard the man - it is on like Donkey Kong!  The first game between the Tigers and Indians next season is May 1 at Comerica Park.