The Mets were down 4-3 to the Brewers when Gary Sheffield pinch hit to lead off the 7th inning. At that point, the Mets had blown a three-run lead. To the delight of the the crowd, he did something positive and tied the game with his milestone home run.

Sheffield has a special place in my heart as he was the best player on my favorite team during our first World Series. His batting stance was one-of-a-kind and even at the ripe old age of 55 (approximate) he still generates a tremendous amount of bat speed.

Sheffield is the 25th player to reach 500 home runs*. He’s the first to do it on his first at bat with a new team and the first to do it while on the New York Mets. I’ll let Tim Kurkjian expand on Sheff’s legacy after the jump.

*For what its worth, Sheffield was one of the players named on the Mitchell Report.

Also, Sheffield is known as a bit of a prickly customer. Perhaps that’s why he was celebrating his biggest individual accomplishment with a bunch of strangers.