Aug 15 - Clemens and Gibson (Bob, not Debbie)

Here are some blasts to get things started:The White Sox should go out and get Ken Griffey, particularly if they feel Dustin Hermanson will be healthy when the playoffs come around. This club is close, particularly if Dusty is healthy, but they need a difference-maker like Griffey to make them legitimate contenders. One word of caution to White Sox fans – Jon Garland is not a big-time pitcher. He was brutal on Saturday night and if I am running that team, he is the fourth guy I go to in a playoff series.

Pedro pitched great yesterday but he looks like he is tiring. His velocity is way down and it looks like he could benefit fro a missed start. When you look at Pedro’s splits, it is pretty hard to believe that he is 12-5 with an ERA approaching three. His splits are more reflective of a resume that includes a record of 15-3 and an ERA under 2.50.

Congratulations to Phil Mickelson who won a battle of attrition out there at Baltrussol this weekend. I was out there on Friday and it was hotter than ass. Saturday was worse and Sunday was no better. Phil looked like he was going to collapse on Sunday, but he pulled it together just as the lug nuts were loosening and the wheels were poised to come off. I am not sure if he would have won had the tourney not been postponed but you have to give the guy credit for making that four on eighteen this morning. With two majors now on his resume, Phil is closing in on the day where he could retire without having to justify a unfulfilled career. However, a third major is still probably needed to ensure that Phil is not perceived as this generation's Johnny Miller.

I am already picking Phil to win the Open next June. The reason: for some reason. Phil is adored by New Yorkers and plays great in front of these fans. That will come in handy next June when the Open will be played at Winged Foot. Look at his recent record in the New York area. He got second at the 2002 Open at Bethpage, he was second at Shinecock last year and he won this week. Based on this record, it is clear that Phil plays better in this area than either the Knicks or the Giants.

While I have not been enamored with Roger Clemens since the 1990 ALCS, I think it is worth noting that he is having one of the more remarkable seasons in MLB history. The guy is 43 and sports on ERA of just 1.32 after blanking the Bucs through eight on Saturday. And just look at some of these splits. His batting average against is just .186, he is still fanning more than eight guys per nine innings and opponents are slugging less then .300 against him at the Juice Box in Houston. These are some of the sickest stats ever recorded in the National League and they rank right up there with the numbers Rocket amassed in Toronto and Pedro racked in Boston. I, for one, hope Rocket keeps it up because a complete year of this will hopefully knock Bob Gibson’s 1968 season off its over-hyped pedestal. When it comes to assessing great years in pitching, people are too quick to point out Gibson’s 1968 season as one of the best ever. The evidence appears compelling on its face as Gibson won 22 games that year while chalking up an ERA of 1.12. That is a miniscule number, but people tend to forget that 1968 was the year that offense went on strike. Nobody hit that year (Yaz led the AL with an average of .301) and as a result, the National League average ERA was a paltry 2.90. If you fast-forward thirty years, that league-AVERAGE would have challenged for the league’s ERA title. Everyone agrees that Gibson’s 1968 was fantastic, but lets get serious – it came during a deadball year and it came in a cavernous stadium. Clemens, on the other hand, is doing his thing during an offensive era and while playing half his games at a park whose dimensions resemble those of a ballpark in Williamsburg. Sorry Cardinal fans – your guy has to take a back seat on this one. Come to think of it, two of your guys have to take back seats on this because if the season ended today, I would take Clemens by a hair over Carpenter for league Cy Young.

Yankee propagandist Michael Kay had another tough afternoon on Sunday, as he spent a good ninety seconds on the subject of why free-agent-to-be Shawn Chacon stumbled into a great situation with the Yanks. According to Kay, and this really shouldn’t come as a surprise given the source, Chacon is now in an ideal situation with the Yanks because YINC is a phenomenal organization that lies at the nexus of the baseball world. In other words, playing for New York allows Chacon to pitch in front of all those scouts and front office types who never would have caught his act out in Denver. This thesis, if it were true, could be relevant to a free agent, but the problem here is Chacon is not eligible for free agency. He is still arbitration eligible meaning that if the Yankees tender him, he will be in Pinstripes next year. That sounds more like a prisoner of war then a free agent to this scribe. When Kay was informed that he had made a mistake, he murmured a half-hearted correction under his breathe. I guess this is just another instance of Michael being Michael.

Sox Box – You know you are hot when even the weather is cutting your way, as it did yesterday for the Red Sox. Boston pitcher Matt Clement was getting cracked in the 4th yesterday at Fenway and with the JV playing, it didn’t look like the Sox were going to be able to keep that impressive home winning streak alive. So what happens? Well, a massive storm moved in and clobbered the city for a period long enough for the Red Sox to secure a postponement. Sorry Boston haters – the game was scrubbed and when it resumes – if it ever resumes - it will be 0-0 in the top of the first and not 5-2 in the 4th. While Mother Nature succeeded in shutting the door on the White Sox, the same could not be said for Matt Clement. In many ways, this guy reminds me of Derrick Lowe. They are both fine when things are rolling along, but the second things go awry, each tends to crumble. Clement, in particular, seems particularly susceptible to the two-out rally and if he doesn’t cover home the next time he throws a 57 foot slider with a man on third, my television may need replacing. The Sox may have an interesting decision to make next week when John Olerud is due to come off the bench. The problem lies with the discovery that his replacement – Roberto Petagine – has a major league stick. Granted, Roberto can’t catch, but his bat has been impressive. If either Roberto or Olerud were right-handed, Kevin Millar would be busy packing, but since both are lefties, it will be impossible to keep both on the 25-man roster. My guess is Francona likes Olerud’s glove late in the game and therefore Petegine will head back down to Pawtucket until the rosters are expanded on September 1st. My boy Annibal Sanchez got clocked down in Portland on Friday, giving up four runs on four bombs over six innings. Somebody should tell him that it isn’t nice to mock Curt Schilling like that. While Sanchez finally got cracked, Jon Lester was solid in his last start out (Thursday) and Craig Hansen has pitched three scoreless since being called up to Portland. Word out of Portland is Craig tapes his glove hand up with tin foil just as his brothers did for the Chiefs in Slap Shot. I know Johnny Damon is having a great year at the plate, but lets get this straight: there may not be a centerfielder in baseball (outside the Bronx) who goes back on the ball worse than the Caveman. This guy needs to be tutored in geometry because he never charts the correct angle.