Hardball Heaven

I hate to rail on guys for the money they make, but I said it when Theo signed Matt Clement back in the winter of 2004 and I'll say it again. Giving an unproven guy like Clement $25 million over three years was a big-time desperation move. Remember - that was the same winter Pedro bolted for the Mets and Randy Johnson was traded to the Yankees. We had to do something and everyone thought Tim Hudson was the guy. Instead, we had to settle for a head case (Clement) and a knee jerk (Wells), and 17 months later it's clear that the Clement package is not a reliable one. Whether it was the ball he took off the head last year or what, he looks mentally unstable (shades of D-Lowe) on the mound and his stuff is ordinary. He may pitch decent one out of six times to the hill.

Clement's our whipping boy this morning because the Sox failed to capitalize on a depleted Yankee roster and let the bastards walk into Fenway and take two out of three. Wakefield had a tough night Tuesday (7-5 Yanks win), and then Clement's stinker was last night (8-6 loss). For all their travails, the Yanks are only a 1/2 game out of first place.

Bright spots from the series, because we're trying really hard to be glass-is-half-full today:

- Manny's bat has finally awakened. He hit four homers in the three games, including two last night.

- Schilling's performance in Game 1 was encouraging

- The team showed some spunk in coming back from deficits several times

- Youk is making it a tough call for Tito when Coco returns

- David Riske looks like he can help

Okay, that last one is a stretch - but we do need someone to step up and become our 7th inning guy. Foulke is not the answer.

Another seeming deficiency for the Sox is the lack of depth on their bench - Mohr, Harris, Snow, Cora. Not a scary pinch-hitter in the bunch.

Ah well - it's time to fatten up on the Devil Dogs. Tampa comes to town tonight for the first of four. Josh Beckett vs. Doug Waechter.