Showdown at Fenway Clemens, Martinez to square off in Game 3

BOSTON -- Clemens vs. Martinez. It's more than a baseball game.

It's the star who left Boston against the pitcher who replaced him as the ace of the Red Sox.

It's the New York Yankees' warrior against an equally fierce but publicity-shy leader, a pair of prideful pitchers not afraid to leave batters sprawling.

And given that it is Roger Clemens' final start in Fenway Park, where he spent the first 13 seasons of his major league career, emotions are sure to be high today when he pitches against Pedro Martinez in Game 3 of the AL championship series.

Yankees manager Joe Torre remembers how he felt Aug. 31, when Clemens was given a standing ovation by the Fenway faithful after his final regular-season appearance in Boston.

"It was a lot of goosebumps," Torre said Friday.

Ali and Frazier fought each other three times, but the Rocket and Pedro are going at it for the fifth time. Martinez won the first, a 13-1 rout at Fenway in Game 3 of the 1999 ALCS, then beat Clemens 2-0 the following May 28 when Trot Nixon hit a two-run homer in the ninth at Yankee Stadium. Neither got a decision when they met in New York on June 14, 2000, and in Boston on April 14, 2001.

Clemens, who plans to retire after this season, just doesn't want it to be the final start of his 20-year career. If the series goes to seven games, he'd probably face Martinez again. And Clemens wants to pitch in another World Series.

"I know as we march through these playoffs that my starts are coming towards an end," he said. "You just don't want it to be the next one."

It's not clear what Martinez thinks about the high-profile matchup. He's been boycotting the media for months.

"When he got into this mode about the middle of the season was about the time he started getting really good results on the mound," Boston manager Grady Little said. "I think the day is coming that he will again speak with the press, but right now he wants to continue doing what he has been doing and try not to break his karma."

The Yankees were angry at Martinez this summer. He hit Alfonso Soriano and Derek Jeter with pitches on July 7, two days after Clemens hit Boston's Kevin Millar. Both pitchers denied the hit batters were intentional, with Clemens saying: "Guys don't get out of the way of the ball anymore."

Clemens doesn't appreciate the way batters come to the plate these days with protective gear.

"Some of these guys are wearing stuff now that, I mean, they'd feel safe in Iraq," he said Friday.

Boston players are proud of the way Martinez protects them. That's part of what makes him a leader.

"If he felt it was on purpose and you need someone to go down, he'll take care of that," Millar said. "He's asked me situations, and I said 'no' and I said 'yes.' That's the kind of guy he is. There's a lot of pitchers that wouldn't do that. They'd be scared to do that."

Martinez did admit two years ago to having the urge to throw at one Yankee in particular. After ending a five-game winless streak against New York on May 30, 2001, Martinez proclaimed:

"I don't believe in rivalries. I don't believe in curses. Wake up the damn Bambino, maybe I'll drill him."

The next time these two meet, it might be at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Clemens, 41, finished his regular-season career 310-160, 17th on the career wins list, with a 3.19 ERA, 4,099 strikeouts and six Cy Young Awards.

Martinez, who turns 32 in two weeks, is 166-67 with 2,426 strikeouts and three Cy Young Awards.

Both have had mixed results against their rivals, though. Not including the playoff meeting four years ago, Clemens is 8-5 against Boston, including 2-3 this year, and Martinez in 9-8 against New York.

"Our pitching, for the most part, has stepped up when we played against him," Jeter said.

Both aces have a surprise nemesis. Nixon is 14-for-36 (.389) when facing Clemens, and Enrique Wilson, who will replace Aaron Boone at third base for New York, is 10-for-20 (.500) against Martinez in the regular season, including 7-for-8 this year.

"The last outing was comical," Torre said. "Everything Pedro threw up there -- it got to the point where Pedro was smiling and tipped his hat."

The game is scheduled to start at 4:18 p.m. EDT, meaning much of it will be played in twilight. That seems appropriate, because Boston let Clemens leave after the 1996 season, with then-general manager Dan Duquette saying he was in the "twilight" of his career.

"Any time you see him take the mound here, since he has not been with the Red Sox, I think you'll see an emotional chord struck," Little said. "It starts as soon as he comes out of the dugout heading toward the bullpen to warm up to start the game and then increases going from the bullpen to the dugout, and tomorrow it may be a little bit magnified."

Torre thought back to four years ago and hopes age has brought a calm to Clemens.

"I remember back in '99, the back page of, or maybe the front page of the papers here, they were billing it as a heavyweight battle," Torre said. "I can see no difference in the appeal of this game."