EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA

FORT MYERS, Fla. - For the first two years of Matt Clement's three-year, $25.5 million contract, the pitcher was soft, prone to wilt under the Boston spotlight at any moment. Or at least that's what we had come to expect.

Yesterday, there wasn't a tougher player in the Red Sox clubhouse.

Clement sat on an island early yesterday afternoon, drawing the attention of most media members in front of his locker while the majority of his teammates hit the links for charity. He wasn't cornered, there were no surprise attacks and the 32-year-old didn't make one move toward sanctuary.

Clement's sheer willingness to bear his soul to his harshest critics, the skeptical media, for three-quarters of an hour begins to hint at the pitcher's true inner strength. While the majority of the questions could be classified as informational, there were the predictable inquiries as to his mindset, troubles in Boston and possible clashes with the organization.

He never flinched.

The naysayers will be quick to counter Clement's willingness to expound on his circumstances with the argument that it hardly makes up for the frustration the righty has caused since the 2005 All-Star break. And they're right.

Since making the All-Star team in his first season with the Red Sox, Clement has been hardly worth the hefty cash sent his way. In his 26 appearances since July 16, 2005, he has compiled an 8-9 record, a 6.14 ERA, surrendering 156 hits in 1391/3 innings.

Numbers certainly not what Boston projected, but then again the Red Sox weren't alone.

"We always liked Matt," said Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi by phone from his team's Dunedin spring training facility. "We liked a lot of things about him. Sometimes things just work out in a different way. It just came down to a monetary thing. We liked his upside, but he wasn't a guy we were going to rely on winning 18 games.

"I'm sad it hasn't worked out, but I know how much of a class act Matt is."

Ricciardi's description of Clement, who was also sought by Cleveland during the 2004 offseason, could be hard to fathom. Not yesterday, however.

Along with his stand-and-deliver performance to the media, the manner in which Clement described his ordeal last season was commendable.

Word by word, Clement addressed his lost season, which often times was as much a mystery to the organization as it was to everybody else. What frustrated him most was the soft label people thrust upon him. Before last summer, not once in his career had he been on the disabled list, and he believes that should have been proof enough he was indeed injured.

It wasn't.

Long-toss sessions took place when there should have been rest. Bullpen tosses were made when ice should have been applied. Yet, Clement holds no grudges as to how the Red Sox handled the situation. Even right up until Dr. James Andrews went in for exploratory surgery on Sept. 26, Clement was passing all the strength tests.

But there was damage - significant damage - and by the end of the procedure, six holes had been made in Clement's pitching shoulder in order to repair both his labrum and rotator cuff. It was the same operation performed on New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, and that's why it was his football card that remained on Clement's son's wall throughout his grueling rehab.

Here is where we discover the toughness so many thought didn't exist.

Seven days a week, starting on the day after his surgery, Clement has been at it. Two to three hours a day are dedicated to just the rehabilitation, but that's not all. Stretching three times a day, deep tissue massages, more poking and more prodding.

It all led him to yesterday, when he could sit his unassuming self in front of his locker and tell those who doubted him the most that he was going to be throwing a ball next week - a full month ahead of schedule.

His goal to pitch somehow, some way and somewhere during the '07 season is close to reality.

But Clement's motivation isn't living up to the contract, and it isn't delivering a big "I told you so" to his doubters. His motivation is seeing the faces of his two sons, 4-year-old Mattix and 2-year-old Madden, watch their dad pitch in the major leagues and be able to remember it.

You can't get any tougher than that.

The day on the blog

The following is drawn from Eagle-Tribune Publishing Company's new blog, Bradford on Baseball. It summarizes some of the key happenings from the Red Sox spring training camp yesterday. For more go to www.bradfordonbaseball.com.

...

Highlights of Matt Clement's 41-minute interview session with the media yesterday:

* Posted a football card of Drew Brees on his son's wall for motivation. It was referenced more than once that Brees had a similar surgery as Clement and obviously came through it in good shape.

* Plans on throwing for the first time sometime in the first week of March. Original plan had that event taking place in early April.

* One of goals is pitching at some point this year. He understands it might be in the bullpen, but expects to be a starter no matter what next year.

* Rehab was seven days a week. Only missed one day, the day he flew to Fort Myers.

* Surgery by Dr. James Andrews was a scope (not cut open), making six holes in his right shoulder.

* Starts days before 7 a.m. Actual rehab time is two to three hours per day.

* Said he is at peace with what happened in 2006. "Things could be worse."

* Prime motivation is having his two sons, who are 4 and 2 years old, watch their dad and remember him as a major league pitcher.

* Not bitter toward the Red Sox, even though he said Dr. Andrews said he shouldn't have been doing anything during the time before the surgery when he was often playing long toss and throwing bullpen sessions. He said there was no sign of how serious damage was (to the labrum and rotator cuff), with Clement passing his strength tests all the way up until the surgery.

...

Elsewhere, Terry Francona wasn't available today, still fighting the flu. Pitching coach John Farrell took his spot answering questions after the workout. Farrell relayed what the spring training pitching schedule will be:

* Wednesday: Curt Schilling

* Thursday: Kason Gabbard (early); Josh Beckett (Northeastern)

* Friday: Kyle Snyder (early); Daisuke Matsuzaka (Boston College)

* Saturday: Tim Wakefield followed by Jonathan Papelbon

First appearances will include two innings, with a 35-pitch target.

Matsuzaka will throw batting practice tomorrow, going for 10 minutes or 40 pitches after a warmup session.

...

Tracked down Jon Deeble to ask him the injury history of Japanese pitchers. The question stemmed from Matsuzaka's 103-pitch bullpen session yesterday. Deeble said that there are very few injuries among Japanese pitchers. "There's hardly anyone in the training room during spring training there," Deeble said.

It should be noted that Matsuzaka has been gearing up for Japanese spring training, which starts two weeks before MLB spring training.

...

Farrell also offered an interesting analogy later in the clubhouse when asked about Matsuzaka's potential for injury. He said Matsuzaka's situation will be kind of like a starter going to being a closer. He will have to understand that it might be able to amp it up a bit more over the course of a game because seven innings of work will be the workload any given day.

...

Alex Ochoa was the unlucky one yesterday, taking batting practice in the group consisting of David Ortiz and Wily Mo Pena. Ortiz and Pena put on unworldly performances, making Ochoa's showing seem a bit less impressive. Ortiz looks in good shape, having taken up a little running for the first time.