A Seaver vs. Sutton Showdown Goes Down With Seaver’s Knee

The possibility of a clash between 300-game winners Tom Seaver and Don Sutton in Game 4 of the American League playoffs vanished Saturday when the Boston Red Sox announced that Seaver will not be included on their playoff roster because of a strained right knee.

At the same time, Roger Clemens removed any doubt about his status as Boston’s starting pitcher in Tuesday night’s opening game of the championship series with the Angels by throwing without pain for 20 minutes in the bullpen.

Clemens had been struck near the right elbow by a line drive while pitching against Baltimore Wednesday.

Said Dr. Arthur Pappas of Clemens’ sideline work Saturday: “Roger used all his pitches and felt everything was effective. I saw him afterward, and there was minimal sensitivity. I don’t see any problem with his being ready to pitch on Tuesday.”

Said pitching coach Bill Fischer, who caught Clemens in the bullpen: “He threw very well. He threw as well as he ever has. If he can throw like that, there can’t be a problem.”

Seaver, meanwhile, has not pitched since Sept. 19 when he injured his right knee in a game against Toronto. He threw for 15 minutes Thursday but informed Manager John McNamara Saturday that he had not improved enough to pitch against the New York Yankees in Sunday’s regular-season finale or in the playoffs.

McNamara said it was disheartening to lose Seaver’s experience and big-game abilities, adding: “But most of all I feel sorry for Tom because I know how much he wanted to pitch in another playoff.”

Al Nipper, who is 10-11 with a 5.51 ERA, will start Game 4 if the Red Sox are ahead 3-0 or 2-1. Clemens could pitch on three days’ rest if the Red Sox trail by either of those margins, NcNamara said.

The 41-year-old Seaver said he would continue to take therapy and attempt to pitch on the sidelines in the hope that he would be ready for the World Series, if the Red Sox qualify. The playoff roster can be amended for the World Series.

“It’s the goal of any athlete to get to play in the postseason,” Seaver said. “I don’t care how long you’ve played, it’s why you work so hard all summer. This is definitely disappointing and frustrating.

“And one of the difficult things I’ll have to deal with is that whatever success we have (in the playoffs), I will not have contributed to it physically. That’s not easy to accept.”

After lobbying with the Chicago White Sox to trade him to a team near his Greenwich, Conn., home, Seaver was acquired by the Red Sox June 29 and went 5-7 with a 3.80 earned-run average en route to an overall 7-13. He has a career record of 311-205 and would have been appearing in his fourth championship series, having pitched in the playoffs twice with the New York Mets and once with the Cincinnati Reds.

“I came here at a time when Oil Can (Boyd) was having (personal) problems and (Bruce) Hurst was hurt,” Seaver said of the Red Sox, “and I have to think that in my minor role I had significant impact on what the team was trying to achieve. But it’s still been a very difficult year what with my mother dying, the sore arm I had in Chicago, then being traded into an environment that’s been beneficial to me but now this, not being able to participate in the playoffs.”

Seaver, who will continue to lend vocal support from the bench, said the injury prevents him from rotating and driving off his right leg. It is believed to be either a strained tendon or torn cartilage.

Will he pitch next season?

“That’s premature,” he said. “My thoughts are still on being ready for the World Series.”

The final week has become a survival test for the Red Sox. Catcher Rich Gedman is the latest Boston player to make an emergency trip to the hospital.

Gedman came out of Saturday’s first game of a doubleheader with the Yankees in the second inning when he was hit on the right shoulder by a foul tip. X-rays were negative, according to Dr. Pappas, who later said that the bruised shoulder should not affect Gedman’s availability for the playoffs.