Roger Clemens should worry about winning more games and seeing his team get into the World Series this year instead of threatening to boycott his expected entry into the Hall of Fame, if the museum places a Red Sox cap on his plaque instead of his desired Yankee emblem.

If Clemens follows through with his retirement plans this year, his entry into Cooperstown will be in the year 2009. Apparently, he could care less about the Boston fans who supported him through the first 192 wins and 2500 strike outs of his career and is planning on boycotting the ceremonies if the Red Sox lid is on his head because Dan Duquette, Red Sox GM in 95, thought he was through as a big time player, forcing Roger to take his game to Toronto.

What a bore Clemens is. I’ll take Greg Maddux any day of the week over this guy.

What was more amazing San Diego lefthander Oliver Perez shutting down the White Sox without a run over 6 2/3 innings or Rod Beck getting the save throwing 80 MPH?

Or how about the Boston bullpen throwing 8 innings of zeros against the exhausted Astros?

More baseball on Monday below, I even take on the Eric Byrnes All Star question.Is Eric Byrnes an All Star?

He may not be an all star this season, but he is an MVP. The A’s would be in sad shape without the energetic Byrnes in the lineup. He sees ball and hits ball. Nothing fancy and that is one of the reasons Art Howe had to fight city hall to get Byrnes limited chances to play over the past few seasons. Byrnes is not the prototypical A’s player at the plate, but he has so much talent that the powers to be are biting their lip as Byrnes carries the team for the past six weeks.

But for Jermaine’s Dye’s injury, Byrnes would be sitting on the bench and Adam Piatt would have been given the chance to hit major league pitching.

If Byrnes can stay hot for another two and one half weeks, through the Angels series in early July, then I think he goes to Chicago. Byrnes is in the top ten in hitting and baseball likes good stories especially around the all star game, which needs a transfusion.

Wild Card Standings this morning:

AL

Boston…

Oakland 1

Toronto 1 1/2

Angels 4 1/2

Royals 5

NL

Dodgers….

Expos 1 1/2

Houston 3 1/2

St. Louis 4 1/2

Phillies 4 1/2

Jimmy Anderson is back tonight for Cincinnati. Anderson gives up homers in bunches and the Cubs are in need of a jump start in their offense. Matt Clement is a power pitcher who still hasn’t shown the consistency the Cubs hoped for when they brough him over from the Marlins for Dontrelle Willis among others.

The Cubs don’t like Mark Bellhorn and have buried the former A’s player who had a nice season last year. Bellhorn is a little too patient at the plate for the Cubs taste.

If I was the Giants, I would be concerned about the bullpen meltdown yesterday in KC. The locals have gotten tremendous mileage out of Tim Worrell so far, but his performance in the ninth in KC is reminiscent of his bad days from years past. Worrell is a terrific set up guy, but with men on base, he becomes a different pitcher.

Tommorow night Ugueth Urbina will be in the Bay Area with the Rangers, the Giants shouldn’t let him leave. I like Felipe Alou’s candid style when asked questions about his team or the game. His pregame show is worth listening to, you very rarely get candid answers from anyone in baseball like the ones he gives during his five minute chat. The guy doesn’t mince words.

The Cardinals got swept in NY and now go to another one of their hot prospects tonight in Milwaukee. Calero, a righty, has been very good so far and faces Wayne Franklin who has potential also.

Minnesota lack of starting pitching is getting very noticeable. Brad Radke got lit up Sunday and now has an ERA of 6.00. The Twins play second place KC tonight in KC and need a big game from Kyle Lohse. Darrell May has pitched well against the A’s, but has not duplicated those efforts against anyone else.

The Orioles come West in a few weeks and with Jason Johnson, Sidney Ponson, and Rodrigo Lopez in fine form, they might win a few games in Oakland and Seattle.

Elmer Dessens has been a bust for Arizona so far. After yesterday’s game, his ERA is 5.38.

Texas can’t beat lefthanders and will face three this week in Oakland, including Mulder and Zito. If Ted Lilly is still having his troubles, the Rangers are one team that can really go deep.

The Marlins aren’t that far away from being a contender. If they keep Mike Lowell and run the organization with some brains (money), they can move up quickly behind their pitching. Mark Redman had another good game and it was against Texas who even though lefties are killing them, still can swing the pole.

How many pitches for Pedro tonight? All New England will hold its breathe while the righty goes to the hill. He isn’t 100% physically and probably never will be again, but for one game he can shut you down, it’s just his next game that concerns the Sox.

Mark Buehrle 2-10, there is a reason for that record, he can’t throw the curve for strikes and his cutter ain’t cutting.

Angels are healthy and must play like champions starting tonight in Seattle. John Lackey tries to prevent the Halos from going 11 1/2 back of Seattle.

The Mariners haven’t hit in a week, but are still winning. In the West you have to hit when division play happens, so the A’s are watching this series very intently hoping for an Anaheim explosion with the bats.

Hey, Roger be grateful the Hall of Fame exists and if you don’t like the way they operate, then you should go to Palm Springs during your induction, that would be really smart.

Stew was a better pitcher in the big game and you know it.