It's not Pedro Martinez vs. Roger Clemens, but Sunday's Bret Saberhagen-Andy Pettitte matchup of pitchers who have overcome problems is still intriguing.

		Sat, October 16 I think the Yankees still believe they have control in this series, but I think the Red Sox look at it like "we have now established that Pedro and Ramon Martinez can beat the Yankees." And because of that they have a tremendous amount of confidence. Though it seems it would be conventional wisdom not to pitch a left-hander at Fenway Park because of the Green Monster and because the Red Sox know how to use the wall to their advantage, Andy Pettitte is not a conventional left-handed pitcher. Pettitte's a little different than most lefties. He cuts the fastball in on right-handed hitters and throws the changeup away. In doing that he gets ground balls when he throws inside and gets fly balls when he pitches away. That's the way Bruce Hurst, John Tudor and Bobby Ojeda did it during the 1980s and they were extremely successful with that approach. To sum it up I think Pettitte feels very good about pitching in this park.

"They are all important at this particular time," Saberhagen said.

Amid much hype and hollering by fans, Martinez faced Clemens in Game 3 of the best-of-7 AL Championship Series Saturday with the New York Yankees leading the Boston Red Sox 2-0.

The buzz should have faded by the time Saberhagen and Pettitte try to improve on their seasons of struggle and success.

Saberhagen had three different stints on the disabled list but finished with a 10-6 record and 2.95 ERA. Pettitte nearly was traded to Philadelphia but stayed in New York, had five wins and a 1.76 ERA in August and ended at 14-11.

"Over the last couple of years I have kind of been in that same situation where they seemed like they talked about trading me," Pettitte said. "So the only thing was this year it was intensified a little bit more and I really did feel like that I might be gone."

With the deal with the Phillies in the works, Yankees manager Joe Torre and general manager Brian Cashman were able to persuade owner George Steinbrenner to keep the lefty.

"I was pleased that he allowed us to make that decision," Torre said. Pitching coach "Mel Stottlemyre and myself basically could not shake the memory of how well he has pitched in postseason and in very important games."

In the 1996 World Series, Pettitte pitched eight shutout innings in a 1-0 win over Atlanta that gave New York a 3-2 lead. In 1998, he pitched shutout ball in the Game 4 World Series clincher against San Diego.

And in Game 2 of this year's division series sweep against Texas, he allowed one run over 7 1/3 innings of a 3-1 victory. It was a high point in a season in which he left the team to visit his father, who was having heart problems in Houston.

"It is tough" to listen to trade rumors, said Pettitte, who ended the season at 14-11 and has 81 wins in five seasons. "I felt that I was able to block that out and continue to try to work on my pitching, try to figure out what I was doing wrong."

Torre said Pettitte was throwing his pitches well, but "it was just a matter of how aggressive he was going to be."

If Pettitte thought he'd be pitching for a different team, Saberhagen felt he might not be pitching at all.

He was just 21 in 1985 when he won the AL Cy Young award and was MVP of the World Series with the champion Kansas City Royals. But he missed all of 1996 and most of 1997 following shoulder surgery.

He was 15-8 for Boston in 1998, but fraying of the rotator cuff in his shoulder forced him to the disabled list for the third time this year on Aug. 23.

"If we weren't in contention I probably would have kind of shut it down at that particular time," Saberhagen said. "Really seemed like I went through spring training four different times this year."

He went 3-0 in September and finished the season with 11 walks in 119 innings. But he had two poor starts in the division series against Cleveland, walking four in 3 2/3 innings.

"My arm felt good for the first time in a while and I think that I was caught up with the way that the shoulder was feeling and not really concentrating on pitching," Saberhagen said.

He might need surgery in the offseason but works hard at his rehabilitation.

"He is a warrior," Red Sox manager Jimy Williams said. "He has been through a tremendous amount of pain and hard work and coming to the park early."

With all that Pettitte and Saberhagen have endured, it would be nice if their meeting Sunday claimed at least a corner of the spotlight commanded by Clemens and Martinez.

"This is once in a lifetime," Torre said of Saturday's game. "Tomorrow we will get back to business again."