BUTLER TWP — Through eight seasons of major league baseball, Matt Clement's career had one consistent element: When it was his turn to pitch, he took the ball.

The Butler native, who still makes his off-season home here, averaged 190 innings and never had fewer than 30 starts in his first seven big league campaigns. He never went on the disabled list.

"You have to pitch through pain and nagging injury to be able to do that,"Clement said.

"Being able to take my turn and produce quality innings for my team is something I've always taken pride in. Over the years, I know I've pitched some games I probably shouldn't have.

"Ultimately, I guess I'm paying for that now,"Clement added.

On the disabled list since June 17 with a right shoulder strain, the Boston Red Sox pitcher spent the rest of the season trying to return to the mound. He finally underwent exploratory surgery Sept. 26 in Birmingham, Ala.

Dr. James Andrews wasn't certain what he'd find. Clement knew he would find something.

"I just had a feeling,"he said. "The way it felt when I threw, something was going on in there."

Andrews had to reattach the labrum and repair a partially torn rotator cuff. Clement already has started to work on range of motion with the shoulder, but he continues to wear a sling.

He hopes to receive permission to start throwing in December.

"Three days before the surgery, I threw 50 pitches from 90 feet and 25 pitches from 125 feet,"Clement said. "Dr. Andrews told me I shouldn't be throwing 20 feet with what I had going on in there.

"The good news is that the surgery was arthroscopic. I know I'm going to be back."

The question is when.

Now 32, Clement is signed with the Red Sox through 2007 and plans to pitch for them next year.

"Best-case scenario would be sometime in May," he said. "Realistically, it may be after the All-Star Game," he said. "It may not be until the last two weeks of the season. It's pretty subjective at this point.

"I'm already ahead of schedule, and I'll do all the work I can to get back. I just can't push it. Rehab is rehab."

Clement had the same surgery NFLquarterbacks Drew Brees and Chad Pennington had within the past year. Both of those players came back healthy this season with no sign of setback.

"Granted, they only throw a ball 30 or 40 times a game whereas I throw 100 pitches or so,"Clement said. "But I don't have 280-pound linemen hitting me all the time, either."

Clement signed with Boston as a free agent after the 2004 season. He was 9-1 with a 3.33 earned run average in his first 16 starts in 2005, 4-5 with a 6.01 ERAin his final 16 starts. He then allowed eight runs in 3.1 innings against the Chicago White Sox in the American League Divisional Series.

This past year, Clement struggled out of the gate. He was 5-5 with a 6.61 ERA, 43 strikeouts, 38 walks and eight home runs allowed in 65X\c innings pitched when his season was shut down.

Along with his struggles came heavy media and fan criticism.

"All due respect to the fans, I pitch for one person and that's the Lord, and, besides that, my family,"Clement said. "The media have their opinions and I respect their jobs, but they don't upset my life.

"People can think what they want. I take the ball every fifth day. This was the first year I wasn't able to do that."