He's opposing pitcher

ST. LOUIS -- Within days after the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series, Curt Schilling was in Ohio, campaigning for President Bush, while general manager Theo Epstein joined owners John Henry and Tom Werner in New Hampshire to stump for Senator John Kerry.

Former Sox pitcher Jeff Suppan, who was scheduled to pitch Game 4 for the Cardinals last night before it was postponed by rain, thrust himself into a hot-button campaign issue even before the end of the World Series. Suppan appeared on a television ad, scheduled to be aired here during the game, expressing his opposition to a proposed amendment that would provide constitutional protection for embryonic stem cell research in Missouri.

The ad in which Suppan appeared was in response to one that aired during Game 1, in which actor Michael J. Fox offered support for Democratic senator Claire McCaskill, a proponent of the amendment.

Suppan appears along with Mike Sweeney of the Royals, football player Kurt Warner, and actors Jim Caviezel and Patricia Heaton.

"Amendment 2 claims it bans human cloning," Suppan says in the ad, "but in the 2,000 words you won't read, it makes cloning a constitutional right. Don't be deceived."

Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa was asked yesterday if he had a policy or preference regarding players who get involved in political or social causes. La Russa, of course, is a passionate animal rights advocate. "Our policy is you recognize each person as the professional side and personal side, and you respect both sides of them," he said. "Actually, our organization encourages guys to get involved in something beyond just baseball. Whether you agree with the choice or whatever, I just like the fact that guys make a commitment and they get involved."

Gonna be changes

With his team batting .185 while drawing three walks through three games, Tigers manager Jim Leyland had planned to shake up his lineup, as expected. What he wasn't going to do was bench any of the three starters who were hitless so far: leadoff man Curtis Granderson (0 for 13); Placido Polanco (0 for 10), who had hit .529 (9 for 17) while being named MVP of the American League Championship Series; and Ivan Rodriguez (0 for 11), who is 0 for his last 23 in the postseason.

Leyland had planned to drop Polanco, who had been hitting in the No. 3 hole, to No. 7 behind Rodriguez.

Leyland alluded to his catcher dealing with some nagging injuries. "He has a little problem with his hip and his back's been bothering him," Leyland said. Rodriguez also was felled in Game 3 when a ball scored a direct hit on his protective cup. "I'm not going to talk about the one injury," Leyland said. "I think you all saw that."

In the 2004 World Series, the big boppers for the Cardinals -- Jim Edmonds, Albert Pujols, and Scott Rolen -- batted .133 (6 for 45) against the Red Sox. So far in this Series, they've combined to bat .355 (11 for 31). Rolen is 5 for 12, Edmonds 4 for 9, and Pujols 2 for 10, with one of his hits a home run.

Edmonds, who had a big two-run double off lefthander Nate Robertson in Game 3 despite batting just .156 against lefties this season, appeared in just six games over the last month of the regular season because he was dealing with post-concussion syndrome. The condition was the result of banging into the wall while trying to catch a home run hit by Joe Crede of the White Sox in Chicago June 21.

"I think they went away for good right at the end the season, just the last week," Edmonds said of the aftereffects . "I stayed home for about three weeks, stayed off the road trips, stayed out of the air, stayed off the airplane, and they thought that was a big thing. When I tried to play that last week at home, and I just kind of still had some problems, but it seemed like it was getting a little better each day."

It figures

Under the terms of Mike Timlin's new contract with the Red Sox, he will receive $150,000 if he is traded. Additional details of his deal, according to information obtained by the Globe's Nick Cafardo:

Base salary: $2.8 million. $125,000 bonus for 39 games; $125,000 for 50 games; $125,000 for 60 games; $125,000 for 70 games.

$75,000 for 25 games finished; $100,000 for 35 games finished; $100,000 for 40 games finished; $100,000 for 45 games finished; $250,000 for 50 games finished; $250,000 for 55 games finished (maximum of $1.35 million).

Other bonuses: $50,000 for All-Star selection; $50,000 for MVP of LCS; $100,000 for World Series MVP; $50,000 for Gold Glove; $100,000 for MVP ($50,000, second; $25,000, third); $150,000 for Cy Young ($100,000, second; $75,000, third); $150,000 for Rolaids Relief Man of the Year ($100,000, second; $75,000, third; $50,000, fourth or fifth).

Ratings hit low

The Cardinals' 5-0 victory Tuesday night was the lowest-rated Game 3 in Series history, and the three-game average also was the lowest ever. Game 3 drew a 10.2 fast national rating and 17 share, Fox said. The previous record low for Game 3 was the 10.8 rating for the Angels' 10-4 win over the Giants in 2002. The three-game average of 9.9/17 was down 7 percent from the previous low of 10.6/19, set last year . . . Cardinals Game 3 victor Chris Carpenter became the third New Hampshire native to win a World Series game, joining Lefty Tyler of the Cubs (1918) and Mike Flanagan of the Orioles (1979). Rich Gale is the only other Granite Stater to pitch in a Series, and he was 0-1 with a no-decision in two starts for the Royals in 1980. Carpenter is only the third pitcher in the past 20 World Series to allow three hits or fewer without walking a batter. Atlanta's Greg Maddux threw a two-hitter to beat the Indians, 3-2, in Game 1 of the '95 Series. Roger Clemens threw eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits while whiffing nine, in a 6-5 win over the Mets in Game 2 of the 2000 Series. The Yankees' bullpen gave up five runs in the eighth . . . Voting for the Ford Frick Award, which honors the game's greatest broadcasters with a plaque in the Hall of Fame, will take place in November. Voting takes place at baseballhalloffame.org . . . Fire marshal for Busch Stadium is a closet Sox fan, Ken Howard, a Medford native . . . The three errors committed by Tiger pitchers -- Justin Verlander, Todd Jones, and Joel Zumaya -- ties a record for most committed by pitchers in a Series. The Tigers in the first three games committed as many errors (5) as they scored runs (5). Gordon Edes can be reached at edes@globe.com. .content>