An at-bat for the ages

Yup, he's that Alex Cora.

The Cora who fouled off 14 consecutive pitches in one of the most memorable at-bats of last season. Then homered.

Against? Matt Clement.

While wearing a Dodgers uniform May 12, 2004, Cora sent 14 straight pitches out of play in an 18-pitch at-bat that ended with a two-run homer in a 4-0 win over the Chicago Cubs. It was a plate appearance of monumental proportions, and considering the two players, a little bit shocking.

Clement wasn't, until this season, exactly known for his control. Cora isn't exactly known for his home run stroke.

''I don't think I'll ever forget that at-bat, unfortunately," said Clement, who starts today against Randy Johnson. ''I just wish he would have got a hit at the end of it, rather than a home run to knock me out of the game. A lot of people remember that at-bat. It's a thing where you look back -- I guess I'm amazed I threw 14 straight strikes, let alone not walking him before."

That's not the only ''amazing" piece. There's the 14 straight strikes, the 2-2 count after 18 pitches and, of course, the home run. He's an unlikely candidate for a bomb at any time, not least after going about 12 rounds with a pitcher. Cora has 28 homers in parts of eight seasons in the majors. He had 10 last year and has just one so far this season.

''That was awesome," brother Joey Cora told the Chicago Sun-Times after watching his brother's battle with Clement on a restaurant TV. ''I was so proud of him I almost cried. I was with [manager] Ozzie [Guillen], and we had a beer on the first pitch and by the end of the at-bat we were so [expletive] drunk that we had to call a cab to take us home."

Me, too, Clement said. The crying, at least.

''Two guys just battling, that's it," Cora said. ''He made some great pitches, I fouled them off. Just got lucky. Just looking at it after the fact, it's what baseball is all about, especially [when] a pitcher and a hitter just battle and battle. You don't give in. Just a great moment, something that I will remember the rest of my life.

''That's what everybody was talking about last year. I think I did a lot of things positive offensively for that team. It's something special but it's not like I go up there and brag about it. I wish it could be that way every time."

Cora, who came to the Red Sox in a July 7 trade for Ramon Vazquez, joined Clement in the clubhouse in Baltimore and the two exchanged a few words about their tangle. They didn't have much time for talk, but they'll likely get back to it.

Clement, who has an uncanny memory for pitches and at-bats, still sees the matchup. He threw Cora cutters, sliders, sinkers. Not a single changeup. Not one, not even out of frustration.

Which must have been rapidly encroaching.

''I wish I would have threw him a ball and tried to get him to chase one when we were 2-2," Clement said. ''I can't say it was fun . . . He fouled off some good pitches. He fouled off some bad pitches. I think the pitch he hit wasn't even that bad of a pitch."

It's the longest at-bat against him he can remember. He believes he had a 14-pitch go-round with Mark Grace. That wasn't quite the same.

Clement was been pulled from the game after the at-bat and anger sloshed inside. He has calmed a bit since. He still remembers, though, his memories simultaneously vivid and tempered.

''He's a pesky guy at the plate, who has some pop," Clement said of Cora. ''He's even more pesky to me, I guess."