MARINERS NOTEBOOK: Clement's days as an artist

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SEATTLE � As a boy growing up in Iowa, Jeff Clement was considered something of an artist � he drew everything from Michael Jordan to still lifes all the way through high school.

His career in art was staggered as a college freshman at the University of Southern California.

�Growing up I just liked to draw. That was about the extent of it,� Clement said Saturday. �In high school I took some art classes because I had to take an elective and I knew I wasn�t going to be taking a music class.

�My freshman year in college I took a beginning drawing class. We had to draw models that were middle-aged and naked. I thought, �That�s enough, I don�t need to see any more of this.�

�It was not pretty.�

Clement�s focus stayed on baseball after that experience, and in 2005 he was the first-round pick of the Seattle Mariners, the team for which he has become the regular catcher at age 24.

As for his art career?

�I haven�t really done anything for the last five years,� he said.

�When I first started drawing, I would draw Michael Jordan pictures. I really wouldn�t call it art. I would call it drawing pictures. I�d look at pictures in Sports Illustrated and draw things like that.

I won an award for a still life that I drew,� Clement said. �It was like pastels. We had to sit down in art class in high school and draw a still life with an array of things in front of you. You had to draw it with pastels and I ended up winning an award for that.�

�In Sports Illustrated, they wrote some article about how I like to draw flowers in my spare time. I�m like, �Come on.� �

He was asked if he�d ever contemplated a portrait of Roger Hansen, minor league catching coordinator for the Mariners.

�Maybe that�s what the change was. I met Roger in �05 and I haven�t thought about drawing a picture since then.�

Riggleman backs Bedard

Manager Jim Riggleman said working with Erik Bedard and his 100-pitch limit per start isn�t a problem.

�We�re not looking for more pitches. We�re just looking to see if we can get more innings out of those pitches,� Riggleman said. �That�s gong to come with time, I really believe that.

�Erik is not going to make excuses, but I don�t think he really, totally feels right with what has happened before with his hip and his back. It could be that he�s actually pitching a lot more than he should.

�I don�t think he�s totally right yet. I might be wrong, but I feel that he�s giving us everything he can give us. I don�t think he�s coming out of a game saying I don�t want to pitch anymore. I think he�s giving us everything he can give us, knowing his body and knowing what�s going on with his hip and his back.�

Short hops

The Seattle bullpen is doing more than it�s share of work. In the win Friday, relievers pitched four innings � the 27th time in Seattle�s first 86 games they�ve gone four innings or more. � Raul Iba�ez has 10 home runs, a modest total, but with 24 doubles he�s on pace for a career-high 46.