Up at Fenway to check out the Blue Jays-Bosox, I dropped into the Toronto clubhouse to say hi to Carlos Delgado and noticed something really odd. Most of the guys lounging around the couch were locked into Tommy Boy, except one player who was examining this month's Playboy. (I think I could learn another language faster than he got through the first 40 pages of that thing.) Anyhow, in the back of the room, one guy was sitting right next to a little TV, eyeing a tape of the Sox-Mariners game from earlier this month.

This guy had a waning platinum dye job on what remained of his thinning hair. From across the room, he looked very much like the guy who sits next to me at the office, only the Blue Jay had the remnants of a goatee. I thought it was pretty cool how this guy studied every mannerism of the Red Sox hitters. He was looking for clues and weaknesses and just about anything else he might find. His focus wasn't as intense as the guy reading Playboy, but it was close.

One of the reporters on the Jays beat told me the guy's name is Chris Michalak. "He's a great story," the reporter explained. "Thirty years old. Been with eight or nine teams. Career minor leaguer. Only got a shot because Sirotka got hurt. The guy's pitched out of his mind so far. Even watched Rudy before his first career start and then won! [It was at Yankee Stadium and Michalak actually graduated from Notre Dame.] But he's going [Saturday], and it might get pretty ugly, with him being a lefty and the Monster being so close."

Saturday came, and it did get real ugly. For the Sox. Michalak threw strikes and moved the ball all over the zone, eight innings of scoreless ball. He also flashed a pickoff move that might rival Andy Pettitte's. Toronto won 5-0 and Michalak improved to 5-3 and lowered his ERA below 3.00. It was the first time Boston had been shut out all season.

Afterward, Boston writers, intrigued by the story, asked if he watched Rudy again before this start. "Nah," said Michalak. "Reservoir Dogs."