JETHAWKS TIME FOR THE JETHAWKS TO GET IN PLAYOFF MODE.

Byline: Gideon Rubin Staff Writer

RANCHO CUCAMONGA - California League schedule makers have been ridiculed throughout the season. The schedule that was assembled for the 2000 season has been described as one of the most bizarre ever.

It is an especially sensitive subject for the road-weary JetHawks, who have had to commute at least an hour for 13 of the past 15 days.

But the much maligned schedule makers can at least get credit for making the final days of the regular season interesting.

While there is nothing at stake for the JetHawks, who have already clinched first and second half South Division titles, their last three games could be possible playoff previews.

The JetHawks open a two-game series tonight at Lake Elsinore and then play their regular-season finale at San Bernardino on Sunday.

The JetHawks play the winner of a three-game divisional playoff series between San Bernardino and Lake Elsinore when they open the South Division championship series on Sept. 8 at Lancaster Municipal Stadium.

And although they want to set the tone for the playoffs by finishing the regular season strong, the JetHawks are not viewing it as a chance to send a message.

``We can look at it that way, like we're going to try to send a message, but I think that message has already kind of been sent,'' JetHawks outfielder Harvey Hargrove said.

The JetHawks have already clinched the best record in the league and have become the only team in California League history to do so after posting the worst record the previous season.

JetHawks manager Mark Parent acknowledged that the way his team finishes the regular season is a chance to establish momentum going into postseason, but he downplayed the significance of playing meaningless games against possible playoff opponents.

``Setting the tone is determined by how we play, no matter who we play,'' JetHawks manager Mark Parent said.

--Sledge shut down: After meeting with Angels medical director Dr. Lewis Yockum on Monday, Terrmel Sledge got the news he didn't want. Yokum recommended that Sledge continue his rehabbing and sit out the rest of the season.

Sledge, the former Kennedy High of Granada Hills star, who also played at Cal State Northridge and Long Beach State, leads the California League with a .339 batting average. He has already accrued enough at-bats to qualify for the batting title.

``We've managed to go through the whole season with numerous injuries, and we'll just continue to go through this one,'' Parent said. ``(Sledge) had a great year for us, and he did tremendous things for himself and his future, but what we do is we deal with the people we have out there and we go for it.''

--Concerns about Peanut: Also on the injury front, first baseman Peanut Williams, who had surgery to remove bone chips from his right elbow in May, and has already missed more than six weeks of the season, has been feeling twinges of pain in the same area the last few days and was out of the lineup for the first two games of a three-game series at Rancho Cucamonga.

He had an MRI on his elbow Tuesday, the results of which were inconclusive because of mechanical problems with the medical instrumentation. He will have another MRI done next week.

--Soon to be a dad: With his wife Jo Dee due to give birth to their first child on Friday, JetHawks catcher Travis McClendon isn't thinking about blocking balls in the dirt or framing pitches just off the outside corner.

``I'm very excited,'' Travis McClendon said. ``I'm going to be a dad. That concept hasn't even hit me yet.

``I'm glad we're in the playoffs and I'm glad we're having fun and winning, but my mind and my heart are elsewhere,'' he said.

The past few months have been difficult times for the McClendons.

Travis McClendon spent July at Double-A New Haven and Triple-A Tacoma, while his wife was alone in their Antelope Valley apartment.

He returned to the JetHawks on Aug. 1, but since then Jo Dee McClendon has been living with her parents in Las Vegas. Travis McClendon hasn't seen his wife in three weeks, and has only seen her twice in the last two months.

``It brings perspective,'' he said of what he has gained from this experience. ``Baseball's not that important, especially in Single-A.

``I haven't hit the way I've wanted to do (this year), but it doesn't matter. You go out and you play hard and if you do well you do well and if you don't, you don't. I'm more concerned about my baby's health and my wife's health.''