Schilling

Note from Cyn: There will never be a moment when I think of 2004 that Curt Schilling isn’t one of the first players to come to mind. What he did for himself and the team put him out of commission for the better part of 2005 (even when he was actually pitching) and I will always be thankful and grateful. In the 2007 post-season, I had every faith that he would do well by the team and the fans – and he did. He has 2World Championships with Boston that he should be very proud of because he was a huge part of them.

But I didn’t want him back in 2008. I wanted him to retire and go off into the sunset a winner.

Unfortunately, he re-signed with the Sox and things went downhill just before Spring Training began. I hold fast to the belief that the Sox made the right decision when they asked him to put off surgery and try alternate methods of treatment. Curt could have retired, but chose to tough it out for whatever reasons. Sadly, it didn’t work out. Today, he announced season-ending and, most likely, career-ending surgery. I’m sad that someone who loves the game, plays it so well and contributed so much to the success of the Red Sox could be finished. But I don’t have the same emotions many others have. So I’m going to let Tru have the floor, because, as usual, he says it better than most.)

Some Kind of Ending

It’s not at all what I envisioned. Not even close. When news this morning of Schilling’s season ending surgery broke, I thought it was a rumor. Then I saw it elsewhere, inclusive of his comments “There’s a pretty decent chance that I’ve thrown my last pitch, forever,” Schilling told WEEI-850 AM in Boston. “I’m going in to make it not hurt anymore, which is pretty much all I care about.”

So for 2008, there will be no Curt Schilling coming back, ramped up to help the club towards a third title run during his tenure in Boston.

It seemed to me that there would have been something pretty special about that. From the moment he made his Dunkin Donuts commercial, to the famous Ford hitch hiking TV spot, he came with a 400 megaton personality that not only exploded all over Fenway, but his shrapnel was seen everywhere in baseball.

We’d seen and heard it all from Curt.

Fregosi’s famous “Red Light Curt” comments, his ongoing war with Curly Headed Boyfriend (Giant Sphincter), to his commenting about shutting up 55,000 fans in Yankee Stadium. It was a never ending audio stream that was all Curt, all the time. He opined about everything and anything, often without needing a prompt. Ask and ye shall receive, even when you really didn’t ask at all. As his time wore on and he took some of his money and got involved with his own gaming software company, he also found time to pen a blog, where he took direct feedback from the fans. In the last national election, Curt rode with “W” out to Ohio, stumping for him, while trading the time to lobby for stem cell research, and each set off a firestorm of comments that raged for months. Love him or hate him, it seemed that anything Curt opened his mouth, the effects were long lasting.

And while the guy could fill a thousand dirigibles with enough hot air to float them all, he did one small thing along the way. He found the time to pitch his ass off for the Sox..

He pitched as advertised in 2004, making a serious run for the Cy. That he lost even caused consternation from some quarters, where his every word about Johan seemed an opportunity to level weaponry in his direction. But despite that, he gave the Red Sox what they needed, and if the post season heroics were any indication of where the man’s mind was at, nothing will ever persuade a person to realize what that symbolized. And frankly, I don’t care what the detractors say. It was the single most incredible sports story that I ever saw surrounding the Sox in World Series play.

We all know the story and what took place. That season is permanently etched into our collective memories that his willingness to roll dice on his career took a back seat to somehow getting enough to play; it didn’t seem possible. And did he ever play. When he shut up long enough to do what he came here for, he was pretty damned good at it. Oh, he was also kind of important last season too. I think the Sox won it all again, and he might have played a part in that.

There was this additional dimension to Schilling, which are his tireless efforts towards charity. Some of us have rubbed elbows with the guy from his first trip to Sox spring training, where he showed up for a small gathering of about 30 fans. For as long as the charity ran, he always came. He always spoke too, and was actually a rather good speaker, always letting the fans know how truly important they are; I always got the impression he was sincere about that. Those were good times, and equally as exciting that will be vaulted away, ranking among some of my fondest memories.

I’d held out this half baked notion that Curt would be back this season. It would be just enough, and just at the right time. The Sox in the stretch drive, Yankees somehow hanging in, nipping at the Sox heels, and Curt shows up, and cements the division with a few key outings. From there, the Sox would have a shot at another title, but this one following last season; a feat that none of us have ever seen the Red Sox achieve. Although that dream of back to back titles is still very possible, not having Schilling there will make it seem a tad less exciting for me.

So now the shoulder is going to be surgically repaired, as the constant pain is too much. In the days to follow, I would hazard a guess that some wags will speculate the Sox management was/is inept. If other initial decisions and diagnosis were heeded, Schilling might have been able to recuperate with enough time to get back and pitch for the Sox this post season. We’ll never know. It’s also unclear if this is the end of his pitching career. Only time will tell.

It’s not the way I wanted it to end, if it is all at an end, and I suspect Curt and the Sox all feel the same way.