Curt Schilling

From SoSH

"This is about winning the World Series. That’s all I care about."

Curtis Montague Schilling is a former pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. Known for his outspoken nature, his unmatched guts, his advocacy for Lou Gehrig's disease and his seething hatred of the New York Yankees, he is a virtual lock for the Hall of Fame. He has the highest strikeout-to-walk ratio among active pitchers and second-highest all-time at 4.38:1, and has 3,116 strikeouts with a career 3.46 ERA. He has won World Series games with three different clubs, and has three World Series rings: one with the Diamondbacks and two with the Red Sox, with the blood of the Yankees on his cleats from the first two (and his own blood in his sock during the second one).

Schilling came to Boston promising a World Series ring. He has brought the Red Sox two of them.

Schilling is a member of the Sons of Sam Horn, with the nickname "Gehrig38". He is often referred to by other users as "G38".

Contents 1 Overall Career 2 Schilling's Moments in the Sun 2.1 The Bloody Sock 2.2 The No-Hitter Attempt 3 Trivia 4 Awards 5 Transactions 6 External Links

Overall Career

Curt Schilling was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the second round of the 1986 amateur draft, after leading Yavapai (AZ) College to the Junior College World Series. At the trading deadline in 1988, Schilling was dealt to the Baltimore Orioles for Mike Boddicker, and made his debut with the Orioles later that season. After three seasons in Baltimore, where he alternated between the rotation and the bullpen, he was dealt to the Houston Astros, and pitched out of the bullpen for one season.

He was then dealt to the Philadelphia Phillies, where his career began to take off. He was moved back in to the rotation in Philadelphia and thrived immediately, going 14-11 with a 2.35 ERA and 10 complete games in 1992. 1993 was even better, as Schilling led the Phillies to the NL East Division title with a 16-7 record. In the playoffs, Schilling was named NLCS MVP after the Phillies defeated the defending NL Champion Atlanta Braves. In the World Series, Schilling was 1-1 with a 3.52 ERA, but the Phillies fell in six games to Toronto.

After that 1993 season, the Phillies began to flounder, and Schilling was constantly rumored to be on the trade block, but it wasn't until 2000 when he was finally dealt to the Arizona Diamondbacks. In 2001, he joined forces with Randy Johnson to form one of the most outstanding 1-2 pitching combinations in recent memory and led the Diamondbacks to their second appearance in the post-season. After his 22-6 regular season, Schilling backed that up by going 5-0 in the playoffs, which helped the Diamondbacks win the World Series over the Yankees, and Schilling and Johnson were named co-MVPs in that World Series victory.

Schilling came right back in 2002 by going 23-7 for Arizona, but the Diamondbacks were eliminated in the NL Division Series by the St. Louis Cardinals. In 2003, Schilling was 8-9 and Arizona missed the playoffs.

During the 2003 off-season, Schilling was the subject of more trade talk, with both the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox going after him. During the Thanksgiving holiday, Schilling came on the Sons of Sam Horn board and chatted with some of the regular members, and their passion for the Red Sox and what Schilling could do for the team convinced Curt that Boston was the right place for him, and on November 28, 2003, it was announced Curt was joining the Sox.

Curt and Pedro Martinez joined together to bring back memories of the Schilling-Johnson duo in Arizona in that 2004 season, as Curt was 21-6 with a 3.26 ERA for the Red Sox, who won the AL Wild Card. In the playoffs, despite suffering an ankle injury, (more on that in a moment), Curt went 3-1 and helped the Sox to the World Series Championship over the St. Louis Cardinals.

The 2005 season wasn't the same for Curt, though. He started out the season on the DL because of the ankle injury suffered in the 2004 playoffs, and after he came back, his velocity was down and he wasn't able to push off on the ankle like he had been in previous seasons. With closer Keith Foulke also struggling through injuries, Curt was moved to the closers role for a time, as well, and picked up 9 saves.

2006 was much better for Curt. He has shown that 2005 was an aberration, and not the norm, as he compiled a 15-7 record in 31 starts, His velocity was back up and his devastating split-finger fastball was still getting batters out. Also in 2006 Curt joined the 3,000 strike out club.

2007 was marred by injury again as Curt missed all of July with arm fatigue. During rehab starts in the Bucket, he purportedly retooled his wind-up, learning to pitch differently than he ever had before in his career. The results in the regular season were mixed: although he finished the season with a 3.87 ERA (he was at 3.80 when he went on the DL), he had a 3-4 record after his return to Boston.

He hasn't fared too badly in the 2007 postseason, however. He pitched seven scoreless innings in Game 3 of the ALDS against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, enabling the Red Sox to finish a 3-0 series sweep.

In the ALCS, he boldly started game threads on the Sons of Sam Horn before each of his starts. In Game 2, it didn't prove to be a smart move after he gave up two home runs, including a three-run shot in the 4th to Jhonny (sic) Peralta, and got pulled after 4.2 IP for a ND in an eventual 13-6 extra-innings loss to the Cleveland Indians, the first of three straight to put the Tribe up 3-1. In Game 6, however, he redeemed himself, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits with no walks in 7 IP for the win, allowing the Sox hitting to do the rest in a 12-2 rout on the way to a seven-game ALCS victory and Schilling's fourth trip to the World Series.

His start in the World Series, Game 2, was equally dominant. Schilling gave up just one run on 4 hits and 2 walks in 5 1/3 IP against the Colorado Rockies. His win helped guarantee his original World Series promise for a second time.

Schilling's Moments in the Sun

The Bloody Sock

Curt has had many Moments in the Sun, but his biggest as a member of the Boston Red Sox is, without a doubt, the 2004 playoffs. Schilling was cruising to a victory over the Anaheim Angels in game one of the AL Division Series when he injured his ankle fielding a ground ball late in the game. The Red Sox went on to win the game and the series in a three-game sweep, and it was believed the extra days off and an injection of a pain-reliever, Marcaine, would allow Schilling to pitch game one of the AL Championship Series against the New York Yankees. After a bullpen session, Schilling proclaimed himself ready to go and said, "There's nothing better than making 50,000 people from New York shut up," but Schilling couldn't deliver on that promise as the injured tendon in his ankle began snapping over the bone, which caused a popping sound and didn't let Schilling deliver the necessary push-off to let him be effective. The Yankees chased Schilling from the game after just three innings, after Schilling gave up six runs.

The Sox lost not only game one, but then games two and three as well, but after winning games four and five, Schilling and his ankle were back on the mound at Yankee Stadium in a must-win situation. After a variety of splints, braces and special shoes had failed to keep the troublesome tendon in place, Schilling had undergone a procedure devised by the Red Sox team phyisician, Dr. William Morgan, where skin around the tendon was sutured down to the deep tissue, which created an way for the tendon to stabilize. Schilling pitched a masterful seven innings in game six, giving up only one run and four hits in Boston's 4-2 victory. During the game, some of the sutures ruptured, causing the ankle to bleed, leaving Schilling with the famous "bloody sock" as pictured. Following the game, Schilling threw away the sock..

Schilling returned to the mound in game two of the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, where he pitched six innings, giving up only one unearned run and four hits. He left the mound to thunderous applause from the Fenway Park crowd. As during game six of the ALCS, Schilling's sutured ankle had bled while he pitched, staining his sock. Only this time, Schilling saved the sock, which was later sent to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Following the Red Sox victory in the World Series, Schilling proclaimed it the "Greatest Red Sox Team Ever."

The No-Hitter Attempt

Another big Red Sox moment for Curt occured on June 7, 2007, when he took a no-hitter into the 9th inning against the Oakland Athletics at McAfee Coliseum. With 2 outs, Shannon Stewart got the A's first and only hit. Only one other batter reached base, on a error in the 5th inning. The 1-0 win stopped a season-long 4 game losing streak.

Trivia

• Curt is a member of Sons of Sam Horn, posting under the name Gehrig38.
• Curt has donated a great deal of time, money, and energy to assist in the search for a cure for ALS, and named his son Gehrig, as well.
• Curt is the owner of a standardbred race horse named Thunder Storm N, who is trained by the son of Curt's pitching coach from the Phillies, Johnny Podres.
• Curt is one of eight major leaguers to hail from Alaska and the second in Red Sox history (Randy Kutcher).
• Curt's dad was in the military and Curt has taken a major interest in history, especially World War II.
• Curt is an outspoken conservative and a member of the Republican Party. The Massachusetts Republican Party tried to convince Schilling to run against John Kerry for his Senate seat in 2008; Curt declined, stating that he is not ready to retire from baseball yet. He currently supports John McCain for the 2008 Presidential Election.
• Curt was chosen to give President George W. Bush a Red Sox jersey--with the number 43, for being the 43rd President--during the team's official visit to the White House after their 2004 World Series victory.
• Curt, a staunch critic of the use of steroids in sports, was one of the players chosen to testify before Congress about steroids in baseball in 2005. After a fellow testifier, Rafael Palmeiro, tested positive for steroids after denying in Congress that he ever took them, Curt went on the record advocating that Palmeiro's records be erased. He added in 2007 that the records of Jose Canseco, an admitted and unrepentant steroids user, should also be erased. He has gotten into trouble for calling out Barry Bonds, who is accused of using steroids but has not yet been proven to have done them.
• After signing with the Red Sox, Curt was spotted at a Boston Bruins game during 2004 wearing a "Yankee Hater" hat--a hat with the "NY" logo, but with the "N" morphed into an "H" with horns on it.
• Curt holds the major league record for consecutive regular season starts without yielding an unearned run. He broke the existing record of 53 on August 10, 2006.
• Once sported a Hitler/Gary Sheffield mustache.
• Has appeared on Celebrity Poker Showdown (January 25, 2005) and Celebrity Jeopardy (November 9, 2006).
• When he debuted in 1988, he was the fourth-youngest active player in the National League. At the beginning of the 2007 season, his 20th, he was the seventh-oldest active player in the American League.
• Curt, being a resident of the Pittsburgh area, claims to be a fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Considering how terrible the Pirates are, this should not pose a problem in the future.
• In addition to being the active leader in K/BB ratio, he is also 4th among all active pitchers in career WHIP (BB + H / IP) with 1.138, career strikeouts with 3,108, and complete games with 83.
• Curt is a hardcore board and computer gamer. His interest in World War II-era simulation boardgaming led him to form the board game publisher Multi-Man Publishing, and his interest in EverQuest and other on-line roleplaying games led him to form the computer game publisher 38 Studios.]
• Curt's EverQuest characters included a monk named Voxter Scythehands, and a dwarven cleric named Cylc. Curt's former Phillies teammate Doug Glanville claims that Cylc abandoned Glanville's character Bingbong to be killed, and that Glanville's two homeruns off Schilling on May 11, 2001 were retaliation for this.

Awards

• 1993 National League Championship Series MVP
• 1995 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
• 2001 National League Babe Ruth Award
• 2001 Branch Rickey Award
• 2001 Hutch Award
• 2001 Roberto Clemente Award
• 2001 World Series MVP (Tie w/ Randy Johnson)
• 2-Time National League TSN Pitcher of the Year (2001 & 2002)
• 5-Time National League All-Star (1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002)
• 2004 American League All-Star

Transactions

• January 14, 1986: Drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 2nd round of the 1986 amateur draft. Player signed May 30, 1986.
• July 29, 1988: Traded by the Boston Red Sox with Brady Anderson to the Baltimore Orioles for Mike Boddicker.
• January 10, 1991: Traded by the Baltimore Orioles with Steve Finley and Pete Harnisch to the Houston Astros for Glenn Davis.
• April 2, 1992: Traded by the Houston Astros to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jason Grimsley.
• July 26, 2000: Traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Omar Daal, Nelson Figueroa, Travis Lee, and Vicente Padilla.
• November 28, 2003: Traded by the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Boston Red Sox for Casey Fossum, Brandon Lyon, Jorge de la Rosa, and Michael Goss (minors).

External Links

• TheBaseballCube.com - Career Statistics and Analysis
• Baseball-Reference.com - Career Statistics and Analysis
• K-ALS Curt's Pitch to Fight ALS
• 38 Pitches - Official Blog