38 Pitches
March 27th, 2007 by Tank
Curt Schilling is an unusual ballplayer - insightful, articulate, and with a sense of the history of the game. It burns me that he plays for Boston. He really should be a Yankee. Now he has a blog, 38 Pitches, that looks worth checking out.
March 28th, 2007 at 7:53 am
It’s certainly possible he’ll be a Yankee next year, despite (a) his insistence that he’ll never play for the Yankees, and (b) the Yankees move to get younger (unless the acquired-in-question is an real Yankee, like Andy). Regarding (a), recall that Damon said the same thing at the end of his stay in Boston… and then signed with the Yankees when they put the best deal on the table. Regarding (b), if Schilling can still pitch well and is only looking for a short deal - and the Sox don’t give him what he wants at the end of the year - none of us could be shocked if the Yankees pursue him.
Regarding the blog, it is actually interesting. Schilling likes to run his mouth, no doubt… but as you note, as least he usually has intelligent and interesting things to say.
March 28th, 2007 at 8:26 am
Long time listener, first time caller … well, that’s not really true - Brad has been bugging me to come check this site out for a while so I finally did yesterday.
My younger brother (one of the world’s most obnoxious yankee fans - which is know is redundant) claims Schilling to be the anti-christ. Schilling is easily his most hated athlete in all of sports (well, along with Bonds, but I guess that’s just common sense). I am more than a little surprised to hear a yankee fan show some admiration for Schilling. I dunno - I actually find him quite interesting. He seems willing to connect with the fans and offer some real insight into the behind the scenes action that takes place in a baseball clubhouse. And at least “has a take” whether or not you agree what he says.
I contrast him to Tiger Woods - who will give a 5 minute interview and give you nothing but meaningless cliches and basically say nothing of any substance (all the while throwing his cute little nicknames for other golfers -Jimmy, Weirsy, Brooksy, Goosey, Elsy, etc. - why can’t he simply call somebody by their real name?)
Anyway, Schilling wins points in my book for calling A-Rod out on that wussy bush-league play of him trying to chop the ball of out the first baseman’s hands in the playoffs a couple of years ago. Robert Fick did the same thing for the Braves in the playoffs a couple of years earlier and Bobby Cox sat him down the next game, publicly denouncing him for not playing the way the Braves want to play baseball.
March 28th, 2007 at 9:33 am
Hey Striker! How’s it going?
I can understand fellow Yankees fans disliking Schilling given the way he punished us in the 2001 WS, but even then, you had to give him credit for his wit. Recall that a reporter asked if he was intimidated by the Yankees aura, or the mystique of Yankee Stadium, and Schilling coolly replied that “aura” and “mystique” sounded like names for exotic dancers. And he is personally a big fan of Lou Gehrig. That covers a multitude of sins.
March 28th, 2007 at 9:56 am
And if/when Schilling puts on the pinstripes for one last big contract, Yankee fans will all of a sudden love him and hail him as the greatest thing since sliced bread (see Damon, Johnny - before and after December 2005). I’m not suggesting this phenomenon is limited to Yankee fans, bwiw - it’s an epidemic that’s found across the sports landscape. But at least Tank’s getting out in front of it, which puts him in the vast minority.