Monday, March 23, 2009

Curt Makes It Official


You've had a hell of a career Curt.

~tips cap~


In honor of you making it official, I will repost my previous homage to your great career.

From June 20, 2008:

Curt Schilling announced earlier today that he will undergo season (and likely career) ending surgery on his injured right shoulder. He has been attempting to rehab the shoulder since the early spring when it was determined he suffered a partially torn labrum. While the rehab efforts have strengthened the shoulder substantially, the underlying injury is still there and Curt has been unable to throw off a mound without a substantial level of pain. So likely, Curt's career is over and what a tremendous career it has been. Curt has made a name for himself over the past 15 years as the preeminent big game pitcher of his generation. He led two separate teams to World Series victories and has 3 World Series rings in 4 total appearances. During the regular season he has been no less impressive, winning well over 200 games while playing for the Phillies, Diamondbacks, and Red Sox. He has always been a winner and a dominating right-handed power pitcher. He is also well known for his charitable contributions and strong Christian family values. He put as much effort towards those aspects of his life as he did towards pitching. In support of his Hall of Fame candidacy, I will breakdown his impressive resume even further:
Regular Season: Schilling won an impressive 216 games in the regular season while losing just 146 (WL% .597). His career ERA was almost a full run lower than the league average (3.46 vs. 4.41) and he struck out 3116 in just 3261 IP(8.60 K/9). More impressively he walked just 711 batters in his career. Unlike most power pitchers, he demonstrated outstanding control on top of great velocity. His 4.38 K/BB ratio over the course of his career shows how dominating he was on the mound. You had to swing the bat to get on base with him. He struck out more than 300 batters 3 times in his career and finished 2nd in the Cy Young vote 3 times as well yet they weren't the same 3 seasons as the 300 K years. He posted the best season by a non-Cy Young winner since the invention of the award yet managed to lose to teammate Randy Johnson who posted a truly historic season in 2002. His season score for that season was over 100 points higher than that of the average Cy Young season. He was a 6 time All-Star and he finished in the top 10 for MVP voting twice in his career. He also had 3 2o-win seasons as well.
Postseason: He posted an outstanding 10-2 record in 19 career postseason starts with a 2.23 ERA in 133.1 IP. He struck out 120 batters while walking just 25. As stated earlier, he won the World Series 3 times with 2 different teams and started a World Series game for 3 separate teams starting all the way back in 1993 with the Philadelphia Phillies. He carried seemingly cursed Red Sox team to its first championship in 86 years while pitching on one leg. He opted to have his ligaments sutured to bone of his foot rather than opt for season-ending surgery. The resulting "Bloody Sock" game is already legendary and it simply demonstrates what a team player Curt was. He risked his career to help lead the Red Sox to victory in 2004.
2005-2007: He was never really the same after that 2004 season. In 2005, he struggled as result of his prior injuries and posted a career worst 5.69 ERA in just 11 starts. However he bounced back and found ways to win despite a drop in velocity. No longer a power pitcher he still won with shocking regularity in the final two seasons of his career. He posted a 24-15 record in 55 starts those two seasons along with an impressive 3.93 ERA.
Some of his numbers (especially his career win total) don't necessarily scream Hall of Fame but he should easily make it in. He dominated his opponents in big games and always rose to the occasion. He was a winner over the course of his career and in his peak seasons, he was one of the best in the game.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

He's a Hall of Famer in my book. The question is: Does he go in as a Phillie, or as a Red Sock? As good as he was with some bad Phils teams, his tenure in Boston probably means more to the city. He may hedge his bets and be enshrined for both teams.

NE Phillies Phan said...

My guess is a blank hat personally. The precedent is there and he doesn't have enough time with any of his 3 predominant teams to really pick one. The majority of his career was in Philly but his best years were in Arizona and he made his mark with his 2 WS rings in Boston.

Either way, I think he'll get in but it'll take a while.