Schilling wants surgery
Keep in mind that there's no way Dr. Craig Morgan could have given this remarkable interview to the Globe's Gordon Edes without Schilling's permission. I'm speculating, but it looks to me like Schilling still believes he needs shoulder surgery, and that he backed down only to protect his contract. Now he's hoping to make the Red Sox' position look unreasonable.
"I trusted him with my career then, and always will," says Schilling of Morgan.
Sadly, I think we all know what should happen. Schilling should retire. He was pretty amazing in the postseason, but a repeat performance is looking like an increasingly remote possibility.
Update: The Herald's Rob Bradford had a Morgan interview yesterday, which means he talked with Morgan sometime Thursday. (I don't have a print edition of yesterday's Herald handy, but the story made it to LexisNexis, which usually means it was in print and not just on the Web.) Dirt Dog in chief Steve Silva noted on Boston.com yesterday that Morgan also appeared on WEEI's "Dennis & Callahan" yesterday morning. And Edes' own interview with Morgan was posted online shortly after noon yesterday.
So Bradford gets the gold. And Schilling is pretty obviously playing hardball to persuade the Red Sox to let him go under the knife.
Labels: Red Sox
posted by Dan Kennedy @ 8:55 AM
9 comments
9 Comments:
Edes did a nice job of putting this together in a dispassionate way. For a guy who has spent as much time as he has around the Sox players and has occasionally struggled with keeping his opinions out of his reporting, that couldn't have been easy.
The Herald talked to Morgan a day earlier. Edes is merely playing catch-up after getting scooped.
Dump Schilling, or pay him a prorated salary based on his time on the active list. He isn't worth the money for a half season pitcher, at best.
Nomination papers for US Senate aren't due until early May. Senator Schilling (R-MA) has a nice ring to it. Given Kerry's abysmal poll numbers and Schilling's timely injury, I'll sum it up with Ned Martin's signature, "Mercy!"
Although he is white, Schilling might still be able to capitalize on the recent phenomenon of black political firsts, both here and nationally. We haven't had a Republican U.S. Senator since Ed Brooke (R-MA), the first African American popularly elected to the Senate. Think of Schilling campaigning in Roxbury and Mattapan with Brooke (88 but healthy), Ralph Martin and dozens of famous black athletes.
Another thing, Schilling has been a HUGE McCain guy and could legitimately make the claim that "As your Senator, I will bring the needs of Massachusetts to my good friend in the Oval Office."
For those who think Schilling for Senate doesn't have appeal, I was at a corner store in Quincy this afternoon and the old-timer behind the counter, known to be a huge Sox fan, was talking to a bearded customer about Schilling's injury and his future. I interjected, "He's going to run for Senate against Kerry." The old-timer said, "He'll win." The slightly younger bearded guy said, "I'm a liberal, but I fought in Vietnam and I have never liked Kerry..I would vote for Schilling in a heartbeat."
Not a scientific poll or anything, but I guarantee as reliable as Suffolk University's latest, anyway.
I can hear Kerry now, "I won't be duck-boated by the likes of doughy Curt Schilling or Manny Ortez..."
Morgan was also on WEEI talking about this on Thursday, since it was on the Thursday night news on Channel 7.
Schilling might be thinking that he either has one more year in him or maybe he can do some relief stints, like some of the older pitchers do to draw out their careers a bit longer. Obviously, he won't make the same amount of money. But, if he wants to play, and is willing to take a pay cut for less innings work, he could do it at 42.
I doubt Schilling will run for Senate but you never know.
Curt hasn't been in good shape for several seasons now and I find it hard to imagine that he could parlay a mended shoulder and a heavy body into a fit-to-pitch ballplayer.
The sale signs on his home and his radio campaign for a final contract have been a torn in the RS posterior and you have to wonder why the shoulder problem wasn't attended to in October?
Maybe he only wanted to play the final two months (8 starts?) of '08 which is not what the RS likely had in mind.
Anon, 9:04: To the contrary, I give you David Wells.
And from what several reports, including the Globe's, have held, Schilling passed the physical given when he signed this one-year deal, and the current problems have occurred since then. Also, the Sox wanted Schilling to pitch just a half-season, but he refused. So good guesses, but all wrong.
Christ Dan, if you really are to be taken seriously as a media blogger can't you be bothered to report who gets the scoop in the first place. The Herald had the whole shooting works first and yet you maintain this elitism about the globe. why don't you just advertise yourself as a globe flak and be done with it.
Always nice to hear from One Herald Square. I don't think you'll find any shortage of links to Herald stories here, including exclusives such as the casino lobbying story from yesterday.
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