11.08.07

Player Profiles: Curt Schilling

Posted in Baseball at 12:30 pm by Valentine

Is it possible to be both a renowned egotist and the ultimate team player? Is it possible to merit the Hall of Fame with only scattered “black” ink (league-leading statistics) and no major individual awards? Curt Schilling is a pitcher whose greatness has always been defined in the context of his team.

Early History

The scion of an army family, Curt was born in Anchorage Alaska but grew up in Arizona where he graduated from Shadow Mountain High School and attended Yavapai Community College. The Red Sox selected this big pitcher in the second round of the 1986 amateur draft, just months before another flame-throwing young right-hander led the Red Sox into the World Series – then down in defeat.

Roger Clemens’ career can be seen in microcosm in that season. One chilly April evening in Fenway, the Rocket struck out an incredible 20 Seattle Mariners. He won his first of seven Cy Young Awards in a sweep of the voting, became the last starting pitcher to win an MVP, and came within seven strikeouts of the triple crown. Yet in Game 6 of the World Series he struggled through seven innings on 134 pitches, then watched from the bench as the Red Sox stumbled through a historic collapse. Though nobody could argue that Clemens failed to do his job, the job did not get done. Elmira is a long way from Shea Stadium, however one can imagine the emotion of that World Series leaving an impression on the young Schilling.

Curt progressed steadily through the Red Sox farm system over the next three years:

1986 (19) Elmira (SS-A) 2.59 ERA, 93 IP, 30 BB, 75 K
1987 (20) Greensboro (low-A) 3.82 ERA, 184 IP, 65 BB, 189 K
1988 (21) New Britain (AA) 2.97 ERA, 106 IP, 40 BB, 62 K

Note that despite the higher ERA in 1987, his strikeout rate jumped. The following year, however, it regressed to a much lower level. Looking just at the K/9 over his first six professional seasons:

1986 7.3
1987 9.2
1988 5.3
1989 5.4
1990 7.8
1991 8.4

Conventional wisdom would attribute this decline to the tougher competition encountered at the higher level. Hitters in the Eastern League are closer to the majors than they are to the Sally League prospects with only a year of minor-league experience under their belts. Nonetheless, Schilling’s ERA remained steady as he rose through the minors; he was not overwhelmed by the level. Given what we now know as the “year-after effect” I have to wonder if the jump in innings pitched between his first two professional seasons might have taken a toll on his arm? His strikeout rate did not fully recover until the 1990 season, perhaps contributing to his initial struggles in the majors.

Sometimes You’re a Player, Sometimes a Chip…

In 1988, Schilling was seen as a legitimate prospect but by no means a “can’t miss star”. And once again the Red Sox were in a pennant race. Sitting on a .570 winning percentage, the Carmine Hose were stuck in third place with (as usual) insufficient pitching to advance their push. When the Orioles made Mike Boddicker available, I imagine it took Lou Gorman all of thirty seconds to agree to trade the disappointing Brady Anderson (.230/.315/.304) along with an unexceptional AA starter for the curveball artist. The veteran Boddicker proceeded to go 7-3 with a 2.63 over 15 appearances with Boston, thrusting the team into first place by September 4th, a lead that they would never relinquish. Boddicker subsequently contributed to a second Red Sox division title in 1990, and the sandwich pick acquired when he left for Kansas City was used to select Scott Hatteberg. Gorman surely has no regrets over that trade.

Now in the Orioles organization, Curt Schilling was nearing the majors. He got a cup of coffee with Baltimore in both 1988 and 1989 totaling 22 innings in relief, but pitched poorly in both tries. When his third opportunity came in July of 1990, his fastball had regained enough life to bring him a modicum of success. Working again out of the bullpen, Schilling finished the season with three saves, five holds, six blown saves, and a 1-2 W-L.

The Orioles likely valued Schilling, still only 23, but they were desperate for offense. Thus they bit the bullet and traded Curt, along with the speedy Steve Finley and the young (if wild) Pete Harnisch, for the Houston’s perennial MVP candidate Glenn Davis. Davis cost the Orioles a small fortune in young talent, plus $11.4 million in salary, yet only managed to take the field for 185 games over the next three years, hitting a dreadful .247/24/85 – a trade-and-extend sequence that will go down as one of the greatest embarrassments in major league history.

As for Schilling? Despite a good strikeout rate, his work out of the Astros bullpen in 1991 was uninspiring. He walked 39 batters in 75.7 innings, poor control that screams “AAA pitcher” rather than “future All-Star”. With that in mind, Houston cut bait on the big righty and shipped him to Philadelphia for Jason Grimsley. Grimsley was neither younger, nor better, nor possessed of a greater upside than Schilling. His career line at the time consisted of a 5-12 record with 103 walks against 90 strikeouts in 136.2 innings, wildness that in comparison made the young Schilling look like a master of location. In fact, Grimsley never pitched in the Astrodome before his release from the organization, the continuation of an odyssey through professional baseball that lasted until a Federal steroids probe of MLB abruptly ended his career in 2006. Might Houston have had other concerns in mind with this deal? There are rumors to the effect that Curt had off-field issues, minor peccadilloes that might be tolerated in a more promising prospect but not in one whose career was going nowhere. Spurred by the implied criticism of his future, Schilling went into spring training with a chip on his shoulder determined to prove the trade “a steal” for the Phillies.

Shouldering the Load Alone

Whether due to coaching, maturity, or the determination to prove himself, Schilling immediately blossomed with the Phillies. He finally mastered the command of his 95-mph fastball, and by mid-May of 1992 he had compiled 28.1 IP with a 2.86 ERA and as many strikeouts (29) as hits (18) plus walks (11) combined. The Phillies moved him into the rotation where he proceeded to throw four shutouts in his first fourteen starts, firmly establishing his credentials as a front-line starting pitcher. Between 1992 and 1993, Schilling took the mound for 60 starts, 17 complete games, and 462 innings. He led the charge into the playoffs in 1993, throwing an additional 31 innings including a complete game shutout in Game 5 of the World Series. Unfortunately, that was not enough as Mitch Williams blew Games 4 and 6, taking the loss in each and serving up the defining moment of Joe Carter’s career. As with Clemens seven years earlier, Schilling’s 1-1 record and 3.52 ERA in the series was good – but not good enough.

Schilling began to break down under the heavy workload. He developed bone spurs in his elbow the following season, requiring surgery to clean them out in May. Returning briefly in August, he had time for only four starts before the strike ended the season for good. Again his season was shortened in 1995, this time by a career-threatening torn labrum in August. In these early years with the Phillies Curt compiled a 39-31 record with a 3.42 ERA and 1.14 WHIP, but these averages gloss over the peaks and valleys he experienced in those years. His 1992 line ranked him among the league leaders in many categories, while his 1994 line yielded but a 2-8 record and below-average ERA.

Following the 1995 surgery (which would eventually be repeated in 1999), Schilling fought his way back to the mound. When he finally returned to the majors, he was reportedly throwing even harder than before the surgery. This observation is supported in his strikeout rate, which suddenly improved from 6.9 K/9 to 9.4 K/9 over the rest of his tenure with the Phillies. Curt’s success won him a contract extension in the spring of 1997, covering the 1998 to 2001 seasons, and he continued to rack up innings and victories.

Seeking Purpose

From 1996 to 1999, Schilling achieved some of his greatest individual successes. In each of these four years he was among the top ten in ERA, top ten in K/BB, and top three in complete games. A three-time All-Star, he compiled a 56-41 record with 38 complete games and a 3.22 ERA over these four years. Yet despite these accomplishments, he was tired “of walking up every morning with no real aim in my life”.

These feelings led Curt, during the 1997 season, to first identify himself as an evangelical Christian. He began to recognize the “lessons in everything, even losing” and the “need for humility” that perhaps evaded him earlier in his career. His conversion did not cause him to throw the ball any harder, or with any greater accuracy, but it helped him put his own accomplishments in a broader perspective. No longer afraid of failure, Curt came to embrace a very simple philosophy, “You work as hard as you can with what God gives you. You fail only if you quit.”

After winning the NL Pennant in 1993, the Phillies failed to finish above .500 in any of the next seven seasons Schilling became increasingly unhappy with the direction the organization was taking, and was openly critical of their lack of commitment to winning. These exchanges ultimately led GM Ed Wade to publicly observe, “Every fifth day, Curt has the opportunity to go out and be a horse on the mound. Unfortunately, on the other four days, he tends to say things which are detrimental to the club and clearly self-serving.” Schilling himself remembers it a little more colorfully, quoting Wade as calling him, “a horse every fifth day and a horse’s ass the other four.”

After repeated trade demands from Schilling, Wade finally pulled the trigger on a deal with the first-place Diamondbacks at the 2000 trade deadline that brought Omar Daal, Nelson Figueroa, Travis Lee, and the young Vicente Padilla to the Phillies. Though the first three never amounted to much, Padilla gave them four serviceable years in the rotation with a .500 record at the cost of only $7 million. Does that represent fair value for a “horse’s ass”? Ed Wade has recently been quoted as wishing he had held out for more, but he did fairly well in an untenable situation.

Playing Second Fiddle

Immediately upon arrival in Arizona, Curt’s walk rate improved from 2.6 BB/9 before the trade to 1.2 BB/9 afterwards (an improvement that is essentially intact even today). Schilling had long demonstrated excellent command for a power pitcher, but suddenly he was flashing control that would turn Jimmy Key green with envy! Always a student of the game, I imagine Schilling picked up something in conversation with Randy Johnson or a coach. That he was able to immediately implement it with such consistency is a testament to his mastery of the art.

Though his initial season with Arizona was disappointing, as the Diamondbacks faded down the stretch (he was 5-6 with a 3.69 ERA following the trade), they bounced back nicely in 2001. No longer alone as the “staff ace”, Schilling combined with Randy Johnson for a 43-12 record to overcome an otherwise mediocre roster and carry the Diamondbacks into the playoffs. This time through, Curt left nothing to chance (and very little to his bullpen). He threw two complete game victories in a hard-fought NLDS, including the decisive Game 5, then a third in the NLCS. His total for those three games came to an amazing 13 hits, 4 walks, and 2 earned runs in 27 innings! Schilling proceeded to start three games in the World Series, allowing only a 1.69 ERA over 21.1 innings to finally break the back of the Yankees dynasty.

Despite these heroics, which firmly established Schilling’s reputation as a “big game pitcher”, he was no better than number two in the rotation. Randy Johnson topped Schilling’s regular-season performance by half a run of ERA and an incredible 80 strikeouts (372 K in 250 IP) to easily win the Cy Young voting. And despite losing his only start in the NLDS, the Big Unit won all four of his starts in the NLCS and World Series. Most impressively, after Schilling allowed the go-ahead run in the eighth inning of Game 7, RJ took the mound the day after starting to finish the game and collect the win in a comeback victory!

The 2002 season followed much the same storyline though without the championship at the end. Curt was very good, leading the league with an incredible 9.6 K/BB ratio. Yet Johnson was clearly better, winning the Cy Young in a sweep of the voting this time. For the second consecutive season, Schilling was the second best pitcher in the league – yet only the second best pitcher on his team. Pundits have often imagined him fretting about being second best, yet he thrived in Arizona. Neither did he seem diminished when working behind first Martinez and later Beckett in Boston, rather he embraced his role on the team. Curt’s “ego” is more of an open honesty and a willingness to speak his mind than a need for individual recognition.

Making History

All good things must come to an end, and the 2003 season drew the curtain on the Diamondbacks’ run of success. Schilling missed six weeks after Burroughs hit a line drive off the back of his right hand and the team’s thoughts turned to building towards a future in which a 37-year-old workhorse would have no part.

Unfortunately for the Diamondbacks, the MLB salary scale was rapidly retrenching from its 2000-2001 excesses. Though his 2004 salary of $12 million did not even crack the top 25, this was an environment in which teams were looking to shed payroll rather than add more. Manny Ramirez was put on irrevocable waivers that winter and went unclaimed because nobody wanted any part of his $20M+ paycheck. Vladimir Guerrero, one of the most feared hitters of our generation, signed as a free agent with the Angels for a mere $70M/5yrs (plus team option). Schilling was overpriced in this environment, and the Diamondbacks settled for a package of four mediocre pitchers headed by Casey Fossum and the erratic Brandon Lyon. (Lyon made a modest contribution to the Diamondbacks playoff run this year, but none of the others ever amounted to anything.)

In Boston, Schilling settled in as the number two behind Hall-of-Fame candidate Pedro Martinez. This time around, however, he turned the tables. Pedro “struggled” to a 16-9 record and 3.90 ERA, the worst of his career, while Schilling won 21 games for the third time in four years. Schilling once again finished second in the Cy Young balloting, but this time led his team in everything but strikeouts. On the strength of his season, Schilling earned the prime position in the playoffs.

Unfortunately, Schilling suffered an ankle injury in his second to last start of the regular season. He “tweaked” it again in his final start against the Yankees (an odd term for an injury that requires a boot-cast), then further exacerbated it while fielding a ground ball in the seventh inning of the ALDS. Unwilling to take a seat, Schilling hoped that conventional treatment would allow him to pitch effectively. But the injury flared up even further in Game 1 of the ALCS, as the tendon began snapping loose from its channel on every pitch. After three mediocre innings, Curt was forced out of the game. The cloud over the team worsened over the next two games as Martinez lost a pitching duel to Lieber, then Arroyo was blown out of the water in Game 3. Hard-fought comeback victories in Games 4 and 5 proved the Red Sox would not go down without a fight, yet the sun rose on the morning of Game 6 with them still trailing in the series and no healthy pitcher available to start. The Red Sox playoff hopes rested on a duct-tape-and-bailing-wire medical procedure to permit Schilling to take the mound one more time.

This was not a “faked” injury, as certain jealous reporters from New York would have you believe. Schilling would ultimately require surgery on his ankle, followed by an extensive rehab program that would keep him on the sidelines for half a season and inhibit his effectiveness for the remainder of the year. Curt had every reason to declare himself “unable to perform” and give up on the season. Even should he pitch well, the Yankees would probably find a way to win the game, or win the next one. Why suffer the pain and risk his health? Because, as previously quoted, “You fail only if you quit.” And Curt fears failure most of all. The rest his history. He took the mound in the House that Ruth Built, pitching one… two… four… SEVEN dominant innings to top another fine performance by Lieber. The Yankees desperation that evening was most evident in the eighth inning, as Alex Rodriguez futilely slapped the ball out of Bronson Arroyo’s hand in a vain attempt to compensate for his failed at bat. I believe they may have played another game after that one, but the Red Sox victory was almost a foregone conclusion. Schilling’s indomitable spirit had beaten the Yankees best effort.

When he initially agreed to come to Boston, Schilling signed a contract extension covering the 2005-2006 season with a novel clause. If the Red Sox were to win the World Series, their $13 million option for 2007 would become guaranteed. Vesting options are not unusual, however this was the first time any player had chosen to align his personal interests with those of the team (the practice was subsequently prohibited by MLB). Is this clause evidence that Schilling envisions himself as a “white knight”, leading the charge? Or is it simply his troth to the fans that he will put their interests first? Schilling undeniably understands the importance to Boston of exorcising the Curse (a feat for which Dan Shaughnessy will never forgive him).

In the Twilight of his Career

After a dismal 2005 lost to rehab, Schilling bounced back nicely in 2006. Yet in 2007 he came to camp overweight, having neglected his off-season conditioning program while working to launch his gaming company. He is quoted as believing he could “pitch his way into shape”. While that seemed to be working at first, and he was initially throwing in the low-90s, his shoulder tired in early June. After his velocity dropped into the mid-eighties against the Braves it became obvious that he could not continue.

Shoulder exams showed no structural damage, so the Red Sox simply shut him down, then started working him through the equivalent of spring training — a six week workout-and-tuneup program. At the end of this rehab, Schilling was a very different pitcher:

2006: 3.97 ERA, 8.1 K/9
2007: 3.49 ERA, 7.0 K/9 (through June 7)
2007: 3.34 ERA, 4.8 K/9 (after his return)

Though his fastball had only recovered some of its life, sitting at 88 or 89 in most starts, he was able to locate it for excellent effect. He compensated for a low strikeout rate by walking only four batters in nine starts, and seven of the nine home runs he allowed were solo shots. Working on a six-day cycle following his return, Schilling once again proved that determination and skill can be just as effective as raw athleticism – at least in the short term. Though it was less dramatic than in 2004, his seven strong innings in Game 6 of the ALCS was yet another big game in which he delivered the goods.

Schilling, who will soon turn 41, has few remaining personal achievements to shoot for. He is not on the verge of any career milestones, having passed both 200 wins and 3000 strikeouts during the 2006 season, and an additional season tacked on to the end of his career may do more to distance the memory of his dominant years than to further increase his legend. He might have chosen to retire, focusing on family and his gaming company, or he might have chosen to pursue one final big deal, proving to everybody that he can still command the re$pect of people around baseball. Yet instead he will remain with the Red Sox on a dirt-cheap $8 million base salary to take one final shot at writing postseason history.

True to form, Schilling once again chose to put his money where his mouth is. In 2003 he promised to lead the Red Sox to the World Series, and backed that up in his contract. In his current contract he promises to show up to spring training in shape, writing $2 million of fitness incentives and $3 million of innings incentives into a deal that he could easily have convinced another team to guarantee without qualification. He isn’t perfect (or he never would have shown up out of shape in 2007), but he “gets it” and is absolutely committed to giving 2008 his best shot. Demonstrating both the confidence and chutzpah for which he is famous, Schilling will also receive a $1 million bonus if he receives a vote in the 2008 Cy Young balloting, something he has only achieved four times previously in his 20 year career.

The 2007 season saw what was likely the last pitch of Roger Clemens’ career. Seven Cy Young awards, eleven All-Star appearances, a career 3.12 ERA in an offensive era, 354 wins and 4672 strikeouts. Clemens is the greatest pitcher of our time, yet in the playoffs he is only 12-8 with a 3.75 ERA. Schilling can’t touch those individual accomplishments with a ten-foot pole, yet Curt boasts an 11-2 record with a 2.23 ERA in postseason play, with three World Series rings to his credit against Roger’s pair. It is impossible to predict what he will bring to the mound in his final campaign, but we can be certain he will show up for the big game.

–Thanks to Joe T. for sharing his insights and editorial assistance.

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