Athletes - Curt Schilling

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	Athletes - Curt Schilling

Curtis Montague Schilling (born November 14, 1966 in Anchorage, Alaska) is a right-handed starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, acquired in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks following the 2003 season.

Schilling has won League Championship titles with three dark-horse teams; in 1993 with the Philadelphia Phillies (who overcame a last-place finish in the National League East in '92), in 2001 with the Diamondbacks (who became the youngest expansion team to win a title) and in 2004 with the Red Sox (who made baseball history to overcome the fabled Curse of the Bambino to win their first title since 1918). He also went on to win World Series titles with two of them: the 2001 Diamondbacks and the 2004 Red Sox.

Early MLB Career (1988-2000)

Schilling began his professional career as a prospect in the Boston farm system, but was traded to the Baltimore Orioles in 1988 for Mike Boddicker. His major league debut was with the Orioles (1988-1990), he spent one year with the Houston Astros (1991), and then spent more than eight seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies (1992-2000).

Schilling was one of the key factors in the Phillies' pennant run in 1993. In that year, Schilling went 16-7 with a 4.02 ERA and 186 strikeouts. Schilling then led the Phillies to an upset against the two-time defending National League champion Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series. Although he didn't get any decisions during his two appearances in the six game series, Schilling's 1.69 ERA and 19 strikeouts were still enough to earn him the 1993 NLCS Most Valuable Player Award. The Phillies went on to battle the defending World Champion Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series. Schilling was the losing pitcher in Game 1 but he redeemed himself greatly in Game 5. With the Phillies facing elimination the day after losing a bizarre 15-14 contest at home in Veterans Stadium, Schilling pitched a complete game that the Phillies won 2-0. Unfortunately, Schilling would soon watch helplessly from the dugout as the Phillies lost another heartbreaker to the Blue Jays. In Game 6, Mitch Williams, who was the losing pitcher in the infamous fourth game, gave up a three run home run to Joe Carter to clinch the Blue Jays' second straight World Championship. Apparently, Schilling was so uncomfortable when Williams was on the mound, that he was frequently caught on camera burying his face in a white towel, an act which upset his teammates.

The Phillies slipped into mediocrity in the years after that, despite Schilling being the ace of the staff. He recovered from arm miseries to strike out more than 300 batters in 1997, and 1998. He soon began voicing his displeasure with Phillies management, claiming they were not doing enough to build a winning team. He eventually requested a trade.

Diamondback Career (2000-2003)

He was traded mid-season to the Diamondbacks in 2000. With Arizona, he went 22-6 with a 2.98 ERA in 2001 and went 4-0 with a 1.12 ERA in the playoffs. In the 2001 World Series the Diamondbacks beat the New York Yankees in 7 games. Schilling shared the 2001 World Series MVP Award with teammate Randy Johnson. He and Johnson also shared Sports Illustrated magazine's 2001 "Sportsmen of the Year" award. In 2002, he went 23-7 with a 3.23 ERA. Both years he finished second in the Cy Young Award voting to teammate Randy Johnson.

Red Sox Career (2003-)

In November 2003, the Diamondbacks traded Schilling to the Boston Red Sox. On September 16, 2004, Schilling won his twentieth game of the season for the Boston Red Sox, becoming the fifth Boston pitcher to win 20 or more games in his first season with the team, and the first since Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley in 1978. Schilling would go on to another win, ending his regular season with a 21-6 record.

On October 19, Schilling won Game 6 of the 2004 American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees. Notably, he won this game playing on an injured ankle - the same injuries that contributed to his disastrous outing in Game 1 of the ALCS. These injuries were so acute that by the end of his performance that day his white sock was soaked with blood. The sock was placed in the Baseball Hall of Fame after Boston's victory over St. Louis in the World Series.

The win forced a Game 7, making the Red Sox the first team in post-season Major League Baseball history to come back from a three-games-to-none deficit. The Red Sox would go on to win Game 7 and the ALCS and make their first World Series appearance since 1986. He pitched (and won) Game 2 of the 2004 World Series for the Red Sox against the St. Louis Cardinals. In both series, he had to have the tendon in his right ankle stabilized repeatedly, in what has become known as the Schilling Tendon Procedure, after the tendon sheath was torn during his Game 3 ALDS appearance. A 4-game sweep of the World Series gave Boston its first World Series championship since 1918.

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Athletes - Curt Schilling

Early MLB Career (1988-2000)

Diamondback Career (2000-2003)

Red Sox Career (2003-)

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