Results Not Typical
The Red Sox and Curt Schilling agreed to a one-year contract for $8 million. He can earn $2 million more if he meets a weight clause and $3 million additional for performance-based incentives.
If this is his last year as a professional baseball player, he would retire as a Red Sox. He could have his number retired should he make it to Cooperstown. The Black and Gray Ink have him making it by a smidge. Although he never won a Cy Young, he has been the World Series Co-MVP and is a preeminent postseason pitcher. I think he makes it in eventually.
I’m certain Schilling is already in initial discussions with various weight-loss companies for endorsement deals. Other titles I considered for this piece:
- Pounds, Schillings, and Sense
- Heavy Consequences
- Weighty Decision
Comments
LOL. Great deal though.
edmund dantes ∙ 7 November 2007 ∙ 10:02 AM
The Gray Ink/Black Ink stats are interesting. There's only a handful of pitchers ranked above him who aren't in the HoF - Jim McCormick, Bill Hutchison, Tommy Bond (all from the 1800s) and Bert Blyleven, who ranks high in the Gray but suffers a dearth of Black. I say Curt is a lock, but we'll see.
One of Schilling's most impressive stats listed on the Baseball-Reference page is his K-to-BB ratio. He was the league-leader in this category for five years from 2001-2006, leading all of MLB in three of those years. He ranks #2 on the all-time list, just behind Tommy Bond, and with a good year in 2008, helped by his transition to finesse pitching, he could retire as the all-time leader in this category.
Strangely, though, that might not help his HoF bid. Of the top 20 eligible pitchers on the K-to-BB list, only five are in the Hall.
jpo ∙ 8 November 2007 ∙ 8:05 AM
I think K/BB is too often overlooked in considering a pitcher's greatness as well as effectiveness.
Back in February The Hardball Times compared Schilling with John Smoltz. The author concluded that Smoltz would be his preference over Schilling. I wonder how much the 2007 postseason impacts the comparison for this particular author?
Joanna ∙ 8 November 2007 ∙ 11:21 AM