“He talks too much, campaigns for cretins and clouds the streets of Medfield with his musk. But on many a fine summer night he rose up on his hind legs and walked with the kings. Cheers, sir.”- Mi Lo

A Friend of mine recently posted this on my Facebook page about Curt Schilling.  I called him the Hall Monitor because of his goody two shoes persona and penchant for revealing subjects to the press that would make his teammates and management cringe.  Some called him “The Blogger”.  Others just referred to him as arrogant or a blowhard.  Regardless of what we thought of him as a person(as if we really knew him), he was the best prime time pitcher in baseball.  The numbers are there to prove it. In 19 postseason starts with the Phillies, Diamondbacks, and Red Sox, Schilling went 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA. His teams played in 12 play-off series, winning 10.  The 2004 Post season and World Series win.  The legendary bloody sock that inspired his team.  The 2007 World Series performance.  He thrived on the post-season pressure because he loved scrutiny.  He ate up the spot light on the mound.  Yes, he has a huge ego that spews out of his mouth and blogs.  But you need to have a gigantic ego to handle the pressure of poet-season play like he did.

He was also Mr. Clean in an era dominated by chemically enhanced athletes like Clemens, Bonds, A-Rod, McGuire, etc.  People got on his case for trying to be the perfect father.  As opposed to the whore chasing super-stars we love to tear down.  He was accused for being a nerd for pursuing his passion for “Everquest” by the same geeks who can quote every stat about the 1961 World Series.(I don’t know who played and I’m not going to look it up…crap..hold on…it was the Yankees and Reds)  The guy was opinionated and in a position to communicate those opinions to the masses.

Whatever it was you hated about him, you can’t deny he was a winner.  Doing it without  roids(Clemens), phoning it in(Manny), or gambling on his team(Rose).   Ty Cobb was a great ball player, but he was a racist prick.   Despite my love of baseball I can never respect him.  So Maybe I’m a hypocrite.  Schilling had 3116 K’s in 23 Seasons.  He’s not a Cy Young winner.  3 Time World Champion.  Should he be in the hall of fame?  Let’s get Louis Tiante in first, then we’ll talk about it.