Schilling and a microphone. It just goes together like Al Davis and a lawsuit, like Ted Washington and a plate of food.
Today is the first official workout for Red Sox pitchers and catchers (doesn't it feel like it should be the All-Star break by now?) and Schilling has already spilled a couple of million words on the thirsty Boston baseball media.
He talked Wednesday after his first workout at City of Palms Park. Yesterday, the Sox put him in front of nine cameras and dozens of scribes (including at least five New Yorkers) for a press conference after a workout at the Sox' minor league complex.
He touched on a wide range of topics. He said he's working on a new pitch, but would not discuss specifics. He said he'd rather not pitch against division rivals during spring training. He told stories about listening to Ted Williams instruct young Sox hitters when he was a Boston prospect in Winter Haven in 1987. He told us Bill James sent him a letter when he was negotiating with the Sox -- an attempt to persuade Schilling that Fenway is not a graveyard for pitchers. He plans to pitch seven innings per start, which projects to 245 innings. He said former and present teammate Byung Hyun Kim can be a 20-game winner. He said he watched the 1986 World Series at Hooters, and acknowledged he turned off his TV when the Sox took a 5-2 lead into the eighth at Yankee Stadium last Oct. 16.
"I was pretty sure," he said. "I turned it off right before the rally because Pedro [Martinez] was on the hill and that's pretty much a lock . . . I watched the entire postseason except for 10 minutes and it was the 10 minutes that the Red Sox season ended. I was stunned when I woke up the next morning and read the paper. I felt bad for [Tim Wakefield]."
He knows he's here to help the Sox finish the job this time and says he embraces the pressure.
