Schilling's ankle troubling

Specialist confirms tendinitis diagnosis; pitcher still set for ALCS

October 10, 2004|Globe Staff

At first glance, all was bliss yesterday at Fenway Park. The day after the Red Sox clinched a berth in their second straight American League Championship Series, principal owner John W. Henry happily prepared to play catch on his famous lawn in the Fens. Manager Terry Francona, as calm as he possibly could be as one of the most scrutinized decision-makers in America, stopped by to feed the media beast before he spent a relaxing afternoon with his father. And while the grounds crew carefully manicured the sun-splashed turf, camera-toting tour groups trained their lenses everywhere from the Monster scoreboard to the tobacco-stained Sox dugout.

Yet there was an uneasy feeling on Yawkey Way. Three days before Curt Schilling was expected to start Game 1 of the Championship Series against the Yankees in the Bronx, Sox officials acknowledged various levels of concern about his injured right ankle.

Team medical director Bill Morgan said Schilling is battling inflammation of his peroneal tendons. The two tendons run behind the outside bone of the ankle and are considered vital to balancing the ankle and the back of the foot.

"We've got some concerns about his ankle," Morgan said. "The guy is such a workhorse, he's had a fair amount of discomfort. We're just going to try to find ways to get him through the next three weeks."

Morgan referred Schilling to Dr. George H. Theodore, an orthopedic surgeon who is the chief of the foot and ankle service at Massachusetts General Hospital and a specialist in sports-related injuries. Theodore substantiated the findings of the Sox medical staff, which diagnosed Schilling's injury as tendinitis, and helped recommend a course of treatment.

Francona said he expects Schilling to use the anesthetic Marcaine to alleviate the soreness, as he did to ease the discomfort from a deep bone bruise in his right ankle joint earlier in the season. Morgan, who prescribed cortisone treatment for the previous condition, said he did not plan to further treat Schilling with cortisone.

Schilling has downplayed the injury and has all but guaranteed he will make every scheduled start the rest of the way. And though team officials expressed no doubt Schilling would take his regular turns, they were left to wonder exactly how much discomfort he planned to pitch through. Henry said he was "mildly" concerned.

"I talked with him the other day and he's not concerned," Henry said, "but he's such a warrior that you can't know."

Since Schilling aggravated the injury while leading the Sox past the Angels, 9-3, in Game 1 of the Division Series Tuesday in Anaheim, Henry said "it probably has helped" that Schilling will have two additional days to rest before he opens the Championship Series. Schilling would have started Game 5 against the Angels today.