Magnificent Schilling gave them a strong foothold

October 20, 2004|Bob Ryan, Globe Columnist

NEW YORK -- Whaddya think? Let him close tonight? He threw only 99 pitches and he was still pumping high-octane gas at the end. Curt Schilling might be good for a batter or two in a pinch tonight.

Tonight. How's that sound? Tonight. There's going to be some baseball played in Yankee Stadium tonight.

Here's one thing we know: Tonight won't be just any night.

Thanks to Schilling, the Red Sox already have made themselves a little history. With their 4-2 victory over the Yankees last night, they have done what 25 previous teams placed in an 0-3 series coffin never had done. They have won three straight. A game whose very concept was a total abstract last Saturday night is now going to be played. The Yankees and Red Sox have won three games apiece in the American League Championship Series. For the second year in a row, the AL champion will be decided at Yankee Stadium, and for the winner there will be no morning star, only a long night of celebration.

Late last week, who among us actually believed we'd see Schilling on the mound a second time in this series? The interview given by team medical director Dr. William Morgan last Wednesday sounded dire indeed. Schilling had a "subluxation," or a tear, in one of the tendons in his right ankle. If it were you or me, Morgan said, we'd be having surgery tomorrow.

I know I walked out of there thinking, "Come on, who's kidding whom? This guy is finished for this year."

But there he was last night, standing on the same Yankee Stadium mound that had been the site of such enormous disappointment a week ago Tuesday. When we weren't looking, he must have sneaked in a side trip to Lourdes. Curt Schilling, who had talked so much all season about his desire to pitch the biggest games of the season, was being given a chance at redemption.

Schilling didn't just talk the talk or even walk the walk. He sprinted the Marathon. He gave the Red Sox seven innings of four-hit baseball, handing over a 4-1 lead to Bronson Arroyo, the set-up man for Keith Foulke on this occasion.

"I don't think it's been overdone, the whole ankle thing," said Gabe Kapler. "It's incredibly courageous what he did and he should be commended. We are so proud of him tonight. We needed him. We could not have won this game if he had not done what he did tonight."

So what happened? Schilling said he turned to a higher power. Alluding to the fact that he had become a Christian seven years ago, he said, "I tried to be as tough as I could, and I did it my way and you saw what happened. I prayed and prayed, not to win, but for the strength to be able to compete."