Here's a nugget from Schilling's speakerphone session with the media yesterday:
"In my mind, in October if you're going to have to win a game and your life depends on it, I want to be the guy that you would say, 'Absolutely. We want this guy on the mound. We believe that we have the best chance to win no matter who's pitching against him' "
Oversized ego? You bet. And it's a good thing. This is what you want from the lawyer who is defending your freedom. This is what you want from the doctor who's performing your brain surgery. And it's what you want when you send a man out to pitch a game that could be the final game of your season.
Schilling's postseason résumé is sensational. He is the Mr. October of Moundsmen, owning a 9-2 record with a 2.23 ERA in 17 postseason starts. He pitched a World Series shutout 14 years ago with the Phillies and was co-MVP of the Fall Classic with the Diamondbacks in 2001. Some of you might remember that he also did OK in 2004 - winning Game 6 of the ALCS in Yankee Stadium with blood oozing from fresh sutures in his junky right ankle.
He's even better when his team is on the eve of destruction. In four elimination game starts, Schilling is 3-0 with a 1.11 ERA. Like Bill Russell, Larry Bird, and Tom Brady, Schilling is a guy who wants the ball in his hands when everything is on the line. He is John Wayne. True grit. His mere presence makes most Red Sox fans feel like they've already won tonight's game.
"It's probably unfair," Sox manager Terry Francona admitted yesterday. "I mean, even dating back to the sock, and remember the soap opera watching him throw in the bullpen and having doctors and trainers out there, and he really shouldn't have pitched. And I can't remember one moment ever thinking he wouldn't pitch, and not only that, but that he wouldn't win. And it probably wasn't fair."
A lot of good pitchers can't get it done this time of year (Roger Clemens won only one of nine postseason starts for the Sox). It can be nerves or inexperience. The Indians this year have endured three stinkers from C.C. Sabathia and one from tonight's starter, Fausto Carmona. The Sox have seen Daisuke Matsuzaka spit the bit a couple of times.
