FORT MYERS, Fla. - The baseball had to be there every day he pitched, tucked into the right cleat in front of Curt Schilling's locker. From the moment he stomped into the clubhouse - "dressed in all black," David Ortiz said, "like he was Tony Montana" - Schilling demanded each detail be perfect. He left his house in Medfield at a precise moment. He threw his first warmup exactly 20 minutes before game time. He left a ticket in his late father's name every time he started.
Schilling puts it in writing
Pitcher announces retirement on blog
Schilling glowered at teammates, writers, coaches, anyone who dared look at him on days he pitched. Sometimes Schilling spoke to Terry Francona before he started. That's when the manager would think, "He's not ready to pitch." It didn't happen often.
People in baseball have a phrase to describe competitive pitchers. "He'll take the ball," they say. Schilling, who announced his retirement yesterday, will be remembered for a lot of things by a lot of people: his bombast and his blogging, his churlishness and his charity. Some teammates revered him; others abhorred him. But they all can agree on one thing. Schilling took the ball.
Schilling, who made the announcement on his 38Pitches.com blog, spent 20 years in the majors, the final five with the Red Sox, including last year when he didn't throw a pitch. He arrived in Boston in 2004, boasting that he had come to break an 86-year-old curse. He leaves behind 53 victories, the Schilling Tendon Procedure, a bloody sock, and, in the form of two World Series trophies, a promise delivered.
"I don't think we're standing where we're at, having won two world championships, without Curt," catcher Jason Varitek said. "What he brought in his preparation as a winning commodity, as a winning pitcher, somebody that strived for this organization to do well, to work towards doing what this organization hadn't done in 86 years. I know that he was such a huge part in helping turn this organization around."
Schilling retires as a member of the Red Sox, which would not have been the case had he decided to pitch a 21st season. He and general manager Theo Epstein had scant communication, Epstein said, and none of it regarded the possibility of Schilling pitching for the Sox again.
Schilling had mentioned the Cubs and Rays as potential employers this season. Instead, he will have his entertainment company (38 Studios) and his work as a writer and commentator for WEEI.
"This party has officially ended," Schilling wrote on his blog. "After being blessed to experience 23 years of playing professional baseball in front of the world's best fans in so many different places, it is with zero regrets that I am making my retirement official."
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