Curt Schilling Should be a Hall of Famer
Dominant pitching ace and living hemorrhoid Curt Schilling retired Monday after 20 decorated seasons playing Major League Baseball.
Schilling, 42, who was awarded the 2001 World Series co-MVP with former Arizona Diamondbacks teammate Randy Johnson and is only the second person in history to have twice won or shared Sports Illustrated magazine’s “Sportsmen of the Year” honor, said he departed the game with “zero regrets.”
“The things I was able to experience, the people I was able to call friends, teammates, mentors, coaches and opponents, the travel, all of it, are far more than anything I ever thought possible in my lifetime,” said Schilling, who went 216-146 with a 3.46 ERA while playing for 5 professional organizations.
The six-time All-Star and the owner of the highest strikeout to walk ratio of all-time, will live in lore as one of the greatest October performers in the annals of baseball. In 19 career postseason starts, the overbearing Republican went 11-2 and flaunted an impressive 2.33 ERA.
The passionate Pittsburgh Steelers fan and resident of Medfield, Mass, will be particularly recalled for his heroic pitching performance for the Boston Red Sox versus the New York Yankees in Game 6 of the 2004 American League Championship Series.
Throwing with a dislocated ankle tendon and wearing a sock that was soaked with blood from the sutures used in this medical procedure, Schilling valiantly pitched seven strong innings, surrendering only one run, while helping the Red Sox even the ALCS with the Bombers.
Schilling's rugged will and amazing competitiveness helped propel the Sox over the Yankees and on to capturing their first championship since 1918. Three years later, Schilling yet again thrived in autumn play and the Sox continued to drain their sacks on the Curse of the Bambino as they won their second Fall Classic in 4 years in 2007.
The opinionated loudmouth, a man Commissioner Rawls from The Wire would undoubtedly refer to as a "gaping asshole," is certainly not a lock to gain entry into the Hall of Fame. But, despite his relatively modest regular season statistics, he should receive a first-class ticket to Cooperstown.
Schilling was simply one of the most overpowering arms in the sport of baseball and, despite his unyielding trap, obnoxious blogging and insatiable lust for fame and attention, it is not a coincidence that he was an intricate aspect of three championship winning squads (the 2001 Diamondbacks and the 2004 & 2007 Red Sox).
"To say I've been blessed would be like calling Refrigerator Perry a ‘bit overweight,’" said one of seven players born in the state of Alaska to play Major League Baseball.
Schilling, a superstitious born-again Christian who was selected the 1993 NLCS MVP, is unquestionably a polarizing figure and his abrasive personality may hider his chances to get nominated to Cooperstown.
Not solely supporters of the Sox and Snakes, but fans of the sport of baseball should feel “blessed” for having had the opportunity to watch Schilling achieve.
He was a tremendous hurler and he deserves a place in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
The Hall's motto is "Preserving History, Honoring Excellence, Connecting Generations.”More often than not, and especially when the air got crisp and the games mattered, Schilling consistently provided “excellence” on the mound.
A-Rod Spoke Like a Man
Exposed New York Yankees cripple Alex Rodriguez honorably stated in an interview aired on the Yes Network with Michael Kay Tuesday that he prefers for the remaining 103 players who tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in the 2003 MLB survey to remain anonymous despite the fact that his own positive results were revealed to the public last month.
"Well, this is really about my mistake," said Rodriguez, 33, a three-time AL MVP that acknowledged he was a cheating weasel after being outed by a Sports Illustrated reporter last month. "You know, many nights I fell asleep thinking about who I can blame, and this guy, or that guy. And when I woke up I kept coming back to the same person- it's me. I mean there's no one to blame. I hope those 103 names never come out."
Although obviously a calculated public relations strategy orchestrated by A-Fraud's suits, the 12-time All-Star selection with 533 career home runs deserves credit because he spoke like a man that wants to be held solely responsible for the corrupt decisions he has made in his past.
A-Rod’s upstanding and uncharacteristic words were uttered during the same week that controversy continued to follow baseball’s laughingstock.
Last Monday, photos were released in Details magazine of Madonna’s bitch narcissistically/homoerotically tonguing himself in front of a mirror.
If that wasn’t enough fodder for A-Rod detractors, a few days later the Miami native was explicitly linked to banging a former Manhattan madam who supplied whores to Eliot Spitzer.
Rodriguez has been a comedic excuse for a man since he arrived in the Bronx in 2004 and it is not coincidental that the Bombers have in turn continued to digress with the ten-time Silver Slugger Award winner in their lineup.
It is not difficult to predict that the Yankees will never win their 27th title with A-Hole on their roster.
Nevertheless, it is also conceivable that the Bombers, a squad laden with talent, may one day capture their first crown since 2000 in spite of Rodriguez’s cancerous presence in the clubhouse.
In another shocking and unexpected development, the image-obsessed ballplayer claimed to Kay he is cognizant of his rampant unpopularity and he realizes there is little he can do to gain the publics affection.
"Well, I've given up on that; it's just the way it is. I mean, look, I feel right now, that not too many people like me, so I've given up on that,” said lucky number 13 in a rare instance of candor. “As long as my teammates like me, and they respect me, and my two daughters love their daddy, I am going to go out and do the very best I can. Look, I really screwed up and for that I'm sorry."
Rodriguez is not the type of individual who I want to support and it’s safe to presume that anybody that articulates the words “love their daddy” will never morph into one I want to cheer for in the future.
Still, we know A-Rod didn’t kidnap and kill Charles Lindbergh’s baby and it is a fair bet that he had zero to do with JonBenet Ramsey’s slaying.
Experiences, good or bad, significantly alter individual’s personalities and demeanors and one can only hope that Rodriguez emerges from his numerous tribulations a better man for having gone through them.
If he does, Alex Rodriguez should be provided with a clean slate and he will be an easier man to support in both life and on the diamond.
Frank Mir Will be "a Lamb to the Slaughter Here"
The UFC Heavyweight Champion unification title fight between Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar has been postponed due to a knee injury that Mir sustained training for the bout last week.
The rematch between Mir (12-3) and Lesnar (3-1) was originally scheduled to occur on May 23 at UFC 98. However, in lieu of Mir’s bummed wheel, the donnybrook will now transpire as the main event of UFC 100 on July 11th in Las Vegas.
In their initial bout, and Lesnar’s debut with the promotion at UFC 81: Breaking Point, the 2000 NCAA heavyweight champion at the University of Minnesota demolished Mir, 29, until the mixed-martial-arts veteran managed to secure a kneebar that forced Lesnar, 31, to submit at 1:30 of the first round.
Since losing his inaugural foray in the UFC, Lesnar, who was invited to play in NFL Europa as a defensive end for the Minnesota Vikings, has become a dominant force in the octagon.
“The Next Big Thing” silenced the majority of his naysayers when he savagely pounded UFC legend Randy Couture in November to become the UFC Heavyweight Champion after only his fourth professional fight in the cage.
Despite the native of South Dakota’s freakish physical abilities, Mir refuses to believe that Lesnar is a worthy adversary and he boldly predicts that he will “expose just how raw” the former three-time WWE champion actually is.
Lesnar, a machine that can bench-press 500 pounds and squat 700 pounds and run the 40-yard dash in 4.75 seconds, snickered when he was informed of Mir’s remarks.
“You know what I like about this sport?” Lesnar asked rhetorically. “We can talk all we want, but then the fight comes, and this shit is for real.”
Vince McMahon’s WWE is absolutely fake and Dana White’s UFC is undoubtedly legitimate.
Mir capitalized on Lesnar’s inexperience last February and he was the fights clean victor. However, Lesnar has proven to be a quick learner and Mir is in for, what the former Golden Gopher labeled, “a rude awakening.”
Mir should enjoy the next few months because, come July, as Marcia Donnelly once said on The Wire, he will be “a lamb to the slaughter here.”
Keywords: Arizona Diamondbacks, Boston Red Sox, Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir, New York Yankees, UFC
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