Whether you love him or hate him, you have to respect what this guy has done for the Red Sox over the past four years. He brought leadership and maturity to the clubhouse, did whatever was asked of him from a pitching perspective, and gave everything he had when he was on the mound. His post-season efforts in 2004 were superhuman.
Schilling announced today on WEEI that he is having season-ending shoulder surgery, and said it’s possible his career is over. More details at Extra Bases:
“There’s a chance a lot of things could happen here. My season’s over. There’s a pretty decent chance that I’ve thrown my last pitch forever, so I don’t care. It doesn’t matter. I’m going in to make it not hurt anymore, which is pretty much all I care about.”
Schilling was in favor of surgery when the injury was first discovered based on Dr. Morgan’s advice, in hopes that Schilling would have been ready in September. Morgan is the guy who held Schill’s ankle together in ’04, so I would defer all medical decisions to him as well. But the Red Sox saw it differently and recommended rest and rehab, hoping to get him back in August. They lost the gamble.
I expect the Red Sox to take a public beating on this. Listening to both Schilling and Morgan during interviews immediately following the diagnosis, there was simply no way he was coming back without surgery. We can only hope the same type of bad advice isn’t going out to Papi and Manny, or any other injured players.
Good luck Curt, and thanks for everything!
