If there's one thing I know about Curt Schilling, it's the fact that he's consistent. No, I'm not talking about the fact that he's won at least 15 games 8 times in his career. Or the fact that he's walked 50 or fewer batters in 19 of his 21 seasons. What I'm talking about is the fact that since he's been a member of the Red Sox, he's rolled into spring training with more than a few extra Schillings...and we're not talking about British pounds here!
In my opinion it looks like he's been spending the off-season eating dozens of chocolate covered baseballs and washing them down with pitchers of beer. The good thing for him is that he doesn't even have to waddle down to the bullpen, he's got the pitcher's mound right under his shirt.
I can understand that a veteran of 20 plus years might come into spring training with a few extra bags, but this year I thought he might drop them off. Granted he settled for 8 million (there's nothing like settling for 8 mil when you're 41 and dare I say in the "twilight of his career") but that doesn't mean he had to drown his financial woes... with platters of sloppy joes.
The kicker is that Theo and crew put a little weight clause in his contract this year. His restrictions are as follows. The Big Swill will have to refrain from milkshakes, friendly fribbles and frappes. He will also have to stop indulging in those McCain misteak Fries. Proposition 38- McCain vs McCain Steak fries. If you have too much, you get sick of one and sick from the other.
Anyway, with the aforementioned clauses in place, the Sox keepers wanted Curt to show up in shape. I guess Curt couldn't stay away from the spring training table and had his own definition of shape. A jelly belly and a Santa Clause in his contract. Whatever the case, the clock is ticking and Curt's not done picking.
With all this said, I love it all. I like Curt Schilling. He deserves to come into camp in any shape or form he wants. He could have gotten 14 million elsewhere, but he took the home town team discount. You gotta love that. Plus the guy's going to give you his 10 wins, and more importantly, will find a way to win in the post season.
It's spring training and it's fun to poke a little fun once in a while. Big Curt just made it easy for me this year. I just got an HDTV and somehow his gut was in high definition and his body was in low definition at the same time.
But the one thing I'm worried about this year is that he has the Schilling shoulder injury. I'm not going to say that his many off-season utensil repetitions are the reasons for the injury. But I will say that if they are, I know one thing. Curt Schilling will still be able to throw that "Forkball" over the plate!
Keywords: Baseball, Curt Schilling, Red Sox, Spring training
