Schill Schocked...
While David Bowie’s Panic in Detroit could serve as an anthem for Curt Schilling’s last outing as closer for the Red Sox perhaps it’s Boston’s own J. Geils Band that hits this particular nail on the head. The outing- in which Schilling surrendered three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, blowing a 6-4 lead against one of the worst teams in baseball- looked a lot more like a Detroit Breakdown, or a Motor City Shakedown, even though it certainly caused its fair share of panic in these parts.
Schilling has been “successful” as a closer, but only due to the fact that he has only given up enough runs not to lose. While that’s the general idea, and the results say he has saved games, the reality is most of these saves have come with a home run here, or a few doubles there. The sad thing is, Curt Schilling’s ERA as a closer is now about the same as Keith Foulke’s, and we’re talking injured Foulke, here.
Count me as one of the supporters of the Curt-as-Closer Experiment. I was thrilled with the idea, feeling that, with Schilling at the back end of the ‘pen, we had a guy who would be ready to shut down the opposition with the effectiveness of ace starter. And, while rumblings from the media and the Sox clubhouse suggested that this may not have been the best choice, who could be better suited to such a dramatic role than ol’ bloody sock?
Now, however, I get the same queasy feeling in my stomach that I got every time Keith Foulke too the hill in 2005. I found myself watching through splayed fingers, wincing with every pitch. I’m doing that a lot now, too. I just had a feeling as I watched Schilling take the mound Monday night that this game was over. Instead of the intense competitor we know and love from 2004, this year’s Curt Schilling looks more like the beer guzzling uncle who just woke up from an afternoon nap on the hammock to discover that it was now midnight, and the rest of the family had already left the cookout.
So is it overuse? Is his ankle still bothering him? Is he, as he says “learning on the job”?
Maybe he misunderstood the title and thinks his job is to let teams get closer to winning? I mean, the words certainly do look the same, no?
What I do know is that Keith Foulke is still a few weeks away, the only legitimate strikeout threat we had in the pen (Manny Delcarmen) was optioned back to Pawtucket, and it looks like Closer Curt is here to stay.
News and Notes:
Hot to Trot
Trot Nixon is healing well ahead of schedule, and has been seen working out vigorously with the team, taking batting practice, and is preparing to face live pitching (in the guise of Keith Foulke) this week. Nixon feels he could come back now, but the Sox want to “take it slow”. And, with Gabe Kapler and Adam Stern proving to be reliable and effective defensive substitutions, the front office has the luxury of assuring a fully healthy Nixon upon his return.
Big Papi/Little Papi
David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez now lead all of baseball in RBI, with over two hundred between them. Ortiz also hit his 30th and 31st home runs of the season on Tuesday night, tying the game in the top of the ninth, and hitting a three run bomb in the top of the tenth. Papi, who had been slumping since the All-Star break, has been 11 for 19 over the last four games, with four home runs, and 14 RBI.
While David Bowie’s Panic in Detroit could serve as an anthem for Curt Schilling’s last outing as closer for the Red Sox perhaps it’s Boston’s own J. Geils Band that hits this particular nail on the head. The outing- in which Schilling surrendered three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, blowing a 6-4 lead against one of the worst teams in baseball- looked a lot more like a Detroit Breakdown, or a Motor City Shakedown, even though it certainly caused its fair share of panic in these parts.
