Bloody sock. Making 55,000 people from New York shut up. Winning two World Series in Boston (three overall).
Just a few ways to describe the career of ex-Red Sox ace Curt Schilling’s tenure pitching for Boston’s beloved baseball team. The 52-year-old who won over 200 games in his career has been out of baseball since he was relieved of his duties on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball broadcast for sharing controversial posts on social media.
However, rumor has it that the Hall of Fame-caliber pitcher is interested in making a return to the dugout –– and the Red Sox recently vacated pitching coach position is near the top of his list of intended working situations.
Friends close to Curt Schilling say he would love to get back into the game, and has significant interest in interviewing for the the #Phillies managerial opening and/or the #RedSox pitching coach job.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) October 11, 2019
If you could describe a potential Curt Schilling to Boston hiring in one word, that word would likely be controversial –– and for good reason. The man born in Anchorage has made his fair share of noise since he retired after the 2007 World Series. Whether it be his video game company going belly-up, which cost Rhode Island residents a lot of money, or his consistent political tirades on Twitter, the ex-Red Sox ace hasn’t had a peaceful retirement.
But would hiring Curt Schilling be beneficial to the Red Sox?
For starters, one might question how committed he is to the new-school idea of an analytically-driven style of coaching. The type of coaching that would focus more on spin rate and swing path more than just a particular pitcher’s success in a certain matchup.
But if one thing is for sure, it’s that the baseball mind of Curt Schilling is like none other. You don’t just win 216 games with a 3.23 FIP over 20 seasons strictly on luck. His obsession with preparation is uncanny, as he used to keep a notebook in the dugout and keep notes on each at-bat during his starts. By hiring Schilling, Red Sox starters would never have to worry about going into a game ill-prepared for what’s to come in a particular matchup.
You might also remember Schilling doing a periscope on Twitter during the season, and during this Livestream, he made the claim that Chris Sale’s struggles were due to an injury, and he wouldn’t be shocked if the Red Sox lefty wound up on the injured list in the future.
Well, early into August, Chris Sale went to the IL, where he would remain for the rest of the season. Schilling said he could tell based on how Sale’s mechanics looked –– which he detected a month sooner than Dana LeVangie and the Red Sox medical staff did.
It might come with some public outcry, but one can certainly question if there would be a better option at pitching coach than Curt Schilling. At the end of the day, his baseball mind and knowledge of the game is so extensive, there’s such a high probability of improvement from Red Sox starters in 2020.
