If you do please check out this event, pretty cool stuff!

www.alstradeup.com

We were sitting around yesterday, packing for the trip back home and I started thinking about packing, moving, traveling. Twenty-three years after I hopped on a plane to Elmira, New York I tried to see if I could even contemplate the mileage I’ve traveled, and the times my wife and I have had to move.

I can’t calculate the mileage but was going to take a stab at how many times we’ve packed up our things and moved. I consider four weeks or more in one spot a ‘move’ since we toted everything with us.

1986

Arrive in Phoenix after driving from Yavapai JC (on the heels of losing in the JC World Series in one of the funnest and best years of baseball ever) and the following morning I hop on a plane.
1. Phoenix to Elmira (Elmira from June to August). BTW that was all for a whopping $750 a month - pre taxes - which I made it on by renting an attic room for 99 bucks a month!
2. Elmira to Sarasota for Instructional league (September to early October)
3. Sarasota to Phoenix for the winter.

1987

4. Phoenix to Winter Haven (March to early April).
5. Winter Haven to Greensboro, N.C. (April to August).
6. Greensboro to Sarasota for Instructional league (September to October).
7. Sarasota to Phoenix for the winter.

1988

8. Phoenix to Winter Haven spring training.
9. Winter Haven to New Britain, Connecticut (April to July). Traded from Sox to Orioles (Brady Anderson and I for Mike Boddicker).

10. New Britain to Charlotte, N.C. (August)(10)

Called up to the Major Leagues
11. Charlotte to Baltimore (September).
12. Baltimore to West Palm for Instructional League.
13. West Palm to Hermisillo, Mexico for Winter Ball (my only no-hitter!)
14. Hermisillo to Phoenix for the winter.

1989

15. Phoenix to West Palm Beach for spring training.                                    

16. West Palm to Rochester, NY (April to Sept 1).

17. Rochester to Baltimore (September).
18. Baltimore to Santo Domingo, D.R. for Winter Ball.
19. Stayed in Baltimore that winter.

1990

20. Baltimore to Sarasota for Spring Training.
21. Sarasota to Rochester (April to June).
22. Rochester to Baltimore (June to September).
Stayed in Baltimore that winter (also met Shonda the day the season ended)
Traded to Houston that winter (Pete Harnisch, Steve Finley and I for Glen Davis)

1991

23. Baltimore to Orlando for spring training.
24. Orlando to Houston (April-May).
25. Houston to Tucson (sent to AAA, June to early July).
26. Tucson to Houston (July to Sept).
Spent the winter in Houston

1992

27. Houston to Orlando for spring training.
Traded final day of ST to Philadelphia for Jason Grimsley, flew to Miami for one day to meet the team then to Philadelphia. (Shonda was driving to Houston with the wives and heard about the trade on the radio, she pulled over to the side of the road, went to Houston and packed up, headed to Philly.)
28. Philadelphia April to Sept, lived in Marlton, NJ in the off season.

1993-1999

35. Seven straight years of Living in Philly, Clearwater every January through the end of March, back to Philly for the season. We started to go down January 1st every year to workout in the warm weather much earlier. Gehrig was born in 1995, Gabby in 1997, Grant in 1999.

2000

36. Philly to Clearwater.
37. Clearwater to Philly until July.
38. Traded to Arizona for Travis Lee, Omar Daal, Nelson Figueroa and Vincente Padilla
Philadelphia to Arizona for August to October 1st. Spent the winter in Arizona

2001-2003
41. Winter and season in Phoenix and eight weeks apart while we ST in Tucson. Garrison is born in 2002.
Traded the winter of 2004 to Boston for Casey Fossum, Brandon Lyon, Jorge De Larosa and Michael Goss.

2004

42. Phoenix to Ft Myers for spring training.
43. Ft Myers to Boston for the season.
44. Boston to Phoenix for the off season.

2005

45. Phoenix to Ft Myers for spring training.
46. Ft Myers to Boston for the season.
47. Boston to Phoenix for the off season.

2006
48. Phoenix to Ft Myers for spring training.
49. Ft Myers to Boston for the season. Settled into Boston as residents for good, that winter.

2007 and 2008
51. Boston to Ft Myers for spring training.
Ft Myers to Boston for good…

Fifty-one moves. Damn. It’s certainly not a normal number but I wonder how many is “a lot”? Even taking out spring training since it was 6-8 weeks (but it was still a full fledged move, even more so once the family made the trips every year) that’s still a crap load of moving.

Those first few years it was a nightmare on the money I made. Starting at $750 a month I think the most I made in the minors was $2,500 a month or so, pre-taxes. I didn’t sign for much either so I know I made the most of every dollar back then.

Oh, and welcome to 2009. Over/under on how many times you sign or date something 2008? For me I’ll go 10 …

Not that I need anything else to be thankful for, given the incredible life I’ve already been priveleged enough to be a part of. Today Gehrig and I did some bone fishing together, just us two. Here are a few photos. Every day with kids seems to bring a memory of a lifetime, pretty cool stuff.

Gman just chilling, Blue Lizard being used in mass quantities!

Gehrig wins: Biggest Bonefish, Most Bonefish and Most Variety, clean sweep!

Lots to be happy about!

It’s New Years, ready for resolutions?

Getting to some of your questions (along with some input from site editor Rob Bradford), starting with some thoughts on two players who look like they might be coming to the Red Sox, Josh Bard and Brad Penny.

I didn’t get to know Josh all that well, but what I did know he was a fantastic teammate and great guy. An incredibly hard worker. Anyone that puts up the numbers he did when he went to SD has to be able to hit, more often than not I find when people do that well in short bursts they either have a glaring weakness in their ability to hit, or aren’t confident in their ability to maintain that success over the long haul

Brad is a great kid. I’ve always loved his arm and stuff but also always hoped he’d be able to dial it back a bit. He’s a max effort guy in delivering the ball and he’s helped by the fact that he’s a very big boy. That being said, your arm can only take so much. I think, if he signs here, he could do incredible stuff working with John Farrell. Get him to dial it back about 10-20 percent and he’ll still be throwing low to mid 90’s with command. Add his makeup on the hill to that and you could get one of the more valuable signings of the entire winter since if he’s healthy he’s a #1 or #2 in either league.

(RB: In my dealings with Bard, he seemed like a good guy who was genuinely thrown off by the criticisms he incurred throughout that 10-passed balls month. He admitted after that it got to the point where he was watching video of Doug Mirabelli catching Tim Wakefield to try and emulate him instead of just doing his thing. As for Penny, I’m thinking that being with his buddy, Josh Beckett, and seeing how his work ethic has evolved might translate into a ramped-up regimen.)

Question: Because you may still be playing in 2009 you may not want to answer this question, but what batter did you NOT want to face? Who had your number?

Answer: I just never looked at it like that. Not to mention it’s a question that is totally situation dependant. Runner on third, less than two outs? Guys that don’t strike out, game on the line, one run, no one on? Healthy Vlad, Helton always killed me too.

Question (Ernie): You said that you went up against Boras during a talk show. Was it about Drew not signing with Philly that year? And if so, why would you be against him?

Answer: 1. Yes. 2. Because I was a Philly and was as upset as the fans were at the whole situation. I wasn’t against JD as much as I was against Scott. I, still to this day, cannot fathom how playing independent league, even for a week, puts you in a better position in the future. That money and experience is never regained.

Question: Didn’t Drew, himself, make it clear that he wouldn’t sign for anything less than $10 million, then Philly drafted him anyway and tried to low ball him. Also, isn’t Boras doing his job by trying to get as much money for his client as possible? I mean, people always complain about how players make so much money and they should sign below market deals. But isn’t that just putting more money in the already a billionaire owners pocket? My point is, why shouldn’t an athlete try to get as much money as possible, especially in MLB where you spend 6 years “under control”?

Answer: Not at all, you are 100 percent right. Being right, in this case doesn’t feel good to me. I was wrong in what I said and how I handled it and made that clear to JD a few years ago, apologizing to him. That being said, I still thought the way it all transpired was bad for the game, the player and the fans.

Question (Ben): What’s your honest opinion on Dice K ?

Answer: Relentless. Perfectionist. Absolutely has the ability to win a Cy Young if he can find a way to gain more command of the strike zone. People putting the ball in play don’t fare well against him but it feels like he pitches away from contact, which is really not unusual. Often though, guys that do that get very few decisions and pitch much fewer innings due to huge pitch counts. If Dice gets into a situation where 110-115 pitches gets him through 7 or into the 8th he’s going to win even bigger than last year. BTW his last season was highly overlooked.

Question (John): As a power pitcher, do you see yourself coming back as more of a finesse pitcher?

Answer: Right now I am working out to get to throwing again. Just to see where my arm really is. If Doctor Morgan is correct — and he has been 100% so far — I’ll be better than I was in 2007. The question that remains is how much.  

Question (Jimmie):  Would you like to be a coach or manager in some capacity anywhere in baseball?

Answer: No

(RB: I would)

Question (Bill): Curt, will you and the family remain in the Boston area and continue to be part of the community?

Answer: Yes. We are settled in Medfield and love it here. Not to mention 38 Studios is in Maynard, so we aren’t planning on going anywhere.

Question (Chpln. O’Connell): Do you think Santa will grant my Christmas wish by making the BIG SCHILL pitch one more year for Boston?

Answer: That wish is far beyond Santa or his helpers to assist with.

Question (Pat):  Do you think the Sox would be better off trying to make a play for Russell Martin, who has proven himself in the Bigs and is the catcher of the future, then say trading with one of the Texas catchers or Arizona’s and signing Tek?

Answer: My first choice, were I on the team, would be to have Tek back and grooming his replacement. After that it’s all guesswork. I’ve heard incredible things about Martin and some of the Texas kids but have not seen enough to call that.

(RB: I think  the dream scenario is Taylor Teagarden and Jason Varitek as your catching duo for 2009)

Question (Carlson): Are you a Hall of Famer?

Answer: No

(RB: Yes — Curt, not me.  Post-season success is the difference-maker)

(Here are some more answers to questions sent along by Rob Bradford, mostly in regards to the Mark Teixeira situation … mostly.)

Bradford: What examples has he seen of an agent steering a client towards a negative outcome?

Me: Define negative? I’ve seen on rare occasion an agent gamble with a players future and cost them years and millions that never come around again, like Jody Reed. But more times than not you can’t blame the agents, post-draft anyway. We’re grown men who need to be accountable for all things happening to and around us. My biggest problem and one of the main reasons I did not want an agent was due to the fact that every time an agent opens his mouth the public hears the player, whether the player said it or not.

Bradford: How important is it for a free agent when the front office/ownership group to flies out to meet face to face?

Me: To me it’s HUGE, HUGE! The three day period of negotiation that went on
in 2003 would never have worked had I not been face to face with them. 

Bradford: Having faced Mark Teixeira (1 for 12), what are his strengths and
weaknesses?

Schilling: Tex never bothered me. I think the main reason was that he was, or I think he is, a guy that studies pitchers and numbers. At least I believe that because I had reports and watched video of a guy  that was patient and very strike zone aware. Against me he chased my split over 90 percent of the time. Very unlike him but I think he expected me, walking as few hitters as I did, to throw more balls in the strike zone than I did. I think he was more aggressive vs. me than normal and I threw some decent
splits to him as well. 

Bradford: How close is Teixeira to being the kind of middle of the order presence Manny was?

Me: I don’t think he is, I don’t think anyone really is. Locked in and wanting to play no one hits like Manny with that combo of patience, awareness and power.

Bradford: When referencing this potential move, some have cited the Yankees decision to go with high-priced talent in the early 2000’s instead of the “heart and soul” guys that were on the championship teams. Is that kind of chemistry/clubhouse influence overstated?

Me: No, no and a million more times no. The easiest way to figure that out is to play fantasy baseball right? Take the 2004 Yankees on paper, play them against ANY other 2004 team and play a 5×5 league. How do they fare? I’d expect REAL well and pretty dominating? There is so much that happens outside the 3-4 hours of games each day
that impact and influence teams in a way no statistician or ‘expert’ can ever hope to define or quantify. It affects wins and losses, it affects clubs state of mind, it affects everything.

Bradford: How awkward is it when a team goes into spring training with a positional overlap, knowing somebody has to be traded, as might be the case with the Red Sox?

Me: VERY awkward and in my opinion underappreciated by teams. It’s the ultimate exposure to this game as a business. I laugh that people continue to call baseball a ‘game’ that we play. As soon as some guy pulls in $15 million a year playing Monopoly I’ll conceded. Until then understand this is a $6+ billion a year business. Someone in spring training limbo is a tough thing to be around but like most other situations it really depends on the player and how he and his teammates handle it.

Oh and one more thing. I really loathe to even mention CHB in anything anymore, due to his irrelevance on the Boston sports scene but I suck at keeping my tongue in places like this. CHB wrote the other day (thanks to the person forwarding this as it’s the first thing I’ve read that he’s written in five months)

“Best part of Curt Schilling’s blog on the WEEI website? Schill claims, ’I don’t get edited.’ Could he be more of a diva? Here’s a clue for the Big Lug - Ernest Hemingway had an editor. And Schill needs an editor more than I need a pitching coach.”

By edited I meant content Curly, because Lord knows I sure as hell need help with anything I write. But your last statement is laughable, because I think — and correct me if I am wrong — I am doing what you do for a living right?

I am pretty sure you’ve never stepped on a mound, well a field of any kind for that matter, and competed for something that truly mattered to people not on the field? So I am comfortable saying I am a lot closer to being able to do what you do, than you are able to do what I did …

Keep spewing the vitriol chief. It seems to be the only bite your writing has any more.

No one should be shocked, at all. Theo has, at least in my opinion, operated within parameters set by he and the club, and stuck to them. Letting emotion enter into this stuff will see you spend for spending sake. Don’t get me wrong, Mark Teixera is a damn good player, but let’s look at this realistically.

Over the next 2 years: 

.279 Avg; .343 OBP; .467 Slug; 810 OPS; 46 HR; 196 RBIs; 166 Ks; 114 BB(A) 

.290 Avg; .378 OBP; .541 Slug; 919 OPS; 72 HR; 242 RBIs; 248 Ks; 158 BB(B)

Based purely on career averages you get the above numbers. Tex’s power numbers will go up if the new NY stadium has the same dimensions. I think it’s safe to say those power numbers would go down a bit in Fenway. Tex is 28, you are paying him through his Age 36 season. Mike is 34, being paid through age 36 as well. Both are Gold Glove players. 

So you could ask the following question: Would you pay a player with this stat line, 10 million dollars, and guarantee him a no trade – 285 avg; 360 OBP; 500 Slg; 860 OPS; 26 HR; 46 RBI; 82 Ks; 44 BB?

It’s not that easy I know, you need to factor in parks, and lineups and much more but on pure stats that’s the bonus numbers a $10 mm bump in one spot on your roster buys you.

Now, I would agree Tex’s power numbers would go down at Fenway. But I would also make the case that these power numbers can be made up by Ortiz alone, as long as he’s healthy. Yes, he needs protection and this lineup is not going to give him the protection he once had, but he can do it and it’s not a stretch.

Personally I am glad Youk is staying at first and Mike is at third. Adding Mark’s bat is absolutely going to make the Yankees tougher. 

Haven’t we been down this road before? That’s not to say this Yankees team can’t win 110 games, it can. But so much has to happen for that to work out.

Please stop with the greedy bum statements too, all of you screaming that would be saying nothing if the Sox had ante’d up. I’m surprised but I don’t think nearly as much as most others. Why? Because not once, never, did you hear ANYTHING from Mark in this entire charade. This is how Scott Boras works, and his clients love him for it. Mark never said he wanted Boston, sources ‘close to negotiations’ did. That and a handful of nickels will get you a quarter.

Stop being surprised in these deals when you hear comments from EVERYONE but the players. Until the player speaks I am comfortable telling you more than 90 percent of what you hear is what teams WANT you to hear through their media ’sources’. Half of these folks get told things from teams because teams
WANT that message in particular, out there.

Jason Bay is going to be here a full year. That’s 30+ HR, 100+ RBI and a near 900 OPS right there. That helps. He’s a very good defensive player and a very good base runner, not to mention a fantastic club house
presence. 

Tex would certainly have made this lineup more potent, but scoring the most runs isn’t the solution. You need run prevention and the Sox have that too. Now so do the Yanks, but are you believing that the Yanks just put out $400 mm-plus in contracts and all three players will be worth the deals? When has that ever happened ACROSS a free agent class much less one team.

I think the Steinbrenners, coming off a miserable last season in Yankee Stadium, are dead set on opening the new stadium with a World Series and they don’t care how much it costs. Good for them. You can bitch all you want about the Yankees and greed but they spend money in a sincere effort to win it all, every year. What fan wouldn’t want their teams to do that.

Theo’s not done, at least in my opinion. The club is stocked with VERY tradable young talent and you can bet with this economy teams will be hell bent on unloading supreme talent where possible. Teams other than the NY’s, Anaheim’s and Boston’s.

The AL East just got tougher, if that’s possible, and I don’t think the counter punches are done being thrown.

I wanted to post an excerpt or two from a letter I received this morning, to say thank you to everyone that has visited this blog. At the end of the day I don’t give a rats ass whether you have a (R) or (D) next to your name, what you think about the war in the middle east, or much of anything else. If you are a citizen of these United States of America I think you owe it to our troops abroad to wish them a safe return and safe and Merry Christmas, and so many of you helped in doing just that.

From:
SFC Michael L Peterson
Event Coordinator MWR
Forward Operating Base Bucca
1st Squadron, 102nd Cavalry Regiment

“Curt
The boxes are flowing in on a regular here at Camp Bucca. We have gotten the ones out to visitation for the kids and also the boxes for the soldiers have gone out to the different units also. The kids have been loving the gifts coming in with the different toys and school supplies. Their faces just seem to light up when you give it to them.
The soldiers were shocked to get the boxes with actual gifts already wrapped in them. We sent them out to various units here and I suspect that the senders will be getting a letter written back showing how much they appreciate the gifts. I was going to wait until we they slowed down but it has lifted so many people spirits already I wanted to send you this email on behalf of Camp Bucca just to say thank you…………..
…….Enough people cared enough to read you blog and then cared even more enough to send anything for a small care package up to a large box full of wrapped gifts.”

So thank you to everyone that contributed, for helping to make someone you don’t know, smile this Christmas season. You people are awesome.

Curt

Answering a few questions from our site editor, Rob Bradford, regarding the world of agents …

Bradford: When you hear about the kind of negotiations Mark Teixeira is going through, what stands out?

Me: The mass of misinformation everyone works off of. So little of the facts are ever really that. It’s the ultimate form of second-hand information and in many cases you get people making ‘educated’ guesses, figuring if they’re wrong, so what, but if they are right they ‘broke’ the story.

Bradford: How much interaction with Scott Boras have you had, if any? Did you ever contemplate joining forces with him?

Me: Almost none other than going up against him on a talk show in Philly after the JD Drew draft. I’ve thought about it when thinking about next season. Bottom line is if you want to scrap every penny you can from the bottom of the barrel, leave nothing on the table, he’s your guy. That being said I’ve spoken at length with Jason about him, a guy I have a ton of respect for, and Jason considers him a very close friend, so that means something to me.

Read the rest of this entry »

I often hear media members and sports ‘experts’ this time of year discussing the ‘details’ on free agents. Everything from ‘close friend says’ to ‘his choice is to live in’ and I wonder just how much you believe, and what you think they really know.

I spent almost 10 years with a total no-trade clause due to the fact that I was a ‘his choice is to live in’ guy. I can speak from the experience of my situation, as well as what I learned from discussions with many players about this very thing.

The first piece to the decision-making process for me was upbringing. I grew up in a lower middle-class suburban neighborhood, and that had a huge impact on where I lived once I played and had the money to make that choice. I despise big-city living, can’t stand it, and that was the reason behind living 40 minutes outside the city for almost a decade in Philly, 30 or so minutes away from Bank One in Arizona and about 45 minutes from Fenway when playing in Boston.

Don’t get me wrong, I love playing in that big-city, huge-expectations environment; I just couldn’t stand living in it.

You hear many things about Mark Teixeira and his ‘wants,’ ‘needs’ and ‘desires.’ I only know Mark from competing against him but I would make a few arguments on the premise that he won’t sign for top dollar just because it’s top dollar. He doesn’t have to unless someone steps in and beats the #2 offer by 20-30 or 40 million total dollars (which in this day and age is not out of the question). Read the rest of this entry »

I swore I’d never own a poodle, but I caved. This is Ellie, the newest member of the Schilling clan. Unbeknownst to both Patton (Rottweiler) and Rufus (Oro-Pei) this 2lb 4oz terror is now running the house.