Curt Schilling
Curt Schilling
Curtis Montague Schillingis an American former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher, former video game developer, and former baseball color analyst. He helped lead the Philadelphia Phillies to the World Series in 1993, and won championships in 2001 with the Arizona Diamondbacks and in 2004 and 2007 with the Boston Red Sox. Schilling retired with a career postseason record of 11–2, and his .846 postseason winning percentage is a major-league record among pitchers with at least ten decisions. He is a...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBaseball Player
Date of Birth14 November 1966
CountryUnited States of America
I'm trying to pitch aggressively in now. It's something I've always needed to do. I've never really been efficient at it and I'm going to change that this year.
I know there are a lot of people that don't want to hear it, but when I look back on it, stuff-wise, that's every bit as good as I threw the ball last year from a pure physical standpoint, ... Every time I needed to reach back, I felt like I did and had something extra on the ball. I had all four of my pitches. I just didn't pitch well. I'm not used to that. I'm not used to feeling that good and not pitching well. That was kind of odd for me.
Warming up for the second inning, I threw my split-finger and everything clicked. The first two starts, I haven't felt like I've been consistently bearing the pitch well and I didn't feel like I've been throwing it at a good angle. And I threw it and it was exactly what I wanted it to be from a feel standpoint. And mentally, I was like, 'There it is.' From that point on, when I needed a strikeout, I felt very comfortable about command, fastball-wise, and about the fact I could bury my split in the ground.
Today was very much a struggle for me from a consistency standpoint. I did struggle, command-wise, getting ahead. I had trouble being consistent tonight. I take solace in the fact that when we needed to make some pitches, early in the game, we made 'em.
I'm throwing my changeup to the point where I'm going to be able to use it now to get people out. It's something I've wanted to have and never been comfortable with until now.
I'm nervous, anxious. It's been two years since I've been the guy I was. Until I do what I did before, there's a lot of questions.
I know that people are going to bash the guy in the manager's office for leaving me out there, but I felt great. I know myself. It had come down to I didn't make my pitches.
I knew how we were defending the batter. I felt that if I didn't catch the ball, it was a hit. It was just a reaction kind of thing.
I knew everybody off the field was going to be making a much bigger issue with the results than I was, than we were,
I have two options: quit or find a way to be better. I'll be better before this is over.
I have two options. I can quit or I can find a way to get better. I'm going to be better. I'm going to be better before this is all over. I'm going to be the guy that they count on to throw seven, eight, nine innings every fifth day, and it's going to be sooner rather than later in my mind.
I knew coming into this series which game I was going to pitch. I knew it had a chance to be the swing game.
It's something special. I just want to be a part of it ...
It was just fun. It was one of the few times I remember as a Big Leaguer where you can actually enjoy the moment and feel and have fun.