Sunday, April 15, 2007

Schilling was Thrilling


I watched Schill pitch a lot when he was with the Dbacks, and I've got to tell you we are really watching two different pitchers.

I used to be able to practically call Schill's game. I loved to watch him blow a 96 mph heater shoulder high past his NL West foes (if they swung, he'd get the K, if not, they were completely set up to get fooled by a filth splitter).

Yesterday, however, I saw some 88 mph fastballs at the knees, a few chancy changeups, and all in all, a very smart game....all while throwing a good 4-7 mph hours slower than his stuff in '01-02.

Good for him.

If he wants to get into the Hall (and I don't buy it for a minute that "he doesn't care"), he'll have to pitch smart. There are three things Schill can do to assure the Hall (maybe not a first-ballot HOFer, but to eventually get to Cooperstown):

1. Get 250 wins (not likely).
2. Win a Cy Young (really not likely)
3. Win another World Series (DANG LIKELY).

Seriously, the '07 Sox have all the weapons they need. As I watched Mariano Rivera give up a walk-off homer today (and although he is the best closer of all time, in my eyes, he is far less daunting than he once was), I have to wonder is Paps is the heir apparent. For the sake of Red Sox Nation, let's hope so.

There appears to be no better 1-2-3-4 punch than the Sox' rotation. Schill had a bad outing and Tavarez wasn't great his first start, but for the love of all holy, The Sox rotation looks delicious!

Papi is heating up, Lugo has looked great, and once Manny turns up the heat, Drew will keep him nice and safe in the cleanup slot. The bottom of the order is a mess (what the heck happened to CoCo Crisp?), but 1-5 looks like money in the bank.

1 comment:

B.C. said...

I'm in your Bean Town, eating up your Red Sox Nation!