BY MATT SCHILLER

In print | Published October 28, 2004

Courageous. Amazing. Those are just two words of many that could be used to describe Curt Schilling’s performance in his past two outings for the Red Sox. Now, before you tell me that baseball is for girls or isn’t even a real sport, take a look at what happened:

Earlier this season, Schilling tore a tendon in his right ankle. Whenever he pushed off that right ankle to pitch, the tendon would flop over his ankle and make a lovely popping sound (that doesn’t feel good, I promise). Still, Schilling kept right on throwing as the tendon kept on popping.

In last week’s series against the Yankees, the popping — not the pain — became too distracting for him to endure it any longer. With tape and pain-killers no longer enough, team physician Bill Morgan came to the rescue. His idea was to stitch the tendon to the tissue in Shilling’s ankle to hold it in place. Despite the fact that the procedure had only been done once before to a cadaver, Schilling went ahead with it (I don’t even want to know how they figured out Schilling could pitch after the surgery from playing doctor on a dead guy). After throwing, they took the stitches out. You really have to wonder about the health implications of a surgery that has to be undone a few hours after it’s completed.

Schilling has pitched 13 innings since having the procedure done twice. In those two games combined, he gave up one earned run and struck out eight batters. Boston won Game 6 of the ALCS en route to the greatest comeback in baseball history in his first start and took at 2-0 lead in the World Series after his second start. His career postseason ERA is a miniscule 2.06, but since the stitches it’s actually dropped to 0.69. Not too bad.

Pedro Martinez didn’t pitch that well in a single game all playoffs and, he’s been healthy. Pedro FREAKING Martinez. Even if Schilling weren’t injured, his past two performances against two of the best offenses in the league would be noteworthy. Considering the circumstances, they’ve been nothing short of legendary.

The question is, where does this performance stack up in the line of all-time heroic sports performances? If the Sox hold on to win the World Series, Schilling’s feat could go down as one of the most incredible of all time.

In 1988, Kirk Gibson struggled through one at bat with a severely sprained knee to hit the game-winning home run. Schilling won two games and threw over 100 more pitches than Gibson faced. No contest.

In the 1970 NBA Finals, Willis Reed played through a torn thigh muscle to propel the Knicks to victory over Wilt Chamberlain’s Lakers. But he only scored four points. Was Schilling’s performance during these playoffs superior? No question.

Let’s not forget that Schilling couldn’t walk when he woke up the morning of Game 2. He couldn’t even move his ankle. Turns out one of the stitches went through a nerve. Just six hours before Schilling took the field at Fenway, he had it taken out. From the moment he first pushed off the mound, blood began to soak through his socks. No big deal.

After the second win, Schilling said, “I’ll never get a feeling like that ever again in my life.” I almost hope he’s right. But you can bet that if the Sox need him for Game 6 or 7, Schilling will drag that bum ankle onto the mound with him, grit his teeth and give everything his body, mind and soul can muster. Whatever happens, his ankle will certainly never be the same. But, then again, neither will he.

Matt is a sophomore. You can reach him at mschill1@swarthmore.edu

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