Curt

Now there's a name that is as meaningful in Phillies lore as almost any other.

Curt Flood? The ultimate Phillies villain perhaps? Maybe, but to many current-day fans Curt Flood is but a footnote to Phillies and baseball history even though he is one of the most transformational characters in the history of the game.

I'm trying to think of another important Curt just to pump up this Blog, but I'm not having any success. Oh well, doesn't matter much because the Curt I really wanted to write about is Curt Schilling.

Now HERE is a curious case. Here is a guy who came here and flew under the radar even while compiling a respectable 14-11 record and 2.35 ERA for a lackluster 1992 club, but then emerged in 1993 as a true clutch pitcher that would eventually go on to prove himself in Arizona and Boston as perhaps one of the great post season clutch performers in the history of baseball. Whether he is Hall of Fame caliber with 216 wins is debatable (and one of my future posts will certainly touch on my opinion of the Hall of Fame), but he certainly has made an impact on the Phils, not only in the '90s but to this day.

Yes, Curt is a lightning rod. When he stirred the pot to get his trade to Arizona in 2000 many lauded him for saying what we thought, that the team wasn't committed to winning. When Scott Rolen took the same route, we didn't quite view it in the same light even though he trotted out the same message. Perhaps it was because of the blue collar, lay it all out there personality of Schilling compared to the aloof momma's boy we had come to see Rolen as, but when Schilling loudly screamed for a trade, we applauded him for standing up. When Rolen did it we derided him as a whiner.

Since Schilling's departure he has remained in touch with the Philly community through his ALS work as well as his residence in Coatesville (now sold), but he has also been in the public eye through both baseball accomplishments including two World Series titles, a co-Cy Young Award and monumental events like the bloody sock in Boston. As if he needed more exposure Curt is an avid Blogger and often speaks his mind in print where it is difficult to retract a not-so-well-thought-out comment as it is to deny ever having said something out loud (unless it was recorded).

But I have grown even more fond of Curt over the many years since he left us for loftier achievements. I, for one, would love to see him come back for a last hurrah and perhaps to be the guy who could throw one or two more big games in the post season. I really don't understand where many Philly fans have grown to not like what Curt has to say; it seems completely out of character for us to criticize a player who speaks from his heart and backs it up, in more ways than one on the field, and off.

No, I appreciate a person like Curt who has earned the right to say what he feels, to try and influence the sports community in what he feels is a positive way, and who really does give back to the community. If many more sports personalities were Curt Schillings, I think the games we love would be a heck of a lot better off.