Most people on the payroll of the Boston Red Sox are focused on the Tampa Bay Rays and the ALCS right now but one guy is already thinking about 2009. Because of shoulder surgery, Curt Schilling hasn't been an on-field part of this playoff run but he's not ready to officially hang up the cleats and begin the clock on his Cooperstown candidacy just yet.
Schilling said that if his shoulder recovers, he'll tear himself away from campaign photo ops and give baseball one more try.
"If I do decide to come back, I would work to the point I was ready and somewhere around May 1 let the teams know I wanted to pitch the second half. I'd obviously need to spend June in the minor leagues building it all back up and then hopefully come back and help a team in contention win a World Series."
He's just like Roger Clemens without all that nasty steroid business.
If Schill does give it another go, it's hard to imagine it will happen with the Red Sox. They are set at the top of the rotation. With Justin Masterson, Clay Buchholz and other young guns in the system, there doesn't seem to be much room for a risky bet on a fading star. It's time for a change, in other words, which the politically minded Schilling may or may not appreciate.
