I've got a special place in my bruised, battered, but still-beating Red Sox heart for Mr. Curt Schilling. I've always liked the guy, but since the 2001 World Series, when I saw and read tons of interviews and stories on him, he's been my favorite non-Red Sox player in the league. And now he's coming to Boston. Whaddya know.

He's a self-declared computer geek and a rabid gamer, well known for spending many, many hours in the online PC world of Everquest (a game I lost a good two months of my life to in 1999.) What other baseball player would even admit to being a dwarven cleric named Cylc or a monk named Scythehands Voxslayer? He's also the official endorse-guy for High Heat baseball, but doesn't take a cent for it. Check it out ...

"A lot of these endorsements are cash endorsements and I don't need any more cash," Schilling said with a bit of an embarrassed smile.

"But I saw tremendous opportunity for awareness for the cause," Schilling added.

The "cause" is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Gehrig was the former New York Yankee who died of ALS in 1941. Schilling and his wife started Curt's Pitch for ALS, an organization dedicated to fighting ALS, about 10 years ago.

The thing I like best about Schilling, though, is that he's open, he's a talker, seems to be just one of the guys. He chats on the internet, gives lots of interviews, speaks his mind. It's in clear contrast to a certain Red Sox ace, and he's going to be like a breath of fresh air around here.

Just look at the last few days, since the trade talks began... he's already been chatting with Sox faithful. He got online to feel out the fans' perception and potential reception of him, took some questions, weighed the pros and cons, and after the deal was done he logged back on to take more questions and congratulations. How cool is that? He's unfiltered, sharing details of the new contract, front-office be damned. Baseball needs a guy like him out there, just like football needed someone as up-front as Ricky Williams (whose blog seems to be going through a redesign at the moment). Love it.

Over on the Sons of Sam Horn Red Sox fan site, Schilling took part in a live chat after the trade was finalized, and has been hanging around the message boards (as user CurtSchilling38) ever since. Here's the (cleaned up) text from the chat, along with some other questions and answers that I've pulled from the SoSH board...

Q: What was the deciding factor in your agreeing to waive the "No Trade" clause and come to Boston?

CurtSchilling38: There was no one "Deciding Factor" for us, when we put the pieces of the puzzle together that they had presented to us, it all added up, we negotiated the "little things" congruent with the contract to keep the talks progressing, we didnt' want to end up at Friday 2:59 and not done due to something little being unfinished, ultimately though it came down to an agreement on the contract and the financial terms.

Q: How would you characterize your relatuionship with BK Kim while in AZ?

CurtSchilling38: Hmm I think BK is as talented as any 24 year old pitcher I have ever seen. I am hoping that the last few months he's learned some things, and that being on a WS champion, again, is something at the top of his priority list With him in our rotation I don't see alot of teams out there that can hang with us over a 162 game schedule.

Q: Do you think the Sox should go after Foulke, Flash Gordon or stay put? My feeling is that we should get Flash, let Foulke resign and make the NYYs get someone they don't want as much as their set up guy. Your thoughts?

CurtSchilling38: I can't really say...Iooking at Keiths numbers I can tell you I wouldn't mind being at 140 pitches in the 8th and knowing he was out there warming up. Gordon is a competitor, and a stud, I am pretty sure that the Front office will address the bullpen issues to the best of their abililty. Contrary to your popular beliefs, you don't think about these things more than the GM's and these scenarios you play out, have already been played out in their minds 100 times over. Unfortunately its not rotisserie baseball and they cant just sign who they think is great and will help, there are a ton of factors that go into bringing people in and with the exception of one team I think the real good teams measure all these things.

Q: Curt, I've been asked by some reporters what I thought it was that gave you the itch to use the internet as your communication vehicle these past few days. I speculated that you did this to control the context of your statements... was that a safe assumption? Care to elaborate?

CurtSchilling38: I am not real sure how it came to be, other than the fact that I stopped by the MLB.com site to check out the take on your guys end of things and then had an email from someone telling me about the SoSH board so I dropped by and read up, and it was pretty cool knowing that an entire "nation" of people was rooting for us to make that decision to come to Boston, and as i said the other day, I am human, it's pretty cool to see people wanting you to be a part of "their" team so badly. So I read around, and saw the chat, figured what the hell and started chatting. After a bit, when I convinced some of them that it was me, it was pretty fun and it was actually more fun to read the naysayres.

Q: What about the importance of context to an athlete? Taking to power of the pen away from reporters?

CurtSchilling38: That is important to me, that the fans do understand that most times we are not misquoted, rarely if ever atually, but its pretty damn easy to misinterpet us on a regular basis and I feel; that in this day and age the media, not all, but alot, have forgotten their responsibility to the fans. They think its their job to scoop, instead of report, and somewhere in their the real story is lost and the personal agenda of that writer comes out

Q: Curt, what were your impressions of Shea Hillenbrand from the 1/2 season he was your teammate?

CurtSchilling38: Shea is an AWESOME guy, awesome, I love having him as a teammate, damn he's strong too.

Q: Francona took a lot of criticism from the people at Baseball Prospectus for line-up construction and overworking pitchers..was he much of a data hound in his term with the Phillies...what do you see him doing differently if/when he takes over the Sox?

CurtSchilling38: AS for Francona...Tito got a less than great situation his first go around. He was not a data hound, but he was not blind either. He was given a team that was being brought along to eventualy compete, and somewhere along the line the agenda changed to win as many games as you can now, and he got caught between them. He's as sincere and honest a guy as I have ever been around, and IMO if he gets the job, he will be great, and let me clarify one more thing...IF Tito gets this job, he will do so on his own merits. I spoke with the Red Sox at length on this and I never asked them for a commitment, and they never offered one, its their jobto asssemble a guy that fits the players and vice versa, but its a showing a great amount of disrespect to him to assume that me signing here is why he wouyld get this job.

Q: Have you contacted any Red Sox players yet? You said you tried to call Trot Nixon thanksgiving night but couldn't get through. I was wondering if you had gotten through to any of them yet.

CurtSchilling38: Not yet no, am hoping to talk to Pedro soon though, and Derek, Jason and a few others

Q: Curt - you played against the Yankees in the World Series, how do you think that will compare to playing them on this end of the big rivalry? Does that fire you up as a competitor knowing that Fenway will be shaking to its foundation when that time comes?

CurtSchilling38: Not sure I can tell you much other than the rivalry that exists between these two teams is a MAJOR drawing card for me, to be a part of that and possibly have an impact on helping the Red Sox beat the Yankees and win a world series was the one major challenge no other situation presented to me.

Q: What do you know about Jason Varitek? How do you feel about having a catcher as meticulous as he is in preparation calling your games?

CurtSchilling38: I have heard that Jason is a meticulous planner, and does a ton of preparation, which was a seriously important selling point, and I was assured that, like pedro, they are very interested in him remaining here, which was VERY important to me, so I am pretty pumped to get to work with him. The Red Sox are flying out a nutritionist, at my request, and their video people, at their offer, this next week

Q: Felix Mantilla asks how you think the adjustment will be coming back to the AL? will having to face a DH effect your daily prep?

CurtSchilling38: The DH will be a significant change. I'd love to face someone that sucks as bad as I do at the plate 3-4 times every start, so In my mind I am going to find one guy in each lineup that to me presents the easiest and most holes to exploit, and treat that guy as my "pitcher" over here.

Q: Foxy asks how much was Theo and Co's approach to statistical analysis and prep a factor in selling you on the Sox

CurtSchilling38: Their preparation was awesome, I think to someone like me, who realizes how important it is it was even more so, i recognized the work and effort put forth prior to them arriving, and that left an indellible impression to say the least, that and the fact that they were very clear and sincere in their feelings about what I meant, or would mean to the organzation, and what their plans were during the length of the deal.

Q: how much pressure do you feel on bringing a championship to boston?

CurtSchilling38: Pressure? Thats a great thing, Its what makes my clock tick I think

Q: Curt, how much of a factor do you think "clubhouse chemistry" is to a team's success? / Curt, lots of fans make much about 'team chemistry' and it's effect on winning. In your experience, do you think chemistry contributes to winning teams, or do you think winning creates good chemistry.

CurtSchilling38: If we dont win a WS or 4 while I am here then this didnt work, period. The two Teams I have been to the WS on, both had incredible chemisty in the clubhouse. In 1993 we had 7 fights in spring training, 4 with the cardinals, we knew we were the best. In 2001 we just NEVER, and I mean never, let anything bother us so that comes down to the upcoming ST in my mind, we need to understand from day one that we are the best team in the world, and conduct ourselves accordingly, on and off the field

CurtSchilling38: OK am heading out.

CurtSchilling38: Thanks everyone!


and more Q&A from the message board...

Q: Thoughts on "dipping addiction" ...

CurtSchilling38: I'd rather just quit. I stopped for a year once and started again because a "friend" told me I could do it one more time.

Q: You've proven to be very durable over your career. With about 12 weeks before Spring Training, when do you get started on your physical preparation for the season? Plans for maintaining strength/durability during the season?

CurtSchilling38: I actually started my off season program on November 3rd. I worked hard at the seasons end with Dave Page, our strength coach, to put together a day by day plan for this winter. I wanted to take a different angle this winter and instead of preparing for next year, I wanted to put a plan in place for the next 4 years of my career. That's also the reason for the nutritionist coming out next week.

Q: Past experience with Dave Wallace?

CurtSchilling38: None, but I have heard some fantastic stuff about Dave and am looking forward to meeting him if he does in fact end up the pitching coach.

Q: Who helps you re-locate the family? Do the Sox provide a "corporate" re-location package?

CurtSchilling38: Kinda, actually I asked for that issue to be addressed in the contract, it's not unprecedented, and they were accomadating in many ways in helping.

Q: Curt, I've got a 2002 TSN Strat team (not sure if you've played 2002 yet, great new features) and going with a 4 man rotation in Fenway of Unit, yourself, Millwood and Clement. Team is 39-39 but you're struggling at 6-12 5.54 1.45. If you were me, do I keep you or drop you?

CurtSchilling38: AAA at best, or flat out release me, I suck.

Q: Curt, What do you think of the Bill Jamesean (stats) approach this ownership has embraced?

CurtSchilling38: Statistics have their place, for everyone I think. It comes down to the players comfort level IMO. There are a few key stats the I actually can make pitch selection from, and those are stats that will always impact an at bat and pitch selection. Hitters, like pitchers, are creatures of habit, one of the things that Pedro is so damn good at, that I never have been, is adjusting on the fly by what he sees. I can't do that very well, so IMO it's more important for me than alot of others to head to the mound with the info and the plan in mind, and work from that and adjust off that based on how I feel or how the game goes. But let's be real clear here, we are judged by fans, for the most part, on our stats, unfortunately the stats that alot of fans tend to focus on are not the stats that I think matter the most. Batting Average? Nice stat, but I'll take a hitters OBP into account way before Avg. Same thing with pitchers. A low ERA is great, but baserunners per 9 to me is a much more important stat.

Q: You mentioned that you were impressed with the preperation that Theo had done. Can you give some examples?

CurtSchilling38: Not really, lets put it this way, every question I had for them they had something in hard copy as an answer.

Q: What did you know (if anything) of the Jimmy Fund before sitting down with the Red Sox? Did you realize the extent of how much it's woven in the fabric of the region?

CurtSchilling38: Not much. What I did know is that it was incredibly important to the ownership group of this franchise, in the same way the United Way is here in Phoenix to Mr Colangelo. When I came to Arizona SHonda and I committed that same amount to the United Way to make sure Mr Colangelo knew that involvement in the community was something of MAJOR importance to us. We asked for his support in helping THE SHADE FOUNDATION (www.shadefoundation.org) and the ALS Chapters we are involved with. The Red Sox have a matching policy for charities with Players, and that is completely understood and IMO the smart way to do it, and it has a ceiling. We didn't do this to force their hand to give money to our charities, but we did ask for their support as we know we will dive headfirst into the Boston ALS Chapter, and we hope the SHADE Foundation will now have a presence on the East coast as well. But to put it bluntly we will be a part of this community, much as we are in Phx and in Philly, and that won't change due to the uniform I am wearing, nor will that be dependant on me being an active major league baseball player. I will initiate Curts Pitch for ALS in Boston sometime soon I am sure, which is a fan based program where you all can sign up and donate money to the local ALS chapter based on my strikeouts and wins, we give 100 a K and 1000 a win to the local chapters in Az and in Philly, and I am planning on that being the case in Boston as well.


and finally, his thoughts on the age-old Shark vs. Bear debate...

CurtSchilling38: Ok, one last thing, and it's a no brainer. Bear beats the dogshit outta shark anyday. Sharks are stupid, they eat, they swim, they eat, they swim, the don't stinking sleep and they reproduce at an almost asexual rate. Bears are cunning, bad ass looking, and they are smart enough to take what I would consider a legitimate nap. If I could sleep from game 7 of the world series to opening day I would, wouldn't you? Whatever tactic a shark took, bear standing on rock or not, the bear would figure it out, and kick his ass. Bear, in a landslide.

So someone takes him to task on siding with the bears ...

Q: It is not to be sir. Bears can be fooled by sausage hung from a bag. Sharks are swimming death machines.

Curt replies...

CurtSchilling38: And a fish that chomps down on stinky bloody chum with a 6 foot steel trebled hook sticking out of it is what? Einstein?

PLease, sharks have stinking flippers, FLIPPERS for cripes sakes. Bears have HUGE arms and paws with razor sharp claws. Take away a sharks teeth and you've got a large dolphin, you've got FLIPPER HHAAHAHAHAHAAHA! Take away a bears teeth and you've still got two massive arms with razor sharp claws, vs Flippers hehe, total mismatch on all accounts. Sharks suck, Bears rule. Game Over.

Yes, he wrote that. I'm so psyched that we can officially say "That's our Curt!" Head on over there to read more and see which sox fan asked each question. I'm sure he'll be back at some point to answer more. Spring with Mr. Schilling can't come soon enough.