Bordow: Schilling turns back on media and Valley fans upon return

[Nasser22]

Curt Schilling arrived in the visitors’ clubhouse at Chase Field at about 3:30 p.m. Friday. Some of his teammates were watching a movie, the 2005 remake of the “Bad News Bears.” Others were hanging out in front of their lockers, shooting the breeze or talking on a cell phone.

A couple of reporters approached Schilling, said hello and asked if he had a minute.
“Not now,” Schilling said. “I’ve got too many things to do.”

Perhaps after batting practice?

“We’ll see,” he said.

The Red Sox finished taking BP at 5:45 p.m. Schilling trotted past us on his way into the clubhouse, saying, “I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.”

He never came out.

It’s my fault, I guess. I didn’t have a camera with me or an ESPN logo on my shirt.

Look, I understand that journalists are about as popular as a bad case of strep throat, and the public couldn’t care less when an athlete blows us off. In fact, I’m guessing more than a few of you openly cheer when we’re given the cold shoulder.

And I don’t believe athletes have to talk to the media every day. Over the course of 162 games, a baseball player will need some privacy and down time. I get that.

But there are also going to be times when an athlete has an obligation to meet with the media. For Schilling, Friday was one of those occasions.

It was his first trip back to Chase Field since the Diamondbacks traded him to Boston in 2003. That made him a story, whether he thought so or not.

When Luis Gonzalez returned earlier this season with the Los Angeles Dodgers he held a press conference before the first game of the series. He understood the media wanted to talk to him and fans wanted to hear from him.

It was a simple, professional act.

Schilling, though, couldn’t spare five minutes to talk about what it felt like to help the Red Sox win the World Series in 2004. He didn’t have a couple of moments to talk about his bloody sock, his blog, 38pitches.com, or how he came within one out of pitching a no-hitter against the Oakland Athletics Thursday.

He didn’t care that Diamondbacks fans might have wanted to hear how he was doing. He was too busy for you.

Sadly, I wasn’t surprised.

Schilling pulled the same, tired act when he was a Diamondback. I once asked him, three hours and 30 minutes before that night’s game was to begin, whether he had time to answer two questions.

He said he didn’t.

He spent the next 20 minutes sitting in front of his locker, doing a crossword puzzle.

Again, I don’t expect any sympathy. Nor is this some personal vendetta I have toward Schilling. I’ve been in this business far too long — and I’m far too old — to worry about whether an athlete talks to me or not.

But I do think it’s wrong when Schilling blows you off by not talking to us.

There is much to admire about Schilling. He has given both his time and money in the fight against ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. He has been one of baseball’s loudest and most articulate voices to speak out on steroids. He’s pitching as well now, at the age of 40, as he did when he was 30.

That said, his silent treatment Friday was inexcusable.

Schilling may think those of us with a badge and a notepad aren’t worthy of his time. I can live with that.

But he should have time for you when you cheered his every pitch for four years and treated him like royalty.

That he didn’t says less about you than it does about him.

Douche...

 

[AZZenny]

Douche...

Who, Schilling, or the reporter?

OK, Schilling can be a schmuck, like a lot of celebs -- but if Bordow really was going to ask lame crud about the sock, the WS, etc. that has been covered ad nauseum here and elsewhere two years ago, and if he thinks that we'd be interested, he needs to get out more.

And don't worry, we don't feel sorry for YOU, Scott, but go ahead, tell us again you're whining for us because you couldn't find anything else to write about...

What he probably would have asked is about Randy's return here -- Curt has thrived in one of the hardest markets in the game, why does he think RJ 'failed'...? Or the alleged controversies over Schilling in the Red Sox clubhouse, and is that why Damon left... or the report Schilling was (has?) moved his family back here because he can't stand Boston Fans... etc etc. And if I was Schilling (esp with what he's learned about the media in Boston) I probably would have avoided him, too.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Scott Bordow in my opinion is probably the best journalist in the state, but this article is pretty much useless. I really don't give a care about what Curt Schilling has to say about anything, and I bet that the majority of Dback fans don't either. Wasting space with an article about not talking to Curt Schilling about things that most people don't care about in the first place is even worse.

 

[Phxchris1989]

**bleep** Curt Schilling. Seriously.

 

[BC867]

Public relations has never been Curt's forte. Or dealing with sports writers.

Of course, many of us enjoyed Curt's sometimes outrageous banter on the D'backs message board he posted to before we joined ASFN.

Ironic. He talked too freely with us and not enough with sport writers.

Except for the fact that Curt can be a dick, maybe that concept isn't bad.

 

[Toro]

Curt has the not so good reputation in the league. Not really surprising. He is type of guy who say's to your face "hey, love you man!" and talks smack as soon as you walk away.

 

[Gaddabout]

Scott Bordow in my opinion is probably the best journalist in the state, but this article is pretty much useless. I really don't give a care about what Curt Schilling has to say about anything, and I bet that the majority of Dback fans don't either. Wasting space with an article about not talking to Curt Schilling about things that most people don't care about in the first place is even worse.

Scott's a personal acquaintance of mine and he helped me out when I was a cub reporter. Unlike a lot of other veterans, he didn't treat me like a newbie. I've always respected him, Bob, some of the other vets at the Trib for that. There are some great folks at the Republic for that matter, like Paola, Bob Young, and Lee Shappell, for that matter, but we're talking about Scott.

The same thing that makes Scott the guy you want chasing the challenging interview is the same thing that seems to grate on some people. He's oblivious to the fact that people don't want to be challenged or questioned, and sometimes seems downright contrarian. He has a lot in common with the late Steve Schoenfeld personality wise, and I mean that in the best professional sense.

Curt Schilling sort of deserves the flack he gets because he uses the media as his soapbox for all kinds of non-baseball things. IMO, it's wholly inappropriate and not professional. Sorry, but the locker room is no place to launch into 10-minute political or religious tirades. It's funny, because he often has no time to talk about baseball -- though his contract, via MLB, requires him to do that to a certain degree -- but ask him about some of his personal hot buttons and he might talk right up until first pitch.

 

[Ryanwb]

Schilling has and always will be a totally douche

 

[Lefty]

Curt praises his time with Arizona.
http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSox/view.bg?articleid=1005581&format=&page=2


PHOENIX - Curt Schilling [stats] is coming home - again.

Phoenix has always seemed to serve as a checkpost in Schilling’s life. And while the street signs leading to his old home on Willow Avenue might never change, the same can’t be said for the pitcher following them.

“My first night back after I was traded (from Philadelphia to Arizona on July 26, 2000), I was driving to the hotel down 32nd Street,” Schilling said, “and I remember saying to myself that 17 years ago I was driving down this exact same street, and if you have had somebody driving down the exact same street 17 years later, you would say that they would never get out of this town. And to think of where I went.”

The 16-year-old in that black Chevy LUV pickup truck could have never imagined that his journey out of Arizona and back again would take the route that it has.

Schilling admits that, as much as he evolved during the 14 major league seasons leading up to his initial return to his hometown in 2000, it was the three-plus seasons back in Arizona which truly defined him. And then, with the addition of his three years in Boston, you end up with the No. 38 you find today.

“What I was when I went there and what I was when I left there is two drastically different pitchers,” said Schilling of his time with the Diamondbacks from 2000-03. “When I went there I had a place in the game from a reputation standpoint, and I think being part of those teams and pitching the way I pitched kind of elevated it.”

When Schilling arrived in Arizona from Philadelphia - for Omar Daal, Nelson Figueroa, Travis Lee, and Vicente Padilla - he had made his mark. He hadn’t had an ERA of 4.00 or higher since 1994.

But while his childhood landmarks hadn’t gone anywhere upon his return, Schilling was greeted with a different kind of alteration.

He discovered that the physical challenges of a major league season demanded more of him than he had previously given. He discovered such disciplines as yoga, pilates and even martial arts, all of which certainly hadn’t been on his baseball radar while attending Shadow Mountain High in Phoenix or nearby Yavapai Junior College.

“It was a point where I realized that to be in the upper half of the upper half, there’s almost nothing that they do that conforms to what society does,” Schilling said. “You do things dramatically different because the standard, the norm, is what everybody else does.”

The change in philosophy paid dividends.

“He changed a lot,” said Red Sox [team stats] strength and conditioning coach Dave Page, who was with the Diamondbacks during Schilling’s tenure in Arizona. “When he got to us he was 253 pounds and he pitched for us at 233 to 236. We went back in the weight room in Philadelphia and their guys were like, ‘What are you doing? You didn’t even know where this place was.’

“He was one guy who I looked forward to seeing every day, for a lot of reasons. He worked hard for me and he is so passionate for this craft and the industry. I love to hear him talk to young guys and just watch games with him. He taught me a lot about how to watch games. We didn’t have that before he came. He kind of set our compass.”

Another huge element of Schilling’s metamorphosis in Arizona was the other ace on the Diamondbacks staff, Randy Johnson. The big lefty wasn’t a local, having grown up in California and attended USC, and had only been with the Diamondbacks since ’99, but he had clearly made his mark.

It was a presence that wasn’t lost on Schilling.

“It dawned on me the second day I was in Arizona, the Sunday after I pitched and saw (Johnson) pitch, that I had never been on a staff with somebody else where when they took the ball it was a win,” he remembered. “In Philadelphia I had pretty much been that guy, and when you’re there by yourself it’s hard. All of a sudden you have someone who totally alleviates that stress. It was unbelievable to watch. It was so special.

“It was a fun period of time because I grew up there. It wasn’t a problem, whereas you can go home and have problems with people and time. It was a nice time. I was a very different person coming out of there than I was when I went there.”

But as time went by during his stint in Arizona, it became clear that the next road in his baseball life was ready to be ridden. Boston would become another jumping-off point. For the kid who charted every pitch during the 1975 World Series as a 9-year-old and ate and slept the baseball simulation game APBA, the potential for a new kind of passion was perfect.

“There is nothing even close to what Sox Nation is. I am so overwhelmingly thankful that I have had the chance to experience this before my career is over,” said Schilling, who has secured 30 tickets for a group that includes his former teammates from Yavapai, along with Little League coach Mike McQuaid and martial arts instructor Dr. Mike Foley, who also delivered the Schillings’ first child.

“You cannot explain this and give it the due it deserves to other players,” he said. “If you are a free agent, there are four or five other teams you are talking to, the dollars are somewhat comparable and Boston is one of those teams, it’s a no-brainer. It’s been unbelievable.”

 

[BC867]

ate and slept the baseball simulation game APBA

APBA . . . then Statis Pro. Wow, that brings back memories.

First as a kid, "managing" Major League teams, then with my two sons.

Thanks for the memory, Lefty.