Sew-sew postseason
BOSTON — Pitchers have dipped their fingers in pickle brine to ward off blisters, gotten cortisone shots in their shoulders or elbows, had their hamstrings wrapped in yards of tape.
No one in World Series history ever prepared for a game quite the way Curt Schilling has for the Boston Red Sox in Game 2 against the St. Louis Cardinals today.
No one else, of course, ever had a dislocated ankle tendon sutured temporarily into place by stitching the skin to the deep tissue below it, much less had gone ahead to do it a second time less than a week later to pitch in a game of this magnitude.
“As far as pain goes, I’m not feeling anything right now,” Schilling said Saturday. “We did it again today and … we were not as rushed today as the first time we did it. So (the doctor) allowed the painkiller to actually work this time.”
Schilling first underwent that unique procedure, conceived by team medical director Dr. Bill Morgan, the day before holding the New York Yankees to four hits and one run in seven innings in Game 6 of the ALCS. The spot of leaking blood on his sock gave new meaning to Red Sox and elevated him to a special place in team lore.
“We were out of options. I was not going to be able to pitch Game 6,” Schilling said. “That was clear. I was not going to go out there feeling the way I felt in Game 1. When he explained it to me, it made total sense. Whether it had ever been done or not was not really relevant to me at that point.”
The sheath surrounding one of Schilling’s tendons across the back of the ankle had ruptured, allowing the tendon to slip out of its groove. The tendon kept snapping against the bone when Schilling pitched, and lost, in the opener against the Yankees. To repair the sheath, Schilling will require surgery after the season. Morgan’s solution was to do something that would help Schilling right now.
The sutures Schilling had last Monday were taken out after Tuesday’s game to prevent infection. New ones will be sewn in before he pitches against the Cardinals in Game 2 and, possibly, Game 6 or 7.
Yet moments like those, in the spotlight of the World Series, a Super Bowl, an NBA championship or an Olympics, come to define an athlete and overshadow the rest of his or her career. Willis Reed is still remembered for the way he limped onto the court to help the New York Knicks win in 1970.
Schilling, who led the majors with 21 victories this year at age 37, was well on his way to the Hall of Fame before he pitched on his bum ankle. He’s among the active major league leaders in career strikeouts and complete games. This postseason will enhance Schilling’s stature far beyond any of his other career achievements.