While Rob Neyer’s surprisingly emphatic (and intuitive) thumbs up to Curt Schilling and Cooperstown gets discussed and then some at Baseball Think Factory, the Philadelphia Daily News‘ Bill Conlin puts down his grouper sandwich and checks in with a few members of the 1993 Phillies:
Larry Andersen, now a radio voice, was the weary reliever who set up closer Mitch Williams that fatal Game 6 in Toronto, Schilling with the towel covering his head and face, Joe Carter up with one out, two runners on, the Phils clinging to a 6-5 lead. A lot of people on that bench have never fully forgiven Schilling for the way he showed up his teammate with the baseball world watching. And it didn’t matter that Williams wound up serving the most dramatic World Series walkoff homer since Bill Mazeroski in 1960….
Andersen rolled his eyes when I asked his reaction to Schilling’s cyberspace announcement that his 20-year career is over. “I was taught that if you can’t say something nice about somebody, don’t say anything at all,” he said. Then LA laughed mirthlessly. “It would probably make CNN.”
As luck would have it, the showers that came gusting off Tampa Bay and doused another Bright House Field sellout forced Darren Daulton to land the mothership in the parking lot. He was holding court in the Hooters box with the usual gaggle of pals and fans who surround him here during the Countdown to Dec. 21, 2012, last day of the Mayan calendar. When that page is turned, he says, all humankind will continue to exist, but in a different form.
Dutch pointed to Andersen. “I’m with him,” he said.
Some Phillies fans are wondering which hat Curt would wear should he earn HoF induction. Really? (And hey, remember when that used to be a serious question to ask about Roger Clemens?)
That’s some nice ink on Curt. Totally badass.
I am a long time Phils Phan and I can’t stand him. His self serving comments and up-staging of mitch williams in the Phillies 1993 quest for a WSC turned me off big time.
the phils would of never had a shot that season if it wasn’t for mitch. we phils fans have forgiven mitch, but we won’t forgive schilling putting a towel over his head everytime mitch enter the game
Hey, did you hear they caught the guy who egged Mitch Williams’ house?
It was Mitch Williams. He was aiming for the neighbor’s.
It should be noted that Dec. 12, 2012 is an infamous date in many many different cultures, not just the Mayans. The end of days will absolutley come on that day, and I base that more on science than religion (the latter of which I’ve never been a member). I’m planning on squeezing in a few more Cyclones games until that happens.
Curt Schilling looks eerily like Don Nelson in that photo. I think Nellie has that tattoo, too.