A fog hung over downtown Indy as the ground crew pulled the tarp off the infield. The skyline was obscured. 10,000 fans came out to watch the mighty Curt Schilling pitch to the hometown Indians. Governor Mitch Daniels walked out to the mound to throw one of four ceremonial pre-game pitches. He pretended to shake off two signals from the catcher, then he threw a strike. Mrs. Nott and I were 6 rows behind home plate. It was great to be back in the ballpark.
Curt Schilling is finishing up his rehab with the triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox, and he faced the Indians in their season opener at Victory Field. In the bottom of the first, Edwards Guzman belted one over the right field fence into the lawn seating (Nobody was sitting out there, because a light drizzle had made the lawn soggy.)
From there on, things got worse for Schilling. In 6 innings, he gave up 7 runs on 11 hits. He struck out 6 batters. No wild pitches, no batters hit by pitches, and no walks.
Most of the crowd stood up and applauded when he left the mound in the 6th. Actually, half of them didn’t sit back down. They’d had enough of the raw, wet wind. Brrrrrr. The Tribe won, 7-5.
I heard about this and wonder what it means for his current physical status. I mean if Schilling had given up 7 runs on 11 hits in 6 innings pitching in his first start for Boston that would be one thing, but you really don’t expect it to happen to him at Triple-A.
Eleven baserunners in six innings is not terrible, and the point of minor league rehab assignments is to allow a player to go through the motions without pain. Personally, I’m happier than if Schilling had gone all out, allowed no runs, and end up hindered with a sore arm and nothing to show for it.
I was at this game, and spent a lot of it talking to the Pawtucket bullpen. I also got to see it for free, because Wabash paid for the ticket and transportation. Thanks, 'Bash!
Anyway, yeah, I called the first home run. I was very proud of myself. Schilling, in my opinion, did not look good. He threw strikes very consistently, but that was about all I can really say for him. The Tribe hit him very well, which hopefully speaks well for them. Being affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates, however, I have my doubts.
