Projo Sox Blog

BY JOE McDONALD
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein just made it official that Curt Schilling’s season is over.

The veteran right-hander will have season-ending surgery soon and the 41-year-old’s career could also be over.

"He worked hard for a couple of months trying to strengthen his shoulder, and he actually did get stronger," said Epstein. "It went pretty well and he was able to play long toss, and initially got up on the mound, but when he started to let it go in bullpens he hurt and really wasn’t able to let it go."

Because Schilling experienced the pain again he was examined by team physician Dr. Thomas Gill and it was decided the best course of action now would be for the veteran right-hander to have surgery, which Epstein said it’s not known at this point what type of procedure Schilling will have.

"It’s disappointing," said Epstein. "We reached a point where we weren’t counting on Schill. In the back of our minds we hoped, ‘Yeah, maybe this guy will come back and really provide a big boost for us, giving everything he’s done in the postseason.’ We would never bet against Curt Schilling, but always knew this was a possibility. Something was wrong with his shoulder and we didn’t know how it happened. It happened during the offseason. The most appropriate treatment was what our doctors recommended – the conservative route."

Earlier in this process Schilling’s personal physician Dr. Craig Morgan explained to the pitcher and the Red Sox that he thought it would be best if Schilling had the surgery. The Red Sox decided to take that conservative route Epstein talked about, attempting to build up the strength in the arm.

In the end, however, the torn biceps tendon did not responded well enough.

"Maybe because I’ve been watching it day-to-day it’s not such a shock today," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "I know the announcement was made today, but we’ve been living through it. We’ve been trying to fight this since January. . . We tried to put him in the best position where he could pitch for us and when it ultimately came down to it, it wasn’t happening."

Schilling is not at Fenway Park today.

"He made a tremendous impact here," said Epstein. "When we were sitting in his living room in November of 2003, we talked about a lot of things and among those was him coming here and helping us win a World Series, handling the Boston market, pitching effectively and leading a rotation. All those things came true and then some. He certainly lived up to his end of the bargain. It was a very effective marriage while it lasted, that’s for sure. He left his mark on this organization."

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