A-Rod should win first, then make friendly conversation

Curt Schilling is at it again.

The outspoken Red Sox pitcher, whose comments have a knack… Curt Schilling is at it again.

The outspoken Red Sox pitcher, whose comments have a knack for ruffling the feathers of the baseball world, took aim at Alex Rodriguez. The Yankees’ shortstop was called out for interference in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series last year, and Schilling called it a “bush league” play.

Last Friday, Rodriguez admitted to ESPN that he was still fuming.

“I just hope he continues to talk about me and my teammates,” he said. “It’s going to give us great motivation to beat him up in the future.”

Translation: “Shut up, Curt.”

But why shouldn’t he be allowed to talk? Schilling has earned the right to speak his mind. We’re talking about a man who went to teams with Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez, two pitchers with serious shots at Cooperstown, and became the go-to guy. He has taken three different teams to the World Series, and won games in the series each time.

And in those instances when what he’s said has made him look foolish, he hasn’t gone back and said, “Well that’s not what I meant. I was just kidding.” Instead, he stands by it. Never was this more evident than in last year’s ALCS, when, before the series, he said he’d like nothing more than to shut up 55,000 Yankees fans.

He was shelled in his ensuing start, but he didn’t try to retract his statement or make any excuses. Instead, he came back and won Game 6 despite intense pain and a sock bloodier than the principal’s at the end of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”

Maybe A-Rod should think about stepping up to a challenge like that once in a while before criticizing somebody. Despite being the highest-paid professional athlete in history at $252 million over 10 years, he certainly hasn’t. He never got the Rangers over the hump, and he blew his big chance this past fall when he went two-for-17 in the last four games of the ALCS, choking in the Yankees’ four straight losses to Boston.

Schilling receives criticism for his outspoken nature beyond Rodriguez, though. He thinks he knows why.

“I’m opinionated; I believe in my opinions,” he told ESPN’s Jayson Stark on a recent edition of “SportsCenter.” “In the world of sports, that pisses a lot of people off. A lot of people think that if you’re opinionated, and you have intelligence, you’re rockin’ the boat.”

What bothers his critics most must be the fact that he’s right. The world of baseball doesn’t encourage someone to be forward with his opinions. What other stars in today’s game give their opinion or even have an opinion?

Take Barry Bonds. He’s the biggest name in the game, but the media can’t get two words out of him unless they ask him about his favorite subject — himself. The only opinion Bonds might have given lately would be a preference for the cream over the clear.

And as far as intelligence goes, the wheels are definitely turning in Schilling’s head. This is a guy who has every pitch he’s ever thrown to every batter he’s faced on a computer, so that he knows what and what not to throw to anybody in the Major Leagues. There are few other stars who really demonstrate the mental capacity of Schilling; the media is more drawn to an alternative like Keyshawn Johnson — always talking, but saying nothing. Do you think while complaining to the world that he wasn’t getting the ball, Keyshawn was charting opposing coaches’ defensive tendencies in the secondary on his PC?

And don’t think this is a biased opinion. As a Phillies fan, I should be livid at Schilling, who, before leaving the team, blasted upper management for not getting the team anywhere. But he was right! The Phillies have disappointed season after season despite a good roster, because upper management wouldn’t fire manager Larry Bowa, or trade for the players the team needed.

So A-Rod, you have 252 million reasons to worry about your own game and leave Schilling alone. He’s a talker, for sure, and one may not always agree with him, but maybe professional sports needs more people like him.

Brian Weaver is a staff writer for The Pitt News, and though his Phillies could not win, he is sure that his Eagles will pick up the slack.