Curt Schilling: Staying in Boston. And staying fit.
Word has just come down that Curt Schilling (and family) will be staying in Boston. No sooner had the news leaked out than I saw that the man known as Big Schill will be slightly smaller next year, or (literally) pay the price:
ORLANDO – Curt Schilling’s new 1-year, $8 million deal with the Red Sox (which is pending results of a physical) will include $2 million worth of incentives if he meets weight requirements. The team hopes to insure that Schilling will be fit when he comes to spring training, a source close to the negotiations said moments ago.
But just as I was wondering “How in the heck did they ever get Curt to agree to that?!” I learned that the Weight Watchers plan was the hurler’s own idea:
I inserted the weigh in clause in the 2nd round of offers, counter offers. Given the mistakes I made last winter and into Spring Training I needed to show them I recognized that, and understood the importance of it. Being overweight and out of shape are two different things. I also was completely broad sided by the fact that your body doesn’t act/react the same way as you get older. Even after being told that for the first 39 years of my life. Now I can’t get on Dougie anymore, which sucks, and I am sure the clause will add 15-100 more jokes to Tito’s Schilling joke book.
Other performance incentives include $3 million based on innings pitched and another $1 million if he gets a Cy Young vote (any vote). So while the AP reported a total of $5 million in potential bonuses, it actually adds up to $6 million, even if that final million is rather unlikely. In short, unless he misses serious time or gets seriously husky, Curt will make the same as he did last year and finish his career in Boston. The other teams who called, according to Schilling’s blog, included Philly, St. Louis, Houston, and Arizona.
For a list of reasons why I’m psyched about this, click here.
October 23rd, 2007 at 8:32 pm
So his follow up sentence means nothing?
“I’m an American League fan, and I go with the American League team, maybe with the exception of the Mets,” he said. “Maybe that would be the one time I wouldn’t because I’m loyal to New York.”
Cmon, this is like picking the team in a Super Bowl you have nothing invested in. It’s more fun to watch if you have a side to root for.
Though I’d probably still root against the Yankees.
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October 23rd, 2007 at 8:56 pm
Rich, please. If you’re a Yankees fan and the Red Sox are in the World Series, you don’t root FOR anyone. You simply root AGAINST the Red Sox. Whether they get beaten by the NL team or by act of God makes no difference, as long as they are humiliated.
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October 23rd, 2007 at 8:58 pm
BTW, I’m loving that right now the Google advertisement located at the bottom of this post is for Fred Thompson 2008.
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October 23rd, 2007 at 10:44 pm
As a citizen of Boston, I reject Mr. Giuliani’s pandering. I’m not fooled, Rudy! Now you just lose points for being two-faced or, even worse, a dread FLIP-FLOPPER. Did you vote for the Red Sox before you voted against them??
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October 24th, 2007 at 8:36 am
See, Coley. That’s been my experience with Red Sox fans, but Yankee fans have usually expressed agressive indifference towards the Sox and their fans. I don’t recall hearing about “Varitek is a little bitch” or “Lugo sucks, Drew swallows” tshirts. Actually, I think that last one might have been for sale on Yawkey Way until recently.
Besides, if loyalty to a certain sports team is honestly affecting anyone’s vote for the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, they need to reexamine their politics.
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October 24th, 2007 at 9:18 am
I dunno, Rich.
I kind of like my presidents to not be Evil.
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November 7th, 2007 at 12:49 am
I can’t help wondering if the weight clause maybe isn’t little more than a face saving measure. If we recall, Schilling said in spring training last year that he would only play for $13 million this coming season. And lo and behold, adding the weight clause brings the total to exactly 13 million (along with the easily reachable incentives). Without knowing the actual weight targets set, it’s immossible to say for sure, but I wonder how realistic those targets actually are, or if Schilling actually even intends to try to meet them.
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November 7th, 2007 at 2:35 am
Right, Nick. Because, it would have been embarrassing to sign a contract for less than $13 million, but not at all embarrassing to forfeit $4 million due to fatness.
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