Rob Neyer says yes. Jayson Stark says yes.

Three World Series rings. 214 career victories. 83 complete games. Three 300-strikeout seasons. The highest postseason winning percentage of all time (.846) for a starter with more than six postseason decisions. The best strikeout/walk ratio of any pitcher in the modern era.

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Me and the boyfriend have been apartment-hunting, and are currently on a demoralizing 0-for-21 slide. That’s right, 21 apartments viewed so far and 0 leases to show for it. So, I’m doing what any good manager would do: benching us. Clearly, what is needed here is a day to clear the head. And how better to clear said head than with some good hardball linkage?

First, Baseball Reference’s Stat of the Day blog has a quick take on winning with no hits, as the Dodgers did last night.

SportsbyBrooks weighs in on the issue that wouldn’t die: the unkillable pink Red Sox hat debate.

Towel Drills has the Ozzie Guillen-Lou Piniella “rap” commercial, which I hadn’t seen yet. It’s horrifying, and it makes me grateful that Boston only has one baseball team.

Half Street Blues has the news of a rather interesting (read: desperate) marketing ploy from the offices of the Washington Nationals: today’s first 10,000 fans who bring in any non-Nats baseball merch and trade it for a free Nationals hat, the one with the curly little “W” that looks like a pig’s tail.

In this week’s Metro column, I assess Curt Schilling’s HOF chances.

River Ave. Blues and Blogging the Bombers are both chuckling over today’s oddball Yankee lineup. Oh, that Joey Girardi! He’s such a kidder!

Razzball has an “interview” with “Spike Lee.”

Balls, Sticks, & Stuff has some simple steps to “Phix the Phils.”

“Eyre placed on DL,” begins the headline of this MLB.com piece. Naturally, I supplied the rest in the blink of an eye: “Expected to be out at least six weeks with malnutrition, exposure to typhus, smoke inhalation, and a broken heart. Will return only when Mr. Rochester finally calls.”

Do you often hear ghostly voices crying your name over the lonely moors? Tell me about it!

Today, the Philadelphia Inquirer is polling its readers. The question: “If Curt Schilling’s career is over, should he be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible?”

The results:

Yes. He has longevity, and he’s one of the all-time great big-game pitchers.

901 (51.6%)

No. He had his moments, but he doesn’t have enough wins.

846 (48.4%)

Total votes = 1747

I still haven’t made up my mind if Schilling is Hall worthy. Rest assured, it’s a topic we’ll delve into in great detail here at Umpbump. But for now I thought it was interesting to note that Philadelphia fans seem split on the issue.

UPDATE: Today, Jayson Stark debates the merits of Schilling’s Hall of Fame case with ESPN.com readers. It’s worth a read to get a sense of just how much many people dislike Schilling and how feverishly opposed they are to his candidacy, despite the fact that Stark makes a very compelling case in favor of Schilling.

I do try to control my raging Boston homer impulses here on UmpBump, but there’s only so much a girl can do. I’ve just got all these BoSox-centered thoughts rattling around in the old bean, and I’ve got let some of them out! But if you stick it out for a few paragraphs, there will be some assorted MLB-wide random thoughts towards the end.

Curt Schilling may be an opinionated guy, but he’s not afraid to admit when he’s wrong. He played catch yesterday, after what he described as his longest period without throwing a ball since he was five years old. And he admitted that the course of rehab recommended by the Red Sox doctors—which he fought tooth and nail—is working. And the weight bonus has been dropped from his contract. Bartolo Colon is pitching for Pawtucket on Saturday. And yesterday, Boston’s other old man, knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, threw 8 innings of shut-out ball in Detroit. Good times for Boston’s venerable hurlers.

Gordon Edes (still at the Boston Globe, at least for the time being) had a quick observation about Julio Lugo:

Julio Lugo began the day ranked at the bottom of all defensive categories for big-league shortstops. He had the most errors (9), the lowest fielding percentage (.919), was last in assists per nine innings (2.36), and last in range factor (3.49). The rest of the Sox infield? Mike Lowell, Sean Casey, and Dustin Pedroia have one error apiece, Kevin Youkilis none. Most of Lugo’s errors have come on routine plays, an indictment of his fundamental skills more than his athleticism…

This jibes with what I’ve been observing. Lugo gets to the ball and then bobbles it, or lets it go under his glove, or even snags it and then throws it away. It just seems like he’s not focused, as if he’s thinking too many steps ahead instead—he looks like he’s taking his eye off the ball when it’s coming to him and then getting rid of it before he gets his feet under him. Basic stuff. Lugo has called himself an aggressive shortstop and has admitted that sometimes, his enthusiasm results in mistakes. I wish he’d get a little more Zen-master-like focus.

Anyway, compare Edes’ observation, above, with this sentence from Nick Cafardo, the man who took over the Sunday Notes column from him:

Is there a shortstop alive with more range than the Angels’ Erick Aybar (please, no “range factor” stats)?

Ugh. For the record, Erick Aybar is leading MLB shortstops in range factor this season. He’s 13th in fielding percentage. Or, if you’re Nick Cafardo, in “‘fielding percentage’ stats.” Cafardo also interviewed Johnny Damon, who sounds like a bit of an ass:

You’re 34 years old with more than 2,100 hits. Do you ever think about playing a long time and getting 3,000 hits and possibly making it to the Hall of Fame?

JD: “I’m starting to think about it. I never thought about it because it’s a team game and there are so many pitches I took to try to work the pitch count to make it easier on people like [David] Ortiz, Mike Sweeney, and Manny [Ramírez]. I mean, what if I just swung and got the hits and all the times I played when I shouldn’t have to make sure other guys stay fresh? If you think about that over seven or eight years, how many would I have had? I’m starting to think about it more.”

Apparently, Johnny Damon could have had a lot more hits by now, if he hadn’t been trying to selflessly help the team. (Whaaa?)

At a recent game in the Fens, we were sitting right behind the Boston bullpen. We watched Hideki Okajima rub the parrot for good luck before the game. We watched Julian Tavarez flirting with the girls seated next to us. Billy the bullpen cop saw an adorable little boy walk up to the metal fencing and peek down into the pen; Billy got Jonathan Papelbon to walk over to the fence and say hi. The little boy’s eyes widened to the size of catchers’ mitts. We saw the guys trying to throw pumpkin seeds into a plastic cup. (Only one seed went in, by my count, but some unseen hand was throwing those seeds with a lot of great, biting movement on ‘em. It would really dive in against a righthanded hitter, with good downward break as well. Wonder who that was?)

Boston’s now enjoying a 4-game lead for first place in the AL East. The Rays are 4 back, the struggling Yanks and the Jays a game behind them, and the Orioles are back in the cellar where they belong.

Other MLB randomness:

Have you ever noticed how Placido Polanco has a head like a midget? It’s a midget-shaped head on a regular-sized body. Strange.

Barry Zito will return to the starting rotation without making any appearances out of the bullpen. This seems less like a return to sanity on the part of San Francisco management than like they utterly and completely lack for any sort of plan, at all. But then, we knew that.

The players’ association is investigating suspicions of collusion regarding unsigned veterans like Kenny Lofton and Barry Bonds. But old is old and indicted is indicted, no?

MLB looked into the blow-up doll incident in the White Sox clubhouse and decided it was a “team issue.” GM Ken Williams has been assured by Ozzie Guillen that it won’t happen again. Yet the skipper has told the press he sees nothing offensive, immature, or otherwise pathetic with having lewdly positioned blow-up dolls in the clubhouse because it’s a clubhouse, and what happens in the clubhouse should stay in the clubhouse because it’s the clubhouse, goddammit, and if grown men want to play with dolls in their clubhouse than that’s their clubhouse-given right! Clubhouse. (Note to self: rename office cubicle “the clubhouse;” purchase opium; hire harem boys; acquire a quantity of mead, one of those roasted pigs with the apple stuck in its mouth, and a cake; send Outlook invites for Friday afternoon orgy.) Now, it should be noted that there was, at one point, a naked blow-up doll in my freshman year dorm room. I have no idea how it got there, but one day I woke up and saw it, lo and behold, perched atop my roommate’s wardrobe. And a couple of months later, it vanished. I offer this anecdote just by way of saying, random and tasteless blow-up dolls could happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time.

UPDATED 2/8/08 9:24 am–below

Curt Schilling has a shoulder injury. And according to reports, it’s more serious than the injury that caused him to miss 7 weeks last season.

Curt Schilling has visited Dr. Craig Morgan, who performed surgery on his shoulder in 1995. Sources have told reporters in Boston that Morgan feels Schilling needs surgery, while the Red Sox would like him to rehab his shoulder without surgery. The sources also say that the Red Sox have inquired about voiding his contract, which calls for a base pay of $8 million with several more million in incentives. Obviously, Schilling does not want his contract voided.

At this point, the injury is believed to be a rotator cuff or labrum tear. Surgery would end Schilling’s year, almost certainly. And he’s said this is definitely his last year.

Neither Schilling nor the Red Sox have publicly commented on the injury or the dispute as of yet, which is an ominous sign. If Schill had just visited Dr. Morgan to say “Aah,” he would have no doubt quickly released a statement to quash these rumors.

Schilling had a physical before he and the Sox inked this deal. Did they miss something? Or did he hurt his shoulder pulling the lever for McCain on Tuesday?

UPDATE: Schilling has “screaming pain” in his arm and”can’t throw a baseball, and has pain simply shaking hands or opening a door.”

From the Boston Globe:

Schilling will attempt to give the shoulder-strengthening program another try. If he doesn’t respond as well as he did last season, he has the option to walk away from his contract and have surgery to prepare for ‘09 with another team…there are no shock waves on Yawkey Way. Both sides knew there wasn’t much left in his right shoulder before all this came out.

Here, in its entirety, is the statement released by the Red Sox:

Curt Schilling was examined by Red Sox doctors in January after he reported feeling right shoulder discomfort. Curt has started a program of rest, rehabilitation and shoulder strengthening in an attempt to return to pitching.

Seems that Schilling’s desire to have surgery has gone by the wayside. Neither side has addressed the supposed contract-voiding debate, but Curt has since posted a response of his own on his blog:

There have been disagreements these past few weeks in an effort to provide me with a solution that would allow me to pitch as much as possible during the 2008 season. At no time did I ever consider taking a course of action against the clubs wishes. In the end, regardless of who agreed with whom, I have chosen the clubs course of action and will vigorously pursue any and every option I can to be able to help this team to another World Series title in 2008.

Please understand that a lot of what has been reported is not true. When the club feels it’s appropriate to further discuss the details of this issue publicly I will elaborate…

After being diagnosed by the Red Sox medical staff I sought a second opinion, as anyone would, and when it became clear there was disagreement (which is not uncommon by the way), I agreed to see an independent Doctor from a list the Red Sox provided me, for the third opinion.

They were saying on the radio this morning that Curt’s injury is not a labrum or a rotator cuff, as previously speculated, but a problem with his biceps, according to the Boston Herald:

It is Morgan’s diagnosis that Schilling’s main problem stems from the bicipital groove, the portion of the bicep tendon which runs outside of the shoulder…and is an irreversible problem, if just using the Red Sox’ recommended remedy of a cortisone shot and rehabilitation.

“In my opinion a conservative approach will be unsuccessful, and that a surgical option is medically the correct thing to do and has the only potential shot of him being able to salvage his coming season,” said Morgan, who estimates Schilling could be ready to pitch by the All-Star break with the procedure…

[The third doctor] agreed with Morgan’s diagnosis that the pitcher’s biceps tendon had become diseased, but also concluded Schilling’s rotator cuff was a significant problem, and he wouldn’t be ready to pitch during in 2008 if Morgan’s proposed surgery was performed.

Morgan says the biceps (or the tendons?) in question “look like spaghetti.” I suppose that’s the medical term.

J-Walk, one of my favorite Tucson bloggers, posted recently about the terms and conditions on Curt Schilling’s website, 38pitches. The terms are … well … kinda intense.

Let me share his observations with you.

It has the standard “you agree to be bound” verbiage — probably one of the most ridiculous concepts ever conceived:

By accessing and using the Web Site, you consent to and agree to be bound by the terms of the foregoing Terms. These Terms of Service, together with 38pitches.com’s Web Site Privacy Policy [see the link on the Home page] and any other legal notices published by 38pitches.com on the Web Site, shall constitute the entire agreement between you and 38pitches.com concerning the Web Site.

And, of course, the equally ridiculous:

You should review these Terms regularly as they may change at any time at the sole discretion of 38pitches.com.

He probably has a team of lawyers who convinced him that all of this nonsense is necessary.

Note to Umpbump readers: you will never be asked to consent to and agree to be bound by the terms of our foregoing Terms. Ever.

The time for knee-jerk reactions to the Mitchell report has passed. Now it’s time to commence with the backbiting and fingerpointing. Let’s look at some reactions from a few clean players.

For the most part, the players not involved in the Mitchell report have been keeping their heads down and not saying nuthin’. Those who do speak have mostly stuck to banal comments and harmless generalizations. The players named by Mitchell have resorted to a) silence, b) denial, or c) lame-ass apologies, such as those by Brian Roberts (”I didn’t inhale!”) and Andy Pettitte (”If what I did was an error in judgment on my part, I apologize…I accept responsibility for those two days.”)

The most interesting exception to this sit-down-shut-up-boo-hoo-poor-me spectacle has been the former players who were clean, and who are pissed as hell they had to compete against these cheaters. If there is any doubt that using steroids was cheating (and nasty, no-good, dirty, cheateriffic cheating at that), listen to the words of folks like Joe Oliver and Mike Greenwell. As Oliver wrote in an email  to Boston Herald columnist Joe Horrigan,

I had to vie for a job every year and now I know it had something to do with certain players having a competitive edge on me…I spent all that time in the early hours running and lifting weights, these guys would shoot up and be done and get stronger, faster, and the owners knew who they were and the GM’s knew who they were. Every time I argued for a contract, I was competing with juiced catchers in the same boat looking for a job. They got the higher paying jobs and I got screwed.

That reflects the sentiments of Mike Greenwell, another former Red Sox player. He was never the kind of guy who got the awards or the glory or the big-money deal. He just showed up to work and played hard. (In fact, he turned running into the Green Monster into a kind of art, occasionally kicking the wall in retaliation for some of those bumps and bruises.) He had a couple of All-Star game appearances, over the course of his 12-year career, and then faded gracefully from view. His best season was 1988, when he came in second in MVP voting. And who should happen to have beaten him out that year? Why, Jose Canseco, who just that year had his 40-homer, 40-steal season. Now that Canseco has fully admitted to using steroids, shouldn’t the Gator get the hardware? That’s what he said back when Jose’s first book came out:

“Where’s my MVP?” Greenwell told the Fort Myers News-Press. “[Canseco's] an admitted steroid user. I was clean. If they’re going to start putting asterisks by things, let’s put one by the MVP.”

[...]

“I do have a problem with losing the MVP to an admitted steroids user,” Greenwell told the News-Press, adding that not winning the award likely cost him millions of dollars.

Even Curt Schilling, whose comments on the subject have been mostly of the don’t-make-waves variety (for a change) admitted that the idea of an uneven playing field disturbed him.

As a competitor, the one thing I can’t help but think is how different, or if at all different, my career numbers would be if I was playing against a level playing field and in an era that was already offensive-tailored and knowing that a lot of guys, well, everybody that’s been named, has done something against me in the past.

As for my part, I’m glad to see at least some players, current and former, standing up for themselves. Maybe it will help the players’ union remember, the next time they’re tempted to stonewall even the most pathetic, flaccid, symbolic steroid testing program, that it’s not just the Cansecos and McGwires and Bondses that they represent. But (heavy sigh) probably not.

PS—Just look at those pictures of Oliver and Greenwell and compare them with this shot of Canseco. Even with his catching gear on, Oliver looks like the proverbial ten-pound weakling next to Jose. And Mike Greenwell is a dead ringer for my fifth-grade homeroom teacher, Mr. Grosky. You have the Incredible Hulk in a mullet, there, versus Mr. Grosky. This playing field has a steeper incline than the Matterhorn.

Dear Curt,

I read on your blog, 38 Pitches, that you’ve decided to play one more season in Boston. That’s great news! You’ve had a great career and you deserve to finish it in the city where you’ve had your greatest success.I also read that there’s a weight clause in your new contract and that you’ll be working hard this offseason to lose weight and get in shape.

I’m writing to encourage you to make that weight loss quest public. In light of today’s release of the Mitchell Report, your struggle with weight gain takes on new meaning. You’ve got a blog — use it to tell the story of a baseball player who is working hard to succeed au natural. Show us before and after pictures and workout videos. Do whatever you can to remind young ballplayers that baseball is all about hard work and playing (and training) the right way.

As an added benefit, publicizing your diet will only bring you closer to your fans, especially those who have struggled with weight loss.

Moreover, it will be a great excuse to dive into multimedia. Compared to other athletes, you’ve always been ahead of the game when it comes to technology. But you’ve never been one to take advantage of graphics — at least not on 38 Pitches.  This is your chance. Photos, Curt! Photos!

Sincerely,

Umpbump