Schilling leaves doubt about 2007 return

BOSTON --Curt Schilling pulled the plug on the 2006 season Tuesday night and then let slip one little word of doubt about whether he'll be back for '07.

"If I come back next year, I know that the offseason will be the hardest of my career," he said.

Wait a minute. Did he just say if?

"Well, going into next year," he backtracked.

Schilling is due $13 million on the contract extension he signed when he waived his no-trade clause to come to Boston on Thanksgiving weekend of 2003. The money was an option that vested when the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series, thanks in no small part to Schilling.

But he turns 40 in November and he lost most of 2005 to the ankle injury that sent his bloody sock to the Hall of Fame. Although he pitched 204 innings this season, it took him eight weeks to win his 15th game.