Character test
According to Red Sox starter Curt Schilling, tonight’s Game 4 of the ALCS between the Red Sox and Indians is the biggest test of the season so far.
"It's our first real backs-to-the-wall moment ... probably in all honesty, our first real test of character to find out what we're made of," Schilling said this morning during his weekly call-in to Boston sports radio station WEEI. "It's ... playing a damn good team in Cleveland but the fact of the matter is last night was pretty much the start of a best-of-five, and [it's the] first one to three."
Schilling was asked about the team’s decision to start Tim Wakefield tonight over ace Josh Beckett, who would have been pitching on three days’ rest.
"Josh is gonna be ready to go," said Schilling. "It's more a matter of managerial feel. Again, as much as you like to move the chains from the sidelines, be a part of everything, you gotta understand that [Terry Francona] knows his players and this is probably as plugged in as you can possibly be from that situation, from a defending standpoint."
Schilling, who will is slated to go in Game 6 on extra rest, said he’d be ready to pitch Game 5 if called upon.
"Whenever we need to be ready," said Schilling. "I won't turn it down if it's there, it exists, and it helps. They go a long way towards trying to put us in the best possible position to succeed, and they feel [Game 6 is] the best spot for me."
More from Schilling:
"This problem isn't about J.D. Drew. The postseason, and what it means, and that leap you need from a performance standpoint, is tied to the past. I don't disagree that Jacoby's a little different makeup wise and a little spark plug. I think [J.D.'s] had three or four hits in the four games and we just haven't been able to get that magic hit that brings more than one across."
"No, not at all [a smart approach by the fans]. It really isn't. It was bad down by the dugout, which was probably just as sad, when he was in there and when he came out. But at the same time, when you want to condemn the fans for things like that, you're condemning them for I think the very thing that makes you love them, and that's the passion. And the anger which sometimes can be misguided, the fact of the matter is at the end of the day, they exist to watch us win games, and when we don't, they get irrational and you just have to understand to take it with a grain of salt, but it absolutely in my mind, has an impact, there's just no way it can't, being human and wanting to be successful and having the kind of history he's had as a player, it's got to be incredibly hard on a consistent basis to do that."
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