Curt Schilling - 38 - RHP
Week 25 - 20-26 September 2004

It seems like we just handed the hardware to Curt Schilling only a few weeks ago, and that is correct. However, Schilling’s accomplishments in the last week cannot be overlooked. After becoming the first pitcher this season to collect 20 wins the week before against Tampa Bay, Schilling came thisclose to earning number 21 on Tuesday at home against Baltimore. In eight innings of work, Schilling allowed no runs on three hits and one walk while striking out 14; only a blown save by closer Keith Foulke prevented the overpowering righty from earning his due. Sunday, he finally did get that win, pitching seven innings and allowing just two runs on one hit while walking four and striking out six New York Yankees. At 21-6 with a 3.26 ERA, Schilling will receive strong consideration for the Cy Young award in the American League, which would be the first time that he has owned that piece of hardware in his 17-year career and the first Red Sox pitcher since Pedro Martinez won his second Cy Young with Boston in 2000. With a playoff spot locked up, fans are hoping that his dominance will continue in the post-season, three years after collecting World Series co-MVP honors with teammate Randy Johnson in Arizona.

What do you have when millionaires and multi-millionaires can’t agree? You get the National Hockey League labor dispute, which two weeks ago boiled over to the point where the NHL owners group decided to “lock out” its players until an agreement is reached. At the center of the dispute is the institution of a salary cap, which the owners strongly support and the players vehemently oppose. At the moment, talks have been broken and both teams appear prepared to hunker down for the long run, which resonates much the same way that the baseball labor war eventually cancelled the remainder of the 1994 season and the first few weeks of the 1995 season.

Even if a “miracle on ice” occurs and the owners and players are able to come to terms before all is lost, perhaps we are witnessing the slow death of a major sports league in the United States for the first time in our lives. The NHL has expanded from “the Original Six” to 30 teams less than 40 years; this increase, which on paper seems to indicate the popularity of the sport, has proven to be a double-edged sword. While there is more exposure of the league in several major markets, the talent level of the league has also watered down and ticket prices have soared dramatically to try and keep pace with the ever-increasing average salary. With that, the popularity of the league has dwindled and, according to Bettman, that translated to losses of more than $1.8 billion in the last ten years, more the fault of a collective ownership that cannot police itself.

So what should baseball take from this debacle? If anything, Major League Baseball may be faced with a similar problem once the collective bargaining agreement expires in December of 2006, just over two years from now. An eleventh-hour deal in 2002 prevented the possible loss of another post-season as the owners and players came to agreement; Bud Selig, representing MLB owners, and Donald Fehr, representing the MLB players association, stood side-by-side and called the agreement “historical” with the agreement to raise the league minimum by 50 percent while creating a luxury tax penalty for teams that exceed defined payroll thresholds instead of a hard cap. However, this has been a band-aid solution to the problem; small-market teams continue to wallow in the basement of their respective divisions while a certain owner who’s name will remain unspoken (hint: rhymes with Steinbrenner) continues to thumb his nose at this agreement, hiking his payroll to eye-popping levels in defiance of these sanctions.

As the NHL travels towards an uncertain future, possibly destined for extinction, baseball needs to recognize that the path of its league does not stray far from where pro hockey is heading. Economic instability and a lack of parity are slowly dragging this league down to the point where interest outside of major markets like Boston and New York is demonstrated by half-empty baseball stadiums and abysmal television ratings. Another strike that plays out as it did ten years ago might drive fans even further away to the point that they are no longer interested in supporting the league with their hard-earned paycheck. With the focus of baseball shifting to the playoffs, the owners and the players should shift focus after the season back to talks on a balanced work package, one that does not punish either side but instead creates better economic sense for the health of baseball. Otherwise, the bell might toll for two major sports this decade.

David Ortiz - 34 - DH/1B
Week 24 - 13-19 September 2004

It’s hard to believe that “Big Papi” has only been selected just one other time this season. The big left-hander has become a fixture in the Red Sox lineup in the clean-up spot and makes it near impossible for opposing pitchers to intentionally walk Manny Ramirez hitting in front of him. Through Sunday, he had collected 38 home runs (second in the American League behind Ramirez) and 126 RBI (second in the AL behind Baltimore Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada). Although his batting average has slipped some as of late, he was at a .297 pace and had a slugging percentage of .600 (second in the AL behind - you guessed it - Ramirez). In six games last week, Ortiz was 8-for-23 with a home run, one RBI, and four runs scored as the Red Sox fought to try and gain on the Yankees in the standings. Though the end result of the weekend series in New York was two losses in three games, Ortiz is a big reason that the Sox are contending for a playoff spot and breathing down the neck of the Yankees. Even Joe Torre hopes that his pitchers, should these two clubs meet in the American League Championship Series, will be able to contain him, or perhaps he will be the one suffering nightmares in the offseason.

Bronson Arroyo - 61 - RHP
Week 23 - 06-12 September 2004

As the Sox continue to drive for a chance to play in October, it appears that Curt Schilling, Pedro Martinez, and Derek Lowe have locked up their spots in the playoff rotation. Naturally, it would seem that Tim Wakefield, who enjoyed much success in last season’s playoffs (minus the end of Game 7 in the American League Championship Series) is the likely fourth starter, but Bronson Arroyo is making it tough to ignore his recent hot streak. Last week, Arroyo won both of his starts against Oakland and Seattle to even his record at .500 (9-9) and lower his ERA from 4.24 to 4.04. In Oakland, he gave up just three runs on seven hits as Boston earned its first victory in an eventual series sweep of the Athletics; in Seattle, he blanked the Mariners for seven complete innings and gave up just four hits. He also managed not to walk a single batter in either of those starts and collected eight strikeouts. Arroyo has also now won four of his last five starts; if he continues his torrid pace, especially if he is able to handle New York on Friday at Yankee Stadium, Terry Francona may have a dilemna on his hand.

Curt Schilling - 38 - RHP
Week 22 - 30 August - 05 September 2004

Curt Schilling must be giving the Yankees nightmares when they sleep; if they are lucky to just see him once before season’s end, they will assuredly see him in the playoffs should there be an American League Championship series between the two rivals. Schilling has been, like the Red Sox, red-hot since the start of August; he has won 6 of 7 and has just a 2.87 ERA in those starts. Even more impressive, he has not allowed a walk in his last four starts! Last week, Schilling bested two tough AL West Division foes as Boston began a crucial stretch of nine games against three clubs all within striking distance of first place in that division. First, he allowed just three runs on nine hits to Anaheim as Boston took the first game in a sweep of the Angels; then, on Sunday, he allowed Texas just three runs on five hits in 8-1/3 innings pitched as Boston took two-of-three from the Rangers. The two wins gave Schilling the major league lead in wins this season with 18, clearly giving him a good chance at 20 and a shot at his first Cy Young award at age 37. Sleep well, New York… if you can.

The Anaheim Angels were still looking for the license plate of the bus that ran them over repeatedly for three straight days at Fenway Park, having been swept by the surging Boston Red Sox. The win gave Boston a 4-1/2 game cushion in the American League wild card race over the same Angels and a six-game lead over the Texas Rangers, who will pay a weekend visit to Boston starting tonight. The win also kept Boston just 3-1/2 games behind the New York Yankees, whose once seemingly insurmountable lead of 10-1/2 games had been whittled away in just over two weeks. Life is good for the legion of fanatical Red Sox fans that is suddenly savoring the possibilities of some exciting October baseball.

Looking back just over a month ago, this same legion was scratching its collective head as it tried to make sense of a team that seemed to be underachieving. Was this not practically the same team that just last year was five outs away from heading to a World Series for the first time in many years at the expense of the dreaded Yankees? Were they not that much better with the addition of Curt Schilling in an already strong rotation and Keith Foulke as the dominant closer?

Even more so was the question of the team’s leadership. Was manager Terry Francona, who has not much more experience than his predecessor, Grady Little, just not the dugout leader this team needed to motivate the club to win consistently? Had the young general manager, Theo Epstein, gone mad by trading one of the most popular players in Red Sox history, Nomar Garciaparra, in return for a one-time Gold Glove first baseman and an anonymous shortstop from a lame-duck Canadian team?

Much has been said about the roles of these two gentlemen on this team and not much of that has been positive. Francona, with just four years of head coaching experience at the major league level, did not carry with him the awesome respect of a Joe Torre or a Jim Leyland when he was brought in during the off-season to take over for the disgraced Little. Epstein, at age 30 years the youngest GM in MLB history, had been given leeway during his first year in 2003 and was applauded for his success, but some wondered if that aura was wearing thin.

While it would have been easy to make excuses in relation to the injuries and the clubhouse distractions, the two instead ignored these critics and did their parts; Francona continued to find a game plan that worked while Epstein continued to look for ways to improve the club. Now, the team has gelled at the right time and has left a path of destruction over the last month of baseball like a twister through a trailer park.

For that, you almost have to tip your cap to these two for staying poised and true to task. The two have also put the club on a road to future success; Francona has shown the flexibility to go with the flow of the game and Epstein, with Nomar in his rear view mirror, has set the club up to sign two of its key players that will become free agents at the end of the season, Pedro Martinez and Jason Varitek.

True, at this point, even with 30 games that remain to be played, there are no guarantees. A team does not make the playoffs because the club is more deserving; to paraphrase former actor John Houseman, it must earn that shot. However, with a team an upstart general manager has assembled and a no-nonsense manager now leads, you must feel pretty good right about now. At least, you must feel better than the Angels.