Schilling: a Good Buy, or Goodbye?

Can you really blame owner Bill Giles for wanting a little insurance?

After all, his Philadelphia Phillies opened the 1997 season Tuesday with five pitchers on the disabled list, three of them starters and one the setup man, a numbing reminder of 1996.

The Phillies employed 54 players, tying a National League record, last season. They used the disabled list a league-high 23 times as 10 players suffered season-ending injuries and 15 Phillies made their big league debuts, riding the shuttle from triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre.

On the other hand, what more can Curt Schilling do to demonstrate that he’s physically fit, a proven warhorse in an otherwise suspect rotation?

In a midseason-like performance on a wind-chilled opening day at Dodger Stadium, the 30-year-old right-hander shackled the Dodgers on two infield hits over eight innings of a 3-0 Philadelphia victory before 53,079.

He struck out 11, walked three, and prompted an observer named Tom Lasorda to say, “I thought that was Bob Feller out there.”

Dominating as he was, Schilling’s future with the Phillies remained uncertain.

He is being paid $3.35 million this year and has reached an agreement with the club on a three-year, $15.95-million extension, but Giles refuses to sign it unless the club can insure the contract against injury.

Schilling had scrapped his original deadline Monday, giving the club an additional 24 hours to get what it needed from the underwriters Tuesday.

But after dealing with the Dodgers, he indicated he was through dealing with the Phillies, who had failed to hear from the insurance people.

Still wearing part of his uniform, Schilling met with agent Jeff Borris in the Phillies’ dugout late Tuesday afternoon and then said he would not give the club another 24 hours.

He added, however, that he planned to confer with Borris again Tuesday night, and there was indication from the Phillies that they felt the issue could be resolved today--if Schilling was receptive.

“Another 24 [hours] would lead to another 48 and another 48 would lead to another 72 and another 72 would lead to another week,” Schilling said. “We told them yesterday we would take the deal as it stood, but they’re insisting on the insurance, so we gave them an extra 24 hours.

“That’s it. I’m not concerned about it anymore. I’ve got to go out and pitch again Sunday, and that’s all I’m thinking about.”

If that’s it, if there is no extension, Schilling seems certain to leave the Phillies as a free agent when the season is over or be traded to a pennant contender before that.

Did the failure to reach a resolution detract from the satisfaction of his performance against the Dodgers?

“No,” Schilling said with a trace of emotion. “It won’t . . . take away from anything anymore.”

In taking the bats away from the Dodgers, Schilling demonstrated his 16-7 form as the ace of the 1993 National League pennant winner.

He has not won more than nine games in any season since, handicapped by knee and shoulder operations that have underscored Giles’ concerns.

Schilling, however, led the league in complete games last year after a late start following the shoulder surgery and has been smoking since the start of spring training.

Has he been frustrated trying to regain that ’93 consistency?

“No, because I feel like I’ve been there since the All-Star break of last year,” he said. “This is as healthy as I’ve ever been and I’m throwing better than I ever have. If I stay healthy, there’s nothing I can’t do.”

The Dodgers couldn’t argue, and neither did Schilling when Manager Terry Francona brought Ricky Bottalico in to pitch the ninth. Schilling had delivered 126 pitches, enough for openers, he said, adding that his young and already injured team needed what he called the lift of getting off on the right foot.

“I read the papers,” Schilling said. “I know the Dodgers expect to go to the World Series and win. I told our young players in a meeting yesterday not to concede anything, not to believe everything they read.

“We have a lot of young guys who are going to have to contribute if we’re going to compete. I mean, we don’t have a 50-home run guy. We need to do the little things like we did today. I’d put our defense up with anybody’s. I really think we can win more than we lose. Strange things can happen.”

The injury-depleted Phillies had the league’s worst record last year. No team scored fewer runs. Manager Jim Fregosi was fired when his long friendship with General Manager Lee Thomas deteriorated.

The new season may not be any easier, but Francona, the big leagues’ youngest manager at 37, got a beer shower after his first victory and said of Schilling: “What he did today was not a shocker. Put him on any staff and he’d be the horse, not just ours.”

Schilling may get the chance to prove it. If the extension is indeed dead, he may be pitching for another staff before the season is over.