The Stopper

There’s been a lot of talk this year about Curt Schilling. He made waves this off-season when he announced he had chosen not to retire and was interested in playing at least one more year, probably two or three more. He was willing to resign for $13 million at one year for the Red Sox, but Theo Epstein chose not to take the offer.
While Schilling has had his ups and downs and Clay Buchholz continues to dominate in Double-A, it may have not been such a bad idea to resign Schilling after all.
Schilling is 6-2 on the season with a 3.49 ERA. His WHIP stands at a sterling 1.25, and he’s become the stopper the Red Sox need.
That is what an ace is all about.
Schilling opened the season at Kansas City with a loss, but since then, has racked up impressive “stopper” totals. His next start halted a two-game losing streak the night before on April 7th to the Rangers. After that, he blanked the Angels in the middle game of a three-game sweep. He gutted out a team win (no decision) against the Yankees on April 20 in the middle of a Sox five-game winning streak. The Sox then went on a two-game losing streak again, and Schilling was the one who stopped it on April 25 in Baltimore.
On May first, he hurled seven innings of two-run ball, but ended up with a no-decision when the bullpen blew it against (whoda thunk) the Oakland Athletics. This was the game where Jonathan Papelbon blew his first save, coughing up a two-run homer. He notched the win again on May 6th, shutting down the Twins the day after Johan Santana shut down the Red Sox.
The Sox (and Schilling) blew the Orioles out 13-4 on May 12th, a day after Julian Tavarez dropped to 1-4, losing to the Orioles 6-3. Schilling then pitched the night-game of a doubleheader against the Tigers. The day game was won by Julian Tavarez, while the previous game before that had been a loss. The next start was the worst start of his season as he gave up five runs in New York to grab his second loss of the season, but the Sox were coming off a win.
The 10-K game came next, as he notched the fourth straight win of the Sox (which would extend one more game) and then coughed up four runs to the Yankees. That game, however, would be won by the bullpen 11-6. The Sox then embarked on a highly embarrassing four-game losing streak … until yesterday, when Curtis Montague Schilling slammed the door.
If you haven’t been counting, that means that five of his six wins have come immediately after a loss. The extra win came in the night-game of a doubleheader … meaning that if you want to get technical, every single win has come with the Red Sox having suffered a loss the most recent game prior to the day Schilling pitched.
If that’s not an ace, I don’t know what is.
Out of all the Sox starters, Schilling ranks second in ERA, second in WHIP, and third in wins. Josh Beckett ranks first in every category, and yet Curt Schilling is clearly the ace of the staff. Statistics MAKE an ace, but they don’t COMPLETE the transformation into an ace. An ace leads, both by example and by what he says. An ace transcends the game every time he steps onto the mound. The day of games Curt Schilling pitches, there is an air of excitement … and an expectation to win. This air is not even close to the air that swirled around Boston when Pedro Martinez pitched, but it’s still there. Josh Beckett isn’t there yet.
There was a four-game losing streak going on. The calls for Julio Lugo’s head were growing, and people were starting to wonder if J.D. Drew was being benched. Even David Ortiz came out with a quote admitting something was different:

“Everything’s just changed, the intensity, all kinds of stuff, it’s not there,” said a weary-looking David Ortiz of a jet-lagged Sox offense that has scored just two runs in the last 18 innings.
Is the energy missing? “I don’t know. We don’t have the intensity we normally have,” he said. “That’s my view. We have a lot of guys trying, trying, trying, but not getting it done. Hopefully, we’ll come out here [this afternoon] and win.” (Boston Globe)

They won. They won in a game where Schilling was one error and one ninth inning hit away from a perfect game.
Ace.