Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling appeared on The Big Show on Thursday afternoon to discuss Jason Bay, Adrian Gonzalez and Alex Gonzalez, among other topics. Schilling suggested that the Sox’ efforts should be focused on re-signing Bay and acquiring Roy Halladay in a trade from the Blue Jays. To listen to the interview, visit the Big Show audio on demand page.

Here are some highlights from the interview:

What do you do if you’re the Red Sox this offseason?

If I’m Boston and I have money to spend, I’m going to sign Bay and trade for Felix Hernandez or Halladay.

The beauty of [Halladay] is, from Boston’s angle, and I’m not as versed in this … If I’m Boston, I would end up at the trading deadline package, because I think that’s a slight dump for them now. And I don’t want to get into a bidding war with prospects. I would give them three foundational players to bring a Halladay in here, because I think that makes you a perennial 100-win team and a potential October lock with the three of those guys.

Halladay makes all the sense in the World. What would you give up for him?

I think it’s going to take three marquee, franchise prospect names. I think you’re looking at a Buchholz, a Kelly, somebody else. I don’t know how they feel about them. … I think what helps right now is [Jed Hoyer] being in San Diego. … I think it’s an advantage and a disadvantage for both sides, in that he understands the value that Boston has in its prospects. He knows exactly who to ask for in a potential deal for Adrian Gonzalez.

But I feel like you’re moving potential pieces around to make that happen, as opposed to a Bay and a Holliday filling in some holes. If you bring Gonzalez here, you’re looking at moving Mike [Lowell] or DHing him. I’m not sure you want to platoon Ortiz and Lowell at the DH spot, the third base spot, and all the things that go along with that.

If the Sox don’t re-sign Bay, Boras — the agent for Matt Holliday — will have the hammer.

This is [Boras’] Super Bowl. He milks it for everything, obviously to the benefit of his players. But the benefit of his players is not always to the benefit of the game.

Where will Bay end up?

It really depends. I will never in my life discount the Yankees from anything ever, again. The hard part, when they get into the bidding, is not necessarily the dollars, but it’s always the years. They always seem to be willing to go one more year than anyone else. I think Theo has made it very clear that they don’t mind paying market value for a player as long as they’re not paying for that player longer than he’s useful to the club. They feel the years are a much bigger piece of the pie than the whole dollars thing.

On Matt Holliday

I don’t agree that Matt can be the player in the American League that he was in the National League. I put a lot of weight in the fact that he didn’t perform as well [in Oakland].

A big ballpark, to me, couldn’t affect your batting average as much. Obviously, there’s more foul territory there and it does have some impact. But I don’t know that he’s the impact player with the numbers that he was in the National League over here in the American League.

The Sox know what they have with Bay. Holliday is unknown, and introduces the Boras factor.

If I’m going to go out and spend the years and the money that we’re talking about spending, I don’t want to have any questions. I would argue that the slump Jason went through last year was every bit an aberration. I’ve seen him. I’ve competed against him. It was an unusually long slump for many different seasons. I don’t think you can expect that, year-in, year-out. At the end of the day, I’m looking at a guy who I know is playing in this market, who can perform in October, who at the end of the season is going to be 30 and 110. I’m confident that offensively he’s going to be a better player next year than he was last year.

Curt Schilling appeared on the Dennis & Callahan show Thursday morning and talked about the World Series, Pedro Martinez, the American League’s dominance, and comebacks from Pedro, Brett Favre and even one of his own that never got past his kitchen.

The transcript follows. To hear the interview, check the Dennis & Callahan audio on demand page.

You knew before that game began that Pedro was in trouble, didn’t you?

He was going to have issues.

Against that team, it was going to be tough.

In October, yes. It’s such as tough time for a guy who has become more of a contact pitcher to keep things down. Obviously, he didn’t have anything last night. And it was a struggle.

Put last night into some some of meaningful context for us … as distasteful as that may be for you to do.

Oh, Jeez, let’s all cheer up because A-Rod’s come full circle now. He’s got his ring, he’s complete, blah, blah, blah, whatever. Listen, they’re used to it, and they have to accept the fact that no one outside New York is even remotely happy today. OK, the Yankees won. Move on. When does spring training start? When do we sign free agents? I don’t know. … That’s [Derek] Jeter’s fifth ring, wow, that’s impressive. Johnny [Damon], who I think everybody wrote off early — “That contract is going to be a bad one” — it’s turned about to be a situation now where he might end up getting a multiyear deal again from the Yankees. He certainly had an impact year in the sense that it’s going to have some impact on the Jason Bay thing and whether New York becomes a serious player. But beyond that, no. I love to see Mariano Rivera, I’m a fan. And Eric Hinske as well. So, it’s a personal thing for me. I think for players maybe. I don’t know that I’m really friends with anybody in my life that wants any team in New York to ever win anything.

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It’s October baseball (November, actually). The rules go out the window, right? The season is 27 outs from being over … literally, every game.

That’s the mindset I always felt worked for me in October. You do whatever you have to, whenever you have to, to have one more run than the other team.

From a starting pitcher’s standpoint, three days’ rest in October was never an issue, because from the time you’re 5 years old, doing that “World Series” replay in your back yard, it’s the game, the innings, the at-bats you’ve always dreamed about having the ball in your hand for.

I’ve always appreciated the respect pitching on three days’ rest in October got you, but go back to 2001, go to 2004 and beyond, and when you look at anyone pitching on three days’ rest you realize there were far bigger goings-on.

Yes, in 2001 I started three games in nine days, and, to be honest, thanks to masseuse Russell Nua and his therapy I felt better over those 48 innings than at any point in the season. But the far bigger story was an almost 40-year-old, 6-foot-10 pitcher coming in, in relief, the DAY AFTER he pitched seven innings.

In 2004 you had Keith Foulke who pitched in pretty much every single game, in insanely high-leverage innings, the entire month.

At the end of the day short rest is all about the player and his makeup. CC Sabathia? Does anyone question this kid’s desire? Goals? Motivation? After what he did in Milwaukee last year, you can’t. But this year he’s only reinforced that for me. He’s a stud, and he’s an ace. Aces take the ball on three days’ rest and make sure you — the media — understand it’s a non-issue and should be writing about more important stuff.

I always felt the other teams thought that they were going to be getting a “lesser version” of me on three days’ rest. The Yankees said as much after the 2001 World Series. I thought that gave me a huge advantage. Before they could figure out I wasn’t “less,” and didn’t have diminished stuff, we’d be in the third or fourth inning.

I guess for me it comes back to the player. I always felt the need to make sure the manager KNEW I wanted to do it, and ya, I’d put up a fight to get the shot to be able to do it. If as a player you don’t assert this, you leave the manager sitting there in a no-win, really. If he does it, and you don’t do well, it’s his fault for pushing you. If he doesn’t do it, and you lose, it’s not your fault because he didn’t ask. That’s the easy way, I think, and I’ve watched guys take it more than once. Being the “quiet type,” I never could. You may never be there again, and the belief that in October I could not be outpitched, regardless of whether it was true or not, made me push to get the ball in my hands if at all possible.

I mean, it’s the World Series, there are no more games after this, right? Nine innings in October can change the lives of every person in the organization. How cool is it to know that power rests in the ball being in your hands? Scary? Hell, yes. But that’s why it’s so damn fun. On the biggest stage, with the most on the line, let the rest of the world shrink back or cower — me? I’m good with letting it all hang out, and letting the chips fall. I’ve done my work, in the weight room and the video room, now it comes down to execution.

Sitting on the bench before heading to the bullpen to start warming up for Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, I was sitting next to Jeff Matuzas, our bullpen catcher and a good friend. In my head I’d just had a conversation with my Dad, who passed away suddenly when I was 21. I was nervous, scared as hell, really, and I can remember his voice popping into my head.

“What the hell are you afraid of? You’ve worked your ass off, you’re going to go down, get loose, and then you’re going to take the mound in front of billions of people for Game 7 of the World Series against Clemens and the Yankees. All that fluff aside, after the first pitch you are doing what you’ve loved, what you’ve done your whole life. You’ll bust your ass, give it everything you have, and hopefully you win, but at the end of this night you’ll have nothing left to give.”

When I finished the thought I was smiling, sort of laughing at how casual he was about what many consider high-stress situations.

Tooz’ looks at me, he’s literally sweating, “Dude, what the hell! How can you be smiling right now?”

“What? What’s not to smile about, man? I am starting Game 7 of the fricking World Series against Roger Clemens and the New York Yankees? How cool is that?”

He replies, “Schill, I’m the f-ing bullpen catcher and I can’t breathe.”

We laughed, got up, strolled down to the ‘pen and had a hell of a night.

Curt Schilling appeared on The Big Show this afternoon to talk about the World Series, particularly how Pedro will do in his return to Yankee Stadium and how the Phillies can use their Game 1 win to give them an advantage for the next few games against the Yankees. He also identified the offseason move that he believes could propel the Red Sox to a 115-win season next year.

Click here for the full audio and read below for some highlights.

How good was Cliff Lee last night?

He was decent. [Laughs]

What worked for him last night?

Well, you know, everybody talks about first-pitch strikes, but I learned a long time ago first-pitch strikes are great. The necessity is the strike within the first two pitches. The biggest swing in batting average against is from 2 balls, 1 strike to 1 ball, 2 strikes. You need to be 1-1 on every hitter if you’re not 0-1, and he was strike one [or] if not, ball one, strike one. I think he had more swings than misses last night than in any other start last year which says a lot. He pitched exactly how you have to pitch that [Yankee] lineup and they were swinging out of the zone a little bit more than I am used to see them do, but that’s a testament to how good his stuff was.

What is a spiked curveball? How is that different from a normal curveball?

It could be grip and by spiked your front finger is, you’re literally putting your knuckle on the ball, it’s also called a knuckle-curve. Generally, a spiked curveball is one that if you look at it from the side it kind of has a spiked trail to its movement.

Would you have pitched Pedro [Martinez] tonight in Yankee Stadium?

Hell yeah! Yeah, I mean this is good stuff. Pedro’s right. Sometimes things happen for reasons unbeknownst to us. This is poetry. He’s going to soak it in in a very big way. The thing you got to always love about Pedey is that he speaks from his heart.

A lot like you, Curt.

Well, he does and you appreciate that. You get tired of just hearing the cliche guy and they’re a necessity for some media outlets, but give me the guy who’s going to speak from his heart because that’s the guy I know is going to leave it out on the field every single time and you could never question Pedey’s commitment to what he did for a living and he’s one of the best that’s ever done it. If you talked to him two years ago when he was with the Mets and said, “Hey, two years from now, you’re going to pitch against the Yankees in the World Series,” he sure as hell wouldn’t have thought about being with the Phillies. It’s good to see, it’s exciting. It’s good for the game. It’s turned this into a kind of must-watch World Series. [The Phillies] winning last night was huge. It was huge for the television ratings.

If the Yankees win last night, 6-1, I don’t think anybody’s watching it. Tonight’s going to be a huge number because everybody’s going to be rooting against the Yankees and for Pedey.

Well, yeah, there’s a lot to the subplot of this. Players don’t hate the Yankees. There’s individually some guys you could do without. I like CC Sabathia, I’m a huge fan of his. I think he’s a great kid, he’s obviously a very good pitcher. There’s a lot more guys to like than dislike on that team, so I certainly wasn’t bringing the hatred to the game for the Yankees. I think they’ve done something pretty cool. Unlike, I’m sure, 99 percent of the fans in Boston. There’s a reason to watch now and you got a lot of New Englanders who are going to be die-hard Phillies fans for the next five, six, seven games.

So, what’s your prediction especially with A.J. Burnett?

You could get seven innings, 14 punch-outs and a hit out of A.J. tonight. You could also just as likely get 3 1/3, 7 walks, and 5 runs. He is that combustible. That’s the reason I don’t pay 85 million dollars for a guy that can give me five, six starts a year for three-four innings and that has always been the knock on A.J., was you didn’t know. I know A.J., I love him to death. I always thought from an arm standpoint he’s as good if not better than anyone in the game, but he’s never gotten to that next level. Tonight could be one of those times where he can turn the corner and become somebody for the next couple years, but against that lineup it’s going to be very hard if he’s not throwing strikes early in the count and that’s not his forte, it’s going to be very hard for him to go deep into this ballgame.

Is that the biggest thing when a guy’s got great talent, but he can’t get it?

Absolutely. I played with so many guys coming up from A-ball to the big leagues who I always look back on and say this person has far more talent than I’ll ever have and they are working 9-5’s for some point before ever getting to the big leagues. The game of big league baseball is as much, if not more about what you do outside-the-lines as much as in them because everybody has that 2-4 hours of 9 inning game time or 4 quarters of game-play. That doesn’t change for anybody, it’s those 20-22 hours between those games what you do with yourself. A lot of it for me was very much mental. I could visualize hundreds if not thousands of times before I was on the mound because baseball was everything to me. I could remember sitting at a red light at Christmas Eve in Arizona thinking about how was I going to pitch to Vladimir Guerrero next year because I spent the whole year pounding [him]. That’s how I thought. You get guys like Cliff Lee who played baseball his whole life and this is not a pressure-packed situation. This is what guys dream about. This is what separates guys in October.

If Pedro pitches the same way against the Yankees as he did against the Dodgers will that be his approach?

Pedro’s approach is Pedro is going to pitch the way he wants to pitch and the thing that separates Pedro is that he is one of the few who could ever do it, he could adjust in between pitches based on the hitter’s reaction and what he saw. I never had the perception or the ability to be that aware on the field, to watch a guy move a foot or so in the batter’s box. There’s an awareness on the field for a player that Pedro possesses. Greg Maddux was one of the other guys who could do it. I couldn’t do it. He will be a guy who will come out with a game plan, the skeleton of the game plan will be put together and he will adjust based on his stuff, the weather, how the hitter is reacting early on and whether they are aggressive early in the count or timid early in the count. Not only will he adjust, but he will adjust and execute and that’s a big difference. There are a lot of guys that can’t make the adjustment. Some of the guys that can make the adjustment can’t execute. He can do both.

What Charlie Manuel’s approach in his bullpen now hasn’t throw in 7 or 8 days?

There’s no limits on anybody in the World Series. Everybody’s available on every night, whenever you need them. I think what he’s hoping given that the weather is going to be cool it’s going to help Pedro in some ways, especially having a change-up in cold weather as opposed to a breaking-ball being a primary pitch. He’s going to hope to get six or seven out of Pedro at the most. That lineup can chew you up from a pitch count standpoint and Pedro’s going to have to have command from his fastball from the outset tonight or he’s not going to go deep in the game.

Does Cliff Lee have to change what he did in that game?

No. I think being used three times in nine days, I never changed anything about what I was doing and I remember being stunned by the post-game comments from them talking about first game they were going to wait me out and work the count and I was a first-pitch strike guy the entire year, like I was going to change all of a sudden. Second game they got aggressive and I worked off the play a little bit more. Third game they waited me out again. I was the same pitcher three games in a row and they adjusted three different times. It’s a psychological thing in October. I would argue that the World Series can be won tonight. I don’t doubt that for a second. If Philadelphia wins tonight, I cannot envision the Yankees beating them four more before the Phillies win two.

Give me an order of guys you would want on the top of your staff.

[Roy] Halladay, one. I wouldn’t even deal with any of the other ones. I love the other guys, but if I am going out at the trade deadline and if you look at the players they are going to have to give up in those deals, it’s kind of the same mix and you’re adding or subtracting a player or two in that mix, but I’m putting a horse at the top of my rotation because of Halladay, [Josh] Beckett, [Jon] Lester. You’re looking at a 115-win season. I don’t care what division you are playing in.

Is he going to use [the heat from Yankee Stadium] to his advantage?

Absolutely. I think he’s at a point, place, and time where he will be good with it. For me, that was every bit as motivational as the hometown team standing up and yelling and cheering was hearing Yankee people call me names. I enjoyed that, I loved that. I would imagine you’ll hear “Who’s your daddy?” once or twice.

How does [Brad Mills] leaving affect the Red Sox or does it at all?

Well, it’s hard to overstate what he did. Here, they [Terry Francona and Mills] run the organization from the first day of camp until the end of the season. Terry’s a great communicator, but you always have to have that guy that’s walking around the clubhouse saying, “You’re in tomorrow, you’re not playing tomorrow.” I think that’s an enormous asset Brad got exposed to being able to coach under Terry, it’s going to serve him well in Houston. It’s going to leave a gaping hole. Having said that, there’s a couple of guys in the organization and a couple of guys around the league who have an interest in coming here.

Mark McGwire. He resurfaces as hitting coach and reports are coming out that McGwire used performance-enhancing drugs. If he was trying to get away from the attention he might create, isn’t he putting himself right in the think of it?

I can’t answer it. I know Mark and I’ve always enjoyed my relationship with Mark. I assumed he was gone forever from the spotlight and I assumed that’s what he wanted. He was always a very quiet, shy guy to begin with. I don’t know. He’s obviously got reasons and my only hope and I don’t believe that’s the case either is that he’s not doing this because he has to, but I don’t know.

Curt Schilling is scheduled to join The Big Show around 3:30pm on Thursday afternoon to talk about the World Series and the Red Sox offseason. Curt will recap game one of the World Series and what the Yankees need to do to get back into the series. Pedro Martinez is pitching game two for the Phillies, so Curt may also talk about what Pedro will try to do against the Bronx Bombers in Yankee Stadium. If you happen to miss the interview, visit the Big Show Audio On Demand section after the show.

Curt Schilling called into The Big Show on Thursday afternoon to offer his insight into J.D. Drew’s abilities and whether he is living up to the expectations of his five-year, $70 million contract. He also discussed Jason Bay’s offseason contract situation. Highlights of the interview are below. To listen to the complete interview, click here.

On Drew’s status as a run producer, and the fact that the outfielder had a relatively low RBI total in 2009:

First of all, I can tell you this. As someone who worships at the alter of statistics for baseball in preparation and approaching hitters, I can honestly tell you that not once in 19 years did I consider RBIs a relevant statistic in how I approached a hitter.

I think one of the more relevant statistics, and I think in the next five to six years it’s going to come into prominence, is RBIs per opportunities. There’s some guys that have driven in 110 runs and you can claim they had a horrific year, based on them driving in runs 35 percent of the time that they had runners in scoring position. You get guys in some offenses when literally half their at-bats in a season are with guys on second and third and less than two outs, and they should drive in 150 runs, and they end up driving in 102. And we say, ‘Oh, he had a good year – he drove in 102.’ But from an organizational standpoint, he failed far more than he succeeded.

They have statistical formulas to document everything, so that when Theo Epstein tells you he’s a tick above, I promise you, whether you like it or not or agree or not, I promise you he has data to back up the argument that makes J.D. Drew offensively, defensively and on the basepaths is worth every penny of every dollar he’s paying him. At the end of the day, his opinion is the only one that really matters.

You get a guy who hits 24 homers and hits 58 runs…He might have only had an opportunity to drive in 75 runs over the course of the season.

Did you view other power hitters as a bigger threat than Drew?

Not at all. Not at all. I’ll tell you why.

His career has been built around getting on base. You make that argument, ‘I don’t want a guy taking a walk with a runner in scoring position.’ On-base percentage is what drives … I never wanted to face the guys who were .370-plus percentage on-base guys. Generally, for the most part, those guys don’t strike out a lot. J.D. strikes out more than most. For the most part, those are the guys who, their value isn’t necessarily just getting on base every time. It’s just as much the fact that in their 0-for-2 night, they’re going to draw two walks and make the opposing pitcher throw 24 pitches, as opposed to Vladimir Guerrero, who’s going to go 0-for-4, draw no walks and make me throw five pitches. There’s a deeper value. I promise you that the depth of the statistical analysis that they do on these players to identify their dollar value is far different and far more unique and probably as off the wall as anything you’ve ever heard.

That’s what this system does when they go out to value players, and put a true, I would call it, Red Sox dollar value to a player.

What will Jason Bay be worth this offseason?

A lot. A lot. I’ll tell you why.

I know I’ve heard that from the defensive metric system that he’s got a lower value, but in Fenway Park, that’s minimized. That’s where you play 81 of your games, so it becomes less of an issue, so he becomes more valuable. You go to Yankee Stadium, you know what? That might change a little bit. I’ve always thought he was a really good athlete. I would guess that his lower defensive value has more to do with his range than anything because fundamentally, he’s a very, very good outfielder. He hits cutoff men. He doesn’t have a super-strong arm but in left field you don’t have to. In Fenway Park, that defensive metric is probably not as significant as if he was playing in Anaheim.

Take a guess about what he’ll get this offseason.

Four times 15, 16 probably. I don’t think [the Red Sox] will go that far.

Is Drew one of the top two or three outfielders in the league?

In my perception? No. But again, I don’t pay him, and No. 2, you’re talking about different value systems.

For 100 years, that was how scouts drafted players: he looks like a baseball player, he’s built like a baseball player, he’s got five tools.

Fred [Smerlas], how many guys did you play with [in the NFL] who, in the weight room or on the 40 time, you were like, ‘Oh my God,’ and then when the ball got snapped, you wanted no one but that guy next to you?

The best example on the planet are the guys playing first and second base on this team. You would not look at either of those guys before their big-league careers and say, ‘This guy is a perennial All-Star.’

On whether staying on the field is an issue for Drew.

Unequivocally, without a doubt, absolutely, yes. And it’s not just the manager. It permeates to the clubhouse. And I will tell you from having played with J.D. – listen, there’s nobody that probably was more outspoken against J.D. Drew than I was when he got drafted – I said a lot of things I should not have said. When I look back on it, it had nothing to do with J.D. It was Scott Boras.

At the time, I meant it.

I wanted them to throw batteries at him. Until I met him. He’s a guy that shows up. I’ve played with a lot of guys who I couldn’t identify with, because in their minds, they had to be 100 percent to go out on the field. And I realized when I was 22 that the last time I was 100 percent or ever would be was when I was 17. And there are some guys, they can’t play. They will not play. They don’t believe in their hard work, that they’re going to produce if they’re not 100 percent. He’s not one of those guys. But there are other guys, walking down the stairway, they can pull a muscle.
But when he’s on, you’ve seen when he’s on. He can carry a team.

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Editor’s Note: On Oct. 19, 2004, Curt Schilling delivered one of the most memorable performances of his career. He allowed one run in seven innings in Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees after having a dislocated tendon in his right ankle sutured into place. The Red Sox’ 4-2 win positioned the team for a winner-take-all Game 7 in Yankee Stadium. The Sox won that game, completing an unprecedented comeback from a 3-0 series deficit en route to the franchise’s first World Series title in 86 years. Here, Schilling offers his recollections of his Game 6 performance, five years later.

I knew I was going to start, but had no idea how I was going to pitch. The ankle, after having been sutured the night before, was holding up a lot better than we’d thought. I was surprised at the amount of bleeding that occurred overnight, and I am sure the maids were a bit worried when they changed my sheets that morning.

I didn’t do anything really abnormal in the day leading up to the start. I did a few more windups in my hotel room than normal, to try and push it a bit to make sure it wasn’t going to pop.

The thing I most vividly remember from the hours leading up to the start was hitting the top step in Yankee Stadium. When I went out to pitch Game 1, when I hit the top step to walk to the bullpen, my ankle buckled and the tendon popped out of place. That was the first time I knew I might have a problem.

It was about the 50th time I had faced the Yankees that year, and I knew it would be the last, so I came out of my bullpen having done some things different. Whereas I usually made sure I had fastball command and my split, I worked my ass off in that pen to get a feel for my curveball and slider right off the bat since I wanted to use them for all nine innings, instead of here and there.

In Game 6, there was no specific moment when I knew that I would make it through the game. After pitch one, I never really thought much on it. It held up I think because I never favored it, or at least never felt like I did. In watching some highlights I do notice I limped, but I never thought I was limping.

I only realized the ankle was bleeding for one reason. I received multiple Marcaine injections from April on, each start, and as the season wore on I started needing to get in-game injections as well. This game I needed to have it done again, and the Marcaine made the outer half of my foot numb (which was a whole other problem).

In doing so it made me feel as though my shoe wasn’t on right, so I kept pressing down on the bottom of my shoe to move my foot side to side to try and “feel” as if my foot was firmly in my shoe. That’s how I noticed, in about the fifth or sixth inning, that the sole of my shoe and my sock were soaked with blood. You ever walk in the rain in your socks? That’s how it felt. Problem was that it was cold out, too, so that made the blood cold and I could feel it on half my foot.

In looking back on it, the main thing I take away from that game was my mental ability to overcome anything. I got past the ankle pain and into a state of mind that had me completely focused on the game.

I probably did more damage to the ankle than I would have liked. When they opened my ankle up after the season they told me that my peroneal tendon, in addition to being dislocated, was split, lengthwise, for about five inches and wedged over the ankle bone. In a way that was a good thing because it sort of locked itself down.

I made it through seven innings, and when I was done, I sat on the bench. I’ve often talked about the spiritual experience that entire two-week period was, and after I came out of this game it really hit me hard.

I had prayed hard, never once to “win” but just to be able to compete. I couldn’t do that in Game 1 because in a spiritual and physical sense I had tried to “go it alone.” Before Game 2 I had prayed with Mike Timlin and Tim Wakefield, and I prayed ONLY for the ability to compete. I prayed for that with the belief that with the eight guys playing behind me, and my ability to pitch, I could beat them on one foot if I could just compete.

Looking back on it five years later, it was a much more meaningful event from a faith and spiritual standpoint than from a performance standpoint. I am proud of what we did that night, but I am far more excited about what I was able to experience in my relationship with Christ that night. I knew, postgame, when I started the press conference off by thanking the Lord and the entire media contingent rolled its eyes, how they were going to report it. Whatever they did, I knew they couldn’t come close to conveying what I had experienced.

My lasting memory of that game — more than anything that happened while I was on the mound — is of Keith Foulke. Every memory I have of that postseason has Keith in it. He pitched every stinking game and dominated, on fumes.

Curt joined the Big Show on Thursday afternoon  to talk baseball, the NFL and a little political banter sprinkled in as well. Schilling was outspoken on the subject of Rush Limbaugh being involved in a bid to buy the Rams. CLICK HERE to listen to the entire interview with Glenn Ordway, Pete Sheppard, Fred Smerlas and Tom E. Curran.

You know how you handle building a team to win at home and on the road that plays in Fenway? No different than you do the San Diego Padres. Good hitters hit regardless of the ballpark. The same is true of good pitchers.

You build your team to win at home and on the road by having strength and depth in your pitching staff. Yes, you need a deep offense, and the Sox have that. But you shore up offensive weaknesses by running four to five starters out there, backed by a bullpen of setup men in the middle and closers on the end, that can pitch your team through offensive slumps. Slumps will happen. They happen to everyone. But they happen less to teams focused around offensive players who get on base.

Guys that walk 100-plus times a year will slump, the difference being that when they slump they’re still getting on base via the walk.

When talking with young pitchers, especially ones struggling early, the hardest thing to make them understand is the difference between a strike and ball four.

The OBP of a walk is 1.000, the OBP of a hitter hitting a 3-1 belt-high fastball is anywhere from .350 to .450, right? THROW STRIKES! When you have a staff of pitchers with some strikeout guys on both ends, you win more games than you lose for the most part. If that staff is backed up by a lineup of six to eight guys who generate OBPs of .340 to .350-plus, you present major problems for the league over a 162-game schedule.

Look at the Angels. They did what I didn’t think they could in shutting down the Boston offense. Lackey came through huge; so did their other starters.

But in my opinion, the series-changing player was Abreu. Having played with Bobby for a few years in Philly, it certainly didn’t shock me, nor do I think it shocked Tito. This guy is and has been a VERY good player for a long time. He gave their offense a dimension it NEVER had in years past and even just one hitter in that lineup with his makeup changed EVERYTHING from an approach standpoint. Not only that, but he had a phenomenal series.

I do think Jason Bay is a huge piece to the Sox being good again, but at the same time, cementing that staff will ensure they are good again. They’ll put an offense centered around Petey and Youk out there again, and with Jacoby improving as much as he has, there isn’t a ton left to fix there. Victor will now sit in the middle of that lineup as well. If they can run that offense out there with an emerging Lester, an ace in Beckett, they’ll be good, real good, again.

How you know he’s a bad ump:

1. Umpires that are in consistent spats with coaches, players.

Both coaches and players, for the most part, understand the job is hard as hell while hoping they (the umpires) know it’s the height of competition, adrenalin and testosterone during a game. The REAL good ones — Ed Rapuano, Terry Tata and a few others — they know that and they ALWAYS give you a chance to calm down and back off. The Greg Gibsons of the world are LOOKING for ANY chance to confront players. I’ve always felt it had more to do with a small [man] mentality than anything. These guys HATE players — Gibby does anyway — and they make sure to let you know that ASAP in any way they can. They will LOOK to make an impact call to draw attention, never getting that no one is there to see them, ever.

(FWIW, I don’t think C.B. is that guy. I don’t think C.B. is trying to draw attention to himself, I just don’t think he’s a very good ump and in his tenure in the big leagues has not improved even a little.)

2. When both hitters and pitchers are bitching.

Look, I loved, LOVED big strike zones. I never game-planned for one, but I sure as hell loved balls being called strikes. When I got them, great. Hitters are the reverse. Where we never differed was in our desire for consistency.

Large or small zone, my ONLY ask was that Strike 1 be Strike 3. You have the human element, and everyone understands that, that’s why I always knew that umps like Joe West were NOT going to give me a makeup call, they made their mistakes and moved on. Some others you KNEW for a fact would make up a bad call as soon as they could, both ways.

The MLB umpiring system is the most flawed thing in the sport. There is very little oversight or demand for a major league level of performance. Their out has been QuesTec and its scoring system, which I think most know my thoughts on.

I have an immense amount of respect for Sandy Alderson, but I think he’s failed horribly at implementing a system to FORCE umpires to improve their performance in the major leagues.