Red Sox' Schilling Says Extra Day of Rest Is Not Critical

By Barry Svrluga Dave Sheinin
and
Thursday, October 25, 2007

BOSTON, Oct. 24 -- Boston right-hander Curt Schilling will take his 10-2 record and 2.25 ERA in postseason play to the mound in Game 2 of the World Series on Thursday, but he will do so in a situation the Red Sox don't consider ideal. As often as possible, Boston has given the 40-year-old an extra day of rest, particularly in the second half of the season. But Thursday will be the fifth day after his start in Saturday's Game 6 of the ALCS.

Schilling played down the notion.

"Mentally, I didn't have to have it," he said. "I think it helped, but I don't think it's going to have any effect whatsoever on my stuff and my ability to pitch and to win."

In six World Series starts, Schilling is 3-1 with a 2.11 ERA. But the Colorado Rockies have faced Schilling once this year -- and crushed him, scoring five earned runs off him in just five innings on June 13.

"I would like to think it was a combination of not throwing well, not executing well," Schilling said. "But that's a good team."

Spilborghs Gets Game 1 Start

Colorado Manager Clint Hurdle inserted reserve outfielder Ryan Spilborghs as the designated hitter in the ninth position, in part because it provided the least disruption to his potent lineup and in part because Spilborghs -- who went hitless in two at-bats with a walk -- played in the Rockies' series at Fenway Park in June and, as Hurdle said, "He's got a little familiarity."

Boston Manager Terry Francona continued to be circumspect about his plans for Game 3 in Colorado, where he will have to sit either designated hitter David Ortiz, first baseman Kevin Youkilis or third baseman Mike Lowell. The biggest factor, Francona reiterated, was the condition of Ortiz's balky right knee. If Ortiz sits, the on-field lineup remains the same. If Ortiz plays, it will be at first -- moving Youkilis either to third or to the bench.

Ellsbury Subbing for Ailing Crisp

Francona would have started Coco Crisp in center field for Game 1 had Crisp not injured his left knee making a spectacular, game-ending, pennant-clinching catch in Game 7 of the ALCS Sunday against Cleveland. Crisp is a switch hitter, and in his place Francona inserted left-handed hitting rookie Jacoby Ellsbury, even with Rockies left-hander Jeff Francis on the mound.

Crisp came into the game in the top of the seventh as a defensive replacement, with Ellsbury moving to left field.

Francona, meantime, said there was no special pep talk for Ellsbury, who played in just 33 regular season games -- and hit .346 against left-handers.

"He'll be fine," Francona said. "If he wasn't nervous tonight, he'd be crazy. I mean, this is the World Series. . . . It's okay to be nervous. You don't want that to get in the way of your success."

No Rush to Sort Out Byrd Case

Bob DuPuy, Major League Baseball's president and chief operating officer, said there is no timetable for league officials to interview Cleveland Indians pitcher Paul Byrd about his admitted use of human growth hormone, saying "the sense of urgency" was diminished after the Indians were eliminated from the playoffs.

"Right now, nothing has been scheduled," DuPuy said.

Byrd acknowledged during the ALCS that he used HGH under a doctor's care to treat a pituitary gland issue. The San Francisco Chronicle first revealed Byrd's use of HGH, which has been banned from baseball since 2005. According to the Chronicle, Byrd purchased $25,000 worth of the drug between 2002 and '05.

Had the Indians defeated the Red Sox and advanced to the World Series, baseball officials were prepared to interview Byrd in the two days between series, and a spokesman did not rule out the possibility of an immediate suspension if officials found Byrd violated baseball's drug policy.

New Honor Named After O'Neil

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Commissioner Bud Selig announced the creation of a lifetime achievement award, named for former Negro leagues champion Buck O'Neil.

The Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award will be given no more frequently than every three years, and the inaugural award will go posthumously to O'Neil, whose exclusion from Cooperstown has long been a source of frustration to supporters of O'Neil and the Negro leagues.

"In some ways it's going to even be bigger than getting a plaque in the Hall of Fame because [O'Neil's] name is going to come up more frequently as we present the award," said Joe Morgan, a Hall of Fame second baseman and vice chairman of the Hall of Fame. " . . . I don't think this is necessarily trying to right a wrong."