Is the Good Chemistry Gone?

"It's just very different and (in) this clubhouse, you've gotta have some guys that can alleviate the, I say this word loosely, the stress, in this game... having guys like McCarty and Kapler and Dave Roberts in the clubhouse... D-Lowe, I mean just real guys that kept it real free and easy."

Did Theo Mess Up the Right Mix?

5.3.05: Listen to Curt Schilling on WEEI's Dennis and Callahan: Gerry Callahan: "Last year in the second half we talked about the intangibles, the certain something this team had, and the players played into that, you heard it all the time that this team just had something going on, does it feel at all like that's gone now, that you got to create a new (environment) if you want to have the kind of season you had last year, that those intangibles cannot carry over from one season to the next?"

Curt Schilling: "Oh they can, they're different. There's a lot of things that are different about this team off the field as much as on. I mean you look at everything that happened after we won last year and all the agendas for different people that happened and... it's different. The attitude outside the clubhouse is different. I think this was the first team I've ever played on, and I've always believed, everybody talks about chemistry and a lot of people that don't play the sport, or don't compete like this for a living, they call chemistry a bunch of crap. And the fact of the matter is before last year I've always said chemistry comes about from winning. You don't have good chemistry from not winning because people don't like each other when they're not winning and things happen in the clubhouse when you're not winning and when we were playing that .500 streak last year our chemistry never changed, never changed. We were the same group of guys, same attitude, same demeanor, same everything. And once it started picking up it was funner (sic) because we were winning but the chemistry never changed."

GC: "You didn't lose anybody to whom you would attibute that, like you lost Pedro obviously and I guess you lost some of the smaller role guys like Dave Roberts but the key guys are back..."

CS: "Yeah, but you know what there's come chemistry guys that aren't here. (GC: Like who?) Gabe Kapler. David McCarty. Both those guys were an enormous part of this team's relief valve. Very, very big parts. And I think Mac is probably as big a part of this clubhouse and this team as anybody on the roster. (GC: So was it a mistake to cut him loose?) Oh, I don't...I'm... I'm just saying it's different. It's just very different and this clubhouse you've gotta have some guys that can alleviate the, I say this word loosely, the stress, in this game. People want to call it a game, and you play a game for a living, but it's a job. Don't kid yourself. It pays well? Sure. But there are the same day-to-day stresses coming in and out and maybe even more so in this market and having guys like McCarty and Kapler and Dave Roberts in the clubhouse... D-Lowe, I mean just real guys that kept it real free and easy."

Hourly Sox Coverage is Not for Everyone

"If you would have said that we were going to be a .500 team at the start of May and our infield was going to have two home runs, I would have thought we'd be playing with 7 or 8 guys on the disabled list. But that's the way it is. It's such a cliche sport but they're so true. You're talking about 162 games. In this town it's so different because the fans ride an enormous emotional roller coaster every game and I think that fever is brought on by the media, and the amount of coverage and the amount of publicity that this team gets on an hourly basis. Players just cannot get caught up in that and that's one of the strengths of playing in another city and it can be a strength here if you can isolate yourself inside that clubhouse and just focus on what you're doing."

Curt's Injury is Bad to the Bone

"It wasn’t a bruise, it was a stress reaction, which is a precursor to a stress fracture. That’s one of the considerations we’re looking at. There’s some differences of opinion as to exactly what it is and I’m not sure that anybody can be 100% sure unless… the MRIs are not perfect. We’ve done what we can do test-wise, now it’s up to how I feel and how they think it’s coming along. It was a real sharp pain (after the pitch), and it kind of stayed with me and didn’t go away and I knew something had happened and in my gut I thought that maybe I had broken scar tissue, adhesions, or something. I had what’s called an osteochondral defect in the ankle also last year which is what I had dealt with from April on and that was basically a bone bruise that got bad and when you continue to bruise a bone, the bone dies, and part of that bone died and so when they went in there to do one of the surgeries, one of the four surgeries they did was remove part of that bone. And when they do that they go in and they fracture the bone that’s left and let it heal over itself. And things accumulate. And this is a small joint and so there’s a lot going on in there. I think this is a real inexact science from the standpoint of when it’s gonna be right. I’m sure it’s not overnight, but I’m not that it’s 14 days. That’s why we’re pushing everything else as hard as we can to make sure that I don’t fall behind in any other spots. If I can get out and play some catch I’m going to try and do that. Today, or tomorrow, or whenever we think it’s right, keep my arm in shape and be ready to go. There’s a lot going on. I’m wearing the boot around the clock. I’m using the bone stimulator two to three times a day. Getting treatment from Russell at the ballpark. Sue Falsone and Craig Friedman from API out in Phoenix are out to see me and doing some things and Sue was in on the surgery when I had it. Craig is the head of my rehab in the offseason. So we’ve got a lot of people going." -- 5.3.05 Curt Schilling on WEEI's Dennis and Callahan