The hard-luck sports story of the spring unfolded yesterday afternoon as Curt Schilling of the Boston Red Sox was pitching in the ninth inning hoping for his first career no-hitter at age 40. Then, with two outs, Shannon Stewart of the Oakland A’s came up to the plate and lined a Schilling fastball to right for a base hit.
There’s a big “what if?” involved here, as catcher Jason Varitek had called for a slider for the first pitch to Stewart but Schilling shook it off in favor of a fastball. Stewart was swinging instead of taking and the fastball wound up in right field. Unless Schilling actually does hurl a no-hitter between now and the time he retires, the future Hall of Famer will be second-guessing his decision the rest of his life.
Ya gotta feel for the guy.
Full story at ESPN.com.
