Sox Drawer: Schill a Ray?

Schilling admits on EEI that he wouldn't mind playing for the Rays

I don't Photoshop, but pretend I do and picture Curt grabbing his tush while wearing the home white ,blue & yellow of next year's Tampa Bay Tarpons team.

I heard about this interview yesterday, read the story on the Globe, but still had to hear the words for myself to believe it was true.

So I went to the EEI vault.

Sure enough, during his weekly interview on the Dennis & Callahan show, Schill was asked by Gerry Callahan a few general questions about the Tampa Bay team, and before long the talk veered into the possibility of Curt wearing the (fill in the color) uniform of the Tampa Bay Rays, or Tarpons, or whatever they might be called next year.

Here are some of the more notable tidbits:

-- "I love the team. I think they've got a ton of talent. With Kazmir, Shields and Jackson, I love the thought of that staff growing up together."

-- "You wonder who is the everyday presence on that club that leads..there's gotta be some guys with some presence to push those guys along"

When pressed on whether he would want to play 81 games in the Trop, he responded:

-- "That doesn't bother me. I love Tampa, love the area...I don't mind that. There's something to be said for knowing your going to play every day...and knowing it's literally gonna be 72 degrees at game time" (amen, Schill, especially when it's 95 and wet outside)

That led Gerry to drop the big question: "so you'd consider being a part of that (mentoring the young pitching staff) at some point?"

--"...it's one of those situations you'd certainly look at...if circumstances were (to) happen...I'd love nothing more than to finish my career working on a pitching staff where I would know that there were young guys that were gonna be positively impacted by my being around when I was gone."

And there you have it. Straight from the mad blogger's mouth to my ears. If the Sox don't want to fork over the dough to retain the aging ace for next season, he would actually consider ending his career here in Tampa Bay.

Wow.

Mind you this stuff has been said before, by other marquee players such as St. Pete native Gary Sheffield, and more recently Judas Demon expressed similar sentiments in some offhanded comments last weekend.

But this is huge. A two-time World Series champ, co-WS MVP and the man who brought a championship to Beantown residing in the House that Monster Truck pulls built, putting the finish touches on a stellar career by mentoring the young studs in the Rays system.

Pardon me while I check into the prices of a mini-plan.

Paps sets new mark for Boston closers

By recording his 30th save last night against the Rays, Jonathan papelbon did soemthing no pitcher in the long & storied history of the Boston Red Sox franchise had done: register back-to-back 30 save seasons.

That's right neither Mark Clear nor Steamer Stanley, not book fodder Flash Gordon nor the insufferable Keith Foulke (you) had ever accomplished what Ppas did last night.

And the fact that he did so by getting four outs, three by way of strikeout, had to make the feat that much sweeter.

Hats off to a true closer in every sense of the word, and say another prayer that he decided to rerun to the pen this season.

Halos spank Stanks 18-9 behind Garret Anderson's 10 ribbies

Had to mention this beaut of a game that ended late last night on the West Coast.

The Angels, a team Boston has come to know far to well these last few weeks, absolutely bludgeoned the Stankees last night in Anaheim, winning by a score of 18-9, a number that was even greater until the Stanks scored 4 in the 9th.

But put aside the absolute ass kicking the Angels inflicted on New York, and the fact that LA of A now owns a 6-2 mark against the Bronx Bummers this season, but the Stankee pitching staff allowed one man to drive in 10 runs singlehandedly.

Garret Anderson, who was deemed washed up and ready to be replaced in an ESPN.com piece a few days ago, slammed two homers including a grand slam and drove in an Agel-record 10 runs in the win.

I have nothing more to say.