Sox Drawer: Schilling done for the season, career may be over, too

His shoulder unresponsive to rehab, Curt Schilling will go under the knife for what could be a career-ending surgery

We all knew this was a possibility at some point. Schill was sporadically healthy the last few seasons, he's 41 years old with a lot of mileage (3000+ innings) on his right arm and shoulder, and this last setback was severe enough that the entire organization had differing opinions on the treatment for it, but all agreed that it could mark the beginning of the end.

Today, on WEEI's Dennis & Callahan Show, Schill admitted it most definitely is the end of his season and quite possibly of his Hall of Fame career.

With the rehab not having the results he and the team had hoped for, Schill admitted it " got to the point where we had to make a decision." When asked "does this end your season?", Schill responded with a soft but definitive "yeah, yeah it does."

The team brass had originally though rehab was all that would be needed to get Schill back on the mound this year, but after a recent setback this weekend, Curt and several doctors, including the one who will perform the surgery, Dr. Craig Morgan, and the team all agreed to go ahead and have the procedure done.

In what sure sounds like a career-ending operation, Morgan will perform a procedure that involves relocating his biceps muscle (ouch!) and "some other stuff", which presumably doesn't include attaching a bionic limb.

Assuming that doesn't happen, it looks like for all intents and purposes the career of one of the greatest big game pitchers ever to play the game is officially over.

So now the retrospectives can roll in. Schilling has been beloved in Boston and Arizona, where he and Randy Johnson helped bring a championship to the desert, but vilified most everywhere else, mainly for his outspoken opinions and willingness to put his foot directly in his mouth, athlete etiquette be damned.

But there's no denying his impact on the game. He leaves (if he is done pitching) after pitching for 20 seasons with 216 victories, 3,116 strikeouts, 3,261 innings pitched and a lifetime ERA of 3.46.

Throw in an all-time best 11-2 playoff record, two World series Championships, one World Series (co) MVP award and one historic bloody sock, and what you have is simply one of the greatest, gutsiest, clutchest (?) pitchers in baseball history.

Forget about all the other bullshit. Sure he was outspoken, said some things he probably shouldn't have (and he regrets) and had a tendency to rub many people the wrong way.

Bottom line he was a one of a kind, a supremely talented athlete who wasn't prone to speaking in cliches and soundbites, who believed in living life the way he wanted, whether it involved making brash statements or writing a blog that opened him up to even more criticism.

Love him or hate him Schill was a blessing to watch and listen to. He didn't care what people thought, he spoke his mind and he gave it his all every time he was on the mound.

And if the last time he ever pitched in the major leagues was last October 25th in Game 2 of the World Series in Colorado, so be it.

He won that game, by the way, and what a fitting way for a future Hall of Famer to go out.

As a winner on the biggest stage the game knows.

Good luck, Curt, and thanks for everything.