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June 20, 2008

Curt Schilling to have surgery, career in doubt

BOSTON (AP) - Curt Schilling says he's out for the season, and his career may be over.

The Red Sox right-hander said Friday morning he will undergo surgery next week on his injured shoulder. When asked on the WEEI "Dennis and Callahan Show" whether that will end his season, he said "Yes."

"My season is over and there is a pretty decent chance I have thrown my last pitch forever," he said.

Schilling's physician, Dr. Craig Morgan, confirmed to The Associated Press the surgery would be at his office in Wilmington, Del., on Monday afternoon.

"If you use a scale of 1-10 and 10 is pitching in the big leagues, I'm at about 3 right now," Schilling said.

He added: "I'm going in to make it not hurt anymore."

Early in spring training, Schilling's course of treatment became a sort of melodrama.

Red Sox team physician Dr. Thomas Gill recommended rehab for a tendon injury. Schilling sought a second opinion Morgan, who operated on the right shoulder in 1995 and 1999. Morgan felt strongly that surgery was best and that rehabilitation would fail - and potentially end Schilling's career.

Morgan said Friday that Schilling's shoulder is stronger than it was in spring training when he originally recommended surgery. But the original problem with the tendon persists. He said Schilling could throw off flat ground, but that not from the mound.

The 41-year-old Schilling, who's been out since the start of spring training, underwent an MRI Tuesday and after conferring with Morgan and Gill, a decision was made to do the surgery.
Up until a couple weeks ago, Schilling had still planned to stick with rehab.

"We had a rough couple of weeks, so a lot of stuff happened over the last couple of days," Schilling said. "I met with Dr. Morgan ... and Dr. Gill. It got to a point we had to make some decisions."

A team spokesman did not immediately return a call for comment.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 10:11 AM | Permalink

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