The Lightning Rod

You may or may not have heard that Curt Schilling has a lot of opinions and he's not shy about sharing them. While some have called for Curt to just shut up, I think he should keep talking as long as he can still think of things to say.

Do I care what he's talking about? Not really. I'm more interested in Curt pulling the focus of the Boston media on to himself and off of his teammates.

If Schilling was a delicate flower of a man and started to wilt under the intense media scrutiny he attracts, I would be the first person at his locker with the duct tape. However, the righty has proved over and over again that the media does not affect his play on the field; this ability to mitigate the influence of the knights of the keyboard is a skill not often showcased by Sox players. And since Schill can handle this pressure, he should shoulder as much of it as possible.

In the past week, we've read countless stories about Schilling and Bonds; before that, the scribes declared war on G38's blog. While precious column inches in the sports section and hours on the sports talk airwaves were devoted to covering every angle of these gripping stories, think of the possible columns that have gone unwritten.

The first person who should be dropping Curt a Thank-You card is new Sox right fielder J.D. Drew. I thought Drew was a great signing this off-season, as he is the poster boy for Theo's new vision for the ballclub. My fear, however, was that he would be crucified in the press if he got out to a slow start (it started before he was signed, for crying out loud) and then we'd have to suffer through a contentious five-year contract that would make Keith Foulke's relationship with the city look positively rosy. Drew helped himself out early by playing lights-out ball for the first several weeks, but when his bat cooled and he missed a few games with a virus, where were the headhunters? Gathered at Schilling's locker.

Next in line should be Julio Lugo. Another long-time Theo man-crush, Lugo was expected to not only take a firm grasp on the leadoff spot but also to play defense comparable to that showcased by Alex Gonzalez in 2006. Lugo's defense has been solid, but his .309 on-base percentage has been anything but impressive. When Coco Crisp was a black hole in the leadoff spot last year, it took very little time for the Hub's ire to focus squarely on him; this year, Lugo is only beginning to hear some grumblings as the season approaches its third month.

I feel like there was another big-ticket acquisition this offseason as well that Schill is obscuring, but it seems to be slipping my mind...Oh yes, of course, how about the $108 million dollar man, Daisuke Matsuzaka? Don't get me wrong, Matsuzaka is still more successful than I projected him to be thus far, and I think he will absolutely be an ace in the next several years: however, aren't you shocked that there has been relatively little made of such a highly-touted import having such obvious control problems and barely keeping his ERA below five? Here in New York, the jokes are already flowing; Yankees fans tell me the Sox may have gotten lucky with the guy they brought over to keep Okajima company, or if I point out that Roger Clemens would be a #5 starter on the Sox they would reply "But you already have that Matsuzaka kid." In a time when he is making major adjustments both on and off the field and is already contending with the enormous Eastern media contingent, I'm sure Daisuke is happy to be getting a bit of a free pass from the Northeastern scribes.

So keep jawing, Curt. Draw all that attention to yourself, whether you're doing it for the right reasons or the wrong ones; your teammates should be thanking you.