Curt Schilling Quotations

I had the perfect job for a gamer. From February to October, I'd get up at 7 in the morning with nothing to do but play games until I had to be at the park around 1 or 2 o'clock. When I got back after the game, I played until 3 or 4 in the morning.

I've made mistakes, I've misspoke, I am sure I will again sometime, but that happens, that's part of being human in my book. I'm OK with that. I've never done it maliciously, ever.

I think I've earned a certain level of respect, based on my accomplishments and my consistency.

I was raised to understand and know the difference between right and wrong.

There's not a long track record of people leaving professional sports to become a software developer.

In baseball, I was always in control of everything until I let the ball go.

When you say you are a gamer and you are a celebrity or a former celebrity there's a grain of salt that everybody takes that with.

Baseball is not a sport you can achieve individually.

The things I was allowed to experience, the people I was able to call friends, teammates, mentors, coaches and opponents, the travel, all of it, are far more than anything I ever thought possible in my lifetime.

I'm a good person. I don't wish hateful things on people. I don't hate anybody. I know that I treat people right.

When you're having a bad day at work, a lot of times it's your head. When you're having good days, a lot of times it's the absence of the mind.

It is all about rehab. Most doctors can make you 100 percent well physically. I would tell you that it is 25 percent about the surgery and 75 percent about the rehab.

Before I pitch any game, from spring training to Game 7 of the World Series, I'm scared to death.

I had three jobs my junior and senior year of high school. I worked for the gas station and worked for a pizza place.

I've been playing games for 30 years, and I've been a hard-core gamer.

The only thing I hope I did was never put in question my love for the game, or my passion to be counted on when it mattered most.

I've always wanted to be the best in the world as a baseball player, so when I started to think about opening a business, it was with that mindset.

I've been called a lot of things. But never, and I mean never, could anyone ever make the mistake of calling me a Yankee fan.

I've had teammates I didn't get along with, who hasn't? I've never had a teammate call me a bad guy, while he was my teammate, and if he did when I was gone what kind of teammate was he anyway?

One of the walls of my bedroom was a collage of about 15 years of baseball photos. I would cut out the baseball pictures from every issue and I had this huge montage of thousands of pictures.

In my mind, I never doubted whether I was going to achieve what I wanted to do. I just had to decide what it is I wanted to do.

I care what people think, but that doesn't change what I say. I am who I am.

I don't hide my feelings, but when it comes to illness, I guess I don't panic. My father was the same way. I'm the provider for the family and the caretaker. If I panic, who is anybody going to run to?

Have I said dumb things? Absolutely, who hasn't? But I have never backed away from being called out on something I did or said wrong.

Yeah. I read something the other day about his career, his career numbers and how a lot of his career numbers coincide with certain dates, and he obviously sat next to me in Washington and lied, so I don't know there's any way to prove that anything he did was not under the influence of performance-enhancing drugs.

When you're young, you tend to do things like that because you want people to think you're a nice guy. At some point, I realized that I'm doing this not because I want people to think I'm a nice guy. I'm doing this because I think it's the right thing to do.

We're playing in an environment in the last decade that's been tailored to produce offensive numbers anyway, with the smaller ballparks, the smaller strike zone and so forth,

The only joy out of this comes out of winning, ... especially now.

Seven of the 11 hits were on fastballs,

On a personal level, that's not the kind of situation I want to be in, having to relearn someone or have someone learn me at this point in my career. But this is one of those nothing-you-can-do-about-it situations. ... The priority is and the important part is Dave is OK.

Short of baseball and my family, it was gaming. And gaming is a $20-million to $200-million multi-year effort. It's an insane, stupid and utterly irresponsible act. But I did it.

One thing Manny always does is put his time and effort into getting ready. I'm not worried about that. Once it's April 3 and he's healthy, we'll be fine. Manny's one of those guys who if he didn't show up for Spring Training, I'd still know he'd be ready for the season when the season started.

I don't go out there with the mindset that he did this, now I'm going to better him. This game's too hard.

I don't have an explanation for it. I just know the first three innings, I was pitching. We had a game plan and I was moving the ball, making my pitches. Then all of a sudden, I could feel it. When I threw a couple pitches in the fourth inning, I knew I had something extra on them.

I don't expect anything. I have no control over whether Manny comes through the door or not, and how I feel about it is not going to change anything.

I don't give two (expletive) when Manny shows up. He'll be ready to play. I don't care. He'll be ready. One thing Manny does is put in his time and effort into getting ready. On (Opening Day) April 3, he'll be here and ready to hit.

I don't doubt for a second i could do it. I don't doubt either that I could be good at it. I just think it's a much different mental challenge to make than it was physical.

I'd love to sit here and justify why I should throw more (on Friday). But I can't do that.

I did some things better, ... The first pitch of the game I left the ball out over the middle of the plate, and Manny made a huge play.

I had two options: I can quit or I can find a way to get better. I'm going to be better. I'm going to be better before this is all over. After the end of the second, I was at the end of my rope, and I just figured out where I was going to go.

I felt good. I know I gave up four runs, but I feel like I did some good things.

I felt fine ... I felt strong. There's a fluid to a game, a tempo and I didn't allow myself to get into that.

I felt as strong when I came out of the game as I did when I went in. To go out against a kid that's throwing the ball as well as Brandon threw the ball today, there's no margin of error.

I felt as strong when I came out of the game as I did when I went in.

I feel great today, ... I'm not sore, my ankle feels great. I haven't felt like this since last April, before I hurt my ankle. I don't have any limitations from a preparation standpoint or a work standpoint.

I feel good, I feel healthy. I feel like I am better than I have ever been from a performance standpoint.

I feel good and ready to go. If they're ready for me to get back, I'm ready to get back there. I hope to see action, maybe we'll be ahead by a large enough score that I won't be needed, but that's the hope.

I feel like I'm ready already. If my next start was Opening Day, I'd be very comfortable with where I'm at.

Getting kicked around as much as I did, you get tired of it. I'm not trying to hit people. But at the same time, hitters were very comfortable facing me last year, much more so last year than any year in the past, obviously. But there's something you can do about that as a pitcher, and you've got to be proactive in doing it. I feel like my command is good enough that I can throw the ball in off the plate and get people off the plate without hurting people.

I don't think it's any one thing. It happened at the same time last year.

From the outset I didn't feel like I had very good command of my fastball. I threw some good splits, I thought I hung two and they got hit. But I had real spotty command of my fastball.

For us to be 7-3 after 10 games when our offense isn't even close to hitting its stride is a positive thing.

If it comes down to my final start of the season, that's going to probably be whether we go to the postseason or not, so it doesn't matter how I feel about where I am, ... I have to be there.

He'll be there, bat third and probably hit two home runs.

He obviously sat next to me in Washington and lied. I don't know that there's any way to prove that anything he did was not under the influence of performance-enhancing drugs.

He's a classy guy. I'm guessing (he retired) because from a pitcher standpoint, the backup catcher has got to catch Timmy and that represents a whole new set of challenges.

He's been doing that every inning he's thrown this year. He's maturing physically and mentally -- every pitch, every at-bat. He's thinking and he's not thinking too much. He's thinking just enough and he's making adjustments. He's making them on the fly. When you can do them with that stuff, he's going to get better fast and he's done that.

He was phenomenal. That's as good as I've seen him look since October of 2004. That's exciting. It's very exciting to see that.

Guys look like Mr. Potato Head, ... with six or seven body parts that just don't look right.

Knowing that Joe has pitched as well as he has, I thought this was going to be a tight game, ... Then I gave up those two runs in about two minutes. I thought they might come out and be aggressive and they did.

Knowing that Joe has pitched as well as he has, it had nothing to do with him facing us the first time. He's been throwing the ball great. It felt like it was going to be a tight game, and then I gave up two runs in about two minutes, before anybody's even sitting in their seats. ... I couldn't afford to make a mistake after that.

It always makes a difference, when you get a lead early in the game. Every run early on is just a mistake you can make later.

I take a lot of pride in where I sit in the rotation. After Opening Day?s over, it?s over. But there?s something to it for me. I want to be at the top of this rotation and help lead this rotation, and that comes with performance and consistency. I haven?t done that for almost two years now.

I think the fear of public embarrassment and humiliation upon being caught is going to be greater than any player ever imagined.

I thought they might come out aggressive. They did.

I thought the same thing everybody else thought. The sun goes up and the sun comes down and the Red Sox and Yankees play meaningful games late in the year. It always happens that way.

It happens all the time, guys all over the big leagues show up at different times. He'll be ready to play. Manny's one of those guys who if he didn't show up for spring training, I'd still know he'd be ready for the season when the season started.

I was just frustrated with the whole situation, ... I was more frustrated with the fact that that was a winnable game going into the seventh, and I let it get away.

I think they understand what it is we get paid to do. We get paid to win a world championship - period. We don't get paid to play well or whatever. We get paid to win a world championship. And to have the best possible chance they can have at that, they need to be healthy in September. They understand that.

Last year had something to do with it, getting kicked around as much as I did. You get tired of it.

Last year had something to do with it.

Ironic, I guess, is the word. A lot of it is my fault. If I pitched better it wouldn't have gone down to the last day of the regular season. But this was Wake's game to pitch.

Real spotty comment on my fastball today and to go out against a kid that's throwing the ball as well as Brendan threw the ball today,

Our offense is so good, ... We've been bad pitching-wise for five months and we've managed to win more than we've lost.

Steroids is cheating, and winning without honor is not winning.

Some guys (came) as advertised. C.C. (Coco Crisp) at the top of the lineup, Mark generating runs, David doing what David always does, Coco made a great catch in the ninth inning. This is a very good team. Offensively, we?re going to give you nine at-bats that are going to wear you out. Later in the game, the third time through this lineup, it?s very tough to get this team out.

My splitter was better, ... I've got to throw it. I have to have it. I can't not use it.

My wife is a rock in the best sense of the word. She is the true foundation of everything this family is and will be.

I was upset about the whole (seventh) inning,

I think I can help us win one, but if I don't get back and throw dominating baseball, this team can still win a World Series.

I think I can be better than I was in 2004 simply because I have 2004 to use as an experience. I'm a year smarter on the hitters in this league. I don't go into any season looking to duplicate something I've already done. I'm trying to do something I've never done before.

I think he's a guy that you benefit a lot more from getting 200 innings out of than 60. Makeup-wise, he's not far from being a consistent winner in the big leagues.

I think he gets how big this thing is for me. And how important this thing is for me. Every inning. Every out. Every pitch. How that affects him, I don't know. But he's very intelligent, and things don't get lost on him. If you're talking pitching and he thinks it will help, he'll use it.

I thought it was a little inconsistent today, ... but today was just location. I just left a lot of balls in the middle of the plate.

I thought I threw a lot more good ones than bad ones, ... But again, results.

I'm sitting there after the second inning and we're losing, 5-0, and I've shown no signs of being able to get them out. Like I said, after the second inning, I was at the end of my rope and I had to figure out which way I was going to go.

That was a fantastic catch. And to someone that's as terrifically slow as I am, it looks even faster.

That's what arguably the best defense in the game and a deep bullpen will do for you, you can win games like that.

I was more upset about the walk. I didn't want to do something stupid to get the tying run to the plate.

I wasn't sure what I was going to be this year. I feel I'm pitching better than I ever have.

I wasn't trying to hit him in the head. I don't play the game that way. I've got to pitch in. This is the only place I'll get comfortable doing it, making it part of my game plan and taking it into the season. I promise you there are very few people in this world who have stepped in the box in the last seven or eight years against Pedro Martinez that haven't thought about the fastball in. I'm definitely not one of those guys from a pitching standpoint because I've had so much success away.

You just kind of have to realize that there are people that don't like you and, unfortunately, sometimes those people have a voice. Disliking me probably matches my dislike for him (Gomez), but I have a problem with people who don't have integrity and principle so that stuff happens. You just kind of just let it go.

Whether he's going to be able to do that, given what he's done, to me, doubtful. He has no credibility, I don't think, in that area. It's going to be tough. I just hope his life gets righted and he does the right thing.

The problem with hitters I think was they weren't sure who he (Pedro) wanted to hit. And he wasn't afraid to hit anybody.

We are in first place with five days left in the season,

The only disappointment is from my end. People will bash the manager for leaving me in there, but it came down to me not making pitches. It was personally disappointing, but a great team win.

Today was very much a struggle for me from a consistency standpoint. I did struggle, command-wise, getting ahead. I had trouble being consistent tonight. I take solace in the fact that when we needed to make some pitches, early in the game, we made 'em.

Today was probably as bad a fastball physically as I've felt like I've had all spring. Regardless of my emotions coming out of this game or how I feel about everything. I've got to be ready to go Monday.

We'll show up in spring training and get ready for the season and try to win another World Series, ... It's not like we're going to have a sit-down.

In this I-me society, my job is to get people to buy into something bigger than themselves.