Yankee fans: Jealous of Schilling

Like everyone else out there, I keep hearing a lot about Schilling's sutures and how he's played through pain. I think it's not only up there with Kirk Gibson, but much greater. Gibson has one at-bat. Schilling's done this for 13 innings.

But the New York media is tired of it. The Post had a bunch of articles yesterday saying that even though Schilling is an arrogant, full-of-himself, selfish player, you've gotta respect what he's done.

And then I hear ESPN's Mike and Mike say that Schilling is the one who doesn't stop talking about it. He's the one drawing the attention to himself.

Come on, Yankee fans. Talk about a double standard.

When Derek Jeter dove into the stands, the Yankee fans talked about it for weeks. They thought it was the greatest catch ever. They talked and talked about how he giving of himself for the team, willing to get hurt to make the catch.

And if Mariano gets the job done in Game 4 of the ALCS, we'd still be hearing about his courage in pitching after his relatives were killed. But after his two blown saves in a row, the courage we heard about after Game 1 has gone the way of the aura and mystique of Yankee Stadium. History.

And throughout the year, we heard about how Gary Sheffield was thinking of retirement because of the pain in his shoulder. Hey Gary, after your pathetic ALCS performance in Games 4-7, it looks like a pretty good idea.

And why do you think Schilling talked so much about the injuy? Because he was asked about it so much, that's why! What do you expect him to do-- pull off a Mike Mussina and snub the media? And Schilling's been classy about the deal, discussing his faith in God and how he was enocuraged by the fans' signs of support on his way to the ballpark.

Who was the last Yankee to do like Schilling? Was it Kevin Brown, pitching with an injured left hand after his moronic wall-punching incident? And we all now how that turned out. And then Vazquez, the guy the Yankees got instead of Schilling. Gave up the grand slam that basically capped off the Yankees' choke.

As it is, when I went to Citizens Bank Park in Philly this year, they had a video of Schilling discussing the '93 Series. Schilling was wearing a "Yankee-hater" cap during the interview. The guy is classy.

And the jealous Yankee fans should just shut up. You're getting Carlos Beltran in a few weeks. Maybe he can pitch.