Top 10 Athletes From Arizona
There have been 4 men born in Arizona who reached the NHL. One is Matthew Tkachuk of Scottsdale, a rookie with the Calgary Flames, son of Arizona Coyotes and St. Louis Blues legend Keith Tkachuk. As of January 31, 2018, he has 87 career points. The other 3 were born in Phoenix. Sean Couturier, currently with the Philadelphia Flyers, has 280 points. Tage Thompson of the Blues, son of former Coyotes Brent Thompson, has 6. And Jim Brown, who played in 3 games for the Los Angeles Kings in 1983, had a single assist.
Honorable Mention to these Baseball Players: Bob Horner of the Phoenix suburb of Glendale (the only player to be named College Player of the Year and a major league Rookie of the Year in the same season, 1978), John Denny of the Phoenix suburb of Prescott (1983 National League Cy Young Award winner), Billy Hatcher of Williams (Most Valuable Player of the 1990 World Series with the winning Cincinnati Reds), and Tom Pagnozzi of Tucson (an All-Star and a 3-time Gold Glove catcher).
Honorable Mention to Vance Johnson of Tucson, a receiver and punt returner who helped the Denver Broncos win the 1986, 1987 and 1989 AFC Championships.
Honorable Mention to Rodney Peete of Tucson. In the 1991 season, he quarterbacked the Detroit Lions to what is still the only Playoff game they've won since the 1957 NFL Championship Game. He quarterbacked the Philadelphia Eagles to a Playoff berth in 1996. But he only reached 1 Super Bowl, as Jake Delhomme's backup on the 2003 NFC Champion Carolina Panthers. Today, he's better known as a broadcaster, and for being married to actress Holly Robinson Peete.
Honorable Mention to Todd Heap of the Phoenix suburb of Mesa. A 2-time Pro Bowl tight end, he caught 499 passes, and was named to the Baltimore Ravens Ring of Honor. Unluckily for him, he arrived right after their 1st Super Bowl win, and was cut and moved on to another team not long before their 2nd.
Honorable Mention to Lafayette "Fat" Lever of Tucson. "Fat" is a diminutive of "Lafayette." He most certainly was not fat as a player: 6-foot-3 and 170 pounds. He played 13 seasons in the NBA, making 2 All-Star Games with the Denver Nuggets, who recently retired his Number 12.
Honorable Mention to Mike Bibby of Phoenix. He has quite the family. His father Henry Bibby, a native of North Carolina, won 3 National Championships at UCLA, the 1973 NBA Championship with the Knicks, and reached the Finals again with the 1980 Philadelphia 76ers. His uncle Jim Bibby pitched the Pittsburgh Pirates to the 1979 World Championship, and was an All-Star the next year. His cousin Shaun McDonald was an NFL receiver. His cousin Robbie Findley scored for Real Salt Lake in their 2009 MLS Cup Final win, and played for the U.S. team at the 2010 World Cup. And his brother-in-law Eddie House was his teammate on both the Sacramento Kings and the Miami Heat.
Mike Bibby helped the University of Arizona win the National Championship in 1997. As far as I know, this makes Henry and Mike the only father-son duo to both win college basketball National Championships. Mike was named 1998 Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year. He played 14 seasons in the NBA, closing with the Knicks in 2012.
He has since returned to his alma mater, Shadow Mountain High School, first as an assistant coach, now as head coach. Among his players was his son, Mike Bibby Jr., now playing at Appalachian State University.
Honorable Mention to Kerri Strug of Tucson. Sure, her voice was odd. Sure, her ankle injury made the moment a tad melodramatic. But that horse vault at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta won the all-around Gold Medal for the U.S. women's gymnastics team. It was worth celebrating. She had previously won a Bronze Medal in Barcelona in 1992, when she was just 14 years old. So she wasn't a complete one-shot wonder.
Dishonorable Mention to Chad Curtis of the Tucson suburb of Benson. He helped the Yankees win the 1998 and 1999 World Series, including hitting 2 home runs in Game 3 in 1999, the 2nd a walkoff in the bottom of the 10th inning. In a 10-year major league career, he hit 101 home runs, and also reached the postseason with the 1996 Los Angeles Dodgers and the 1997 Cleveland Indians -- one of the few players in any sport to make the postseason in 3 straight seasons with 3 different teams.
Which is not to say he was popular with his teammates. He acted the part of the evangelical Christian, claiming that he never drank, never cursed, and never cheated on his wife. He chastised teammates for their choices in music and TV shows. He became a coach at Christian high schools in Michigan -- and then, in 2012, got busted for molesting female students. He is eligible for release from prison in 2020.
Now, the Top 10:
10. Danny White of the Phoenix suburb of Mesa. The son of Wilford White, who led college football in rushing in 1950, he followed his father to Arizona State University, where he went 33-4 as quarterback and punter, winning 3 Fiesta Bowls -- all on their home field at Sun Devil Stadium. Then he was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys, where he had an even tougher act to follow than his father: Roger Staubach.
That, and the fact that they were more interested in his punting, led him to join Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick of the Miami Dolphins with the Memphis Southmen of the World Football League. But he still had to share the quarterbacking duties with a former Heisman winner, John Huarte, who succeeded Staubach (and beat him out) for the Trophy in 1964. When that League went bust, he joined the Cowboys.
He won a ring with the Cowboys as they won Super Bowl XII, but didn't become the starter until Staubach retired after the 1979 season. He made the Pro Bowl in the 1982 season, but that year made it 3 seasons as the starter, 3 losses in NFC Championship Games (to Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington). He lasted until the 1988 season, and the team's collapse. In Cowboy terms, he was the guy between Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman.
But he wasn't done with football: He coached the Arizona Rattlers to victory in ArenaBowls VIII and XI, in 1994 and 1997. He was elected to the College Football and Arena Football League Halls of Fame, Arizona State retired his Number 11, and The Arizona Republic, the State's largest newspaper, named him the Arizona Athlete of the Century.
While his father Wilford was nicknamed "Whizzer" White, as was University of Colorado legend and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron White, the families are not related.
9. Julie Johnston of the Phoenix suburb of Mesa. In 2014, playing for the Chicago Red Stars, the centreback won the National Women's Soccer League Rookie of the Year award. She was a member of the U.S. team that won the 2015 Women's World Cup -- despite scoring an own goal for Japan in the Final.
Now married to Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz, a fellow graduate of Stanford University, she entered the 2017 season using the name Julie Ertz, was moved up to midfield, and was named U.S. Player of the Year.
Note to Zach: If the Eagles win the Super Bowl, it will be a great achievement, but it still won't be as much of a "World Championship" as your wife has won.
UPDATE: The Eagles won. He has a Lombardi Trophy, she has a World Cup winners' medal.
8. Darren Woodson of Phoenix. The Arizona State safety helped the Dallas Cowboys win Super Bowls XXVII, XXVIII and XXX, making 5 Pro Bowls. He was named to their Ring of Honor. He is eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but is not yet in it.
In the 2000 season, he was joined on the Cowboys by his teammate at Phoenix's Maryvale High School, former Giant Phillippi Sparks, father of singer Jordin Sparks.
7. Michael Carbajal of Phoenix. A Silver Medalist at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea, he competed professionally in the Light Flyweight division. At a limit of 108 pounds, it is the 2nd-lowest weight class, ahead of only Strawweight, 105 pounds.
Known as "Little Hands of Stone," in honor of his favorite boxer, Roberto "Hands of Stone" Duran, he won the IBF version of the title in 1990, and the WBC version in 1993. That year, The Ring magazine named him Fighter of the Year. He lost both titles in 1994, but regained the IBF version in 1996, holding it for 10 months.
6. Sean Elliott of Tucson. The forward led the University of Arizona to its 1st Final Four in 1988, and was a 2-time Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year and the 1989 John Wooden Award winner as player of the year.
He then became easily the best of the 13 players born in Arizona to reach the NBA, making 2 All-Star Games and winning the 1999 NBA Championship with the San Antonio Spurs. In 2000, he became the 1st player ever to return to the NBA after an organ transplant (a kidney). His Number 32 has been retired by both Arizona and the Spurs. He's not in the Basketball Hall of Fame, but he should be.
5. Charlie Hickcox of Phoenix. Part of the great swimming program at Indiana University, he won 3 Gold Medals and a Silver Medal at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, setting 2 Olympic records, 1 a world record. He was elected to the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
4. Randall McDaniel of the Phoenix suburb of Avondale. The Arizona State guard was named to 12 Pro Bowls with the Minnesota Vikings, and was named to their Ring of Honor, the NFL's 1990s All-Decade Team, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In 2000, at age 36, playing out the string with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a trick play was called, and he became the oldest player ever to score his 1st NFL touchdown. After years of volunteering with Phoenix-area schools, the recreation complex in his hometown of Avondale has been named for him.
3. Curley Culp of Yuma. No, that's not a nickname: "Curley Culp" is his full name. He won the heavyweight division at the 1967 NCAA Wrestling Tournament for Arizona State, but his best sport turned out to be football.
A 5-time Pro Bowler at defensive tackle, 6 if you count an AFL All-Star Game, he was a member of the Kansas City Chiefs team that won Super Bowl IV. In 1975, with the Houston Oilers, he was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year -- despite that being the time of the Miami Dolphins' No-Name Defense, the Dallas Cowboys' Doomsday Defense, the Pittsburgh Steelers' Steel Curtain, and whatever the Oakland Raiders called their defense. He is a member of the Pro Football and Kansas City Chiefs Halls of Fame.
2. Curt Schilling of Phoenix. He was the 1st celebrity, in any field, to block me on Twitter. I don't know if it's because I said I wanted the blood on that sock tested, or if it's because of our political differences. Let the record show that I did not make fun of his cancer diagnosis (which he has since beaten) or his bankruptcy (which he may not have) -- because those things hadn't happened yet.
The good: He had a career record of 216-146, with 3,116 strikeouts. He was a 6-time All-Star. He led the National League in strikeouts twice, and led each League in wins once. In 1997, he struck out 319 batters, an NL record for righthanded pitchers.
He helped 3 different teams to reach 6 postseasons: The Philadelphia Phillies in 1993, the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001 and 2002, and the Boston Red Sox in 2004, 2005 and 2007. He was named NL Championship Series MVP in 1993, and his complete-game shutout of the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 5 of the World Series kept the Phillies alive.
In 2001, he shared the World Series MVP with Randy Johnson. In 2004, his comeback from injury led the Red Sox to victory in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, and he also won Game 2 of the World Series to get the Sox their 1st title in 86 years. He and his teammates were named Sportspeople of the Year by Sports Illustrated. He helped them win another title in 2007.
In 2001, he received the Roberto Clemente Award from Major League Baseball, for his charity work. He has used his comeback from cancer to warn against the dangers of smokeless tobacco. Both the Phillies and the Red Sox have elected him to their team Halls of Fame. (The Diamondbacks don't have one yet.)
The bad: Whenever he saw Mitch Williams pitch for the Phillies in the 1993 postseason, he covered his head with a towel, as if to say, "I can't look." That may have hurt the team's confidence. He forced a trade to his hometown Diamondbacks (not that they were there yet while he was, for want of a better phrase, growing up), in 2000.
While he wasn't the most offending of the Steroid Era Red Sox, he was annoying enough. During the Yankees' 5-game sweep at Fenway Park in 2006, he could be seen crying in the dugout, and he became known as "Crybaby Curt."
The ugly: Angelo Cataldi, the morning man on Philadelphia all-sports radio station WIP, has said that the only reason Schilling does anything with charity is to get his face on TV. After his retirement from baseball, he founded a video game company that went bankrupt, and took a lot of people's money down with his own. And while he has the right to offer public support to whatever political candidates he wants, he has been caught promoting some noxious prejudices. For crying out loud, the man was welcomed as a writer by Breitbart.com.
His statistics say he should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame. His politics shouldn't keep him out. There are men in there who were members of the Ku Klux Klan. But Schilling has done himself no favors in regard to his candidacy for Cooperstown.
Ed Wade, general manager of the Phillies during his tenure there, well before the worst of his controversies, summed it up: "Every fifth day Curt's our horse. The other four days, he's our horse's
ass."
1. Jim Palmer of the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale. He attended Scottsdale High School 2 years ahead of Dan Quayle, who was on the golf team there, in between residences in Indiana. This provides a weird parallel: Arnold Palmer, who became a golf legend, was 2 years behind Fred "Mr." Rogers at Latrobe High School in Pennsylvania.
Jim Palmer pitched 20 seasons for the Baltimore Orioles. In 1966, he won Game 2 of the World Series, outpitching Sandy Koufax in what turned out to be his last appearance. He helped the Orioles reach their 1st 8 postseasons (narrowly missing 3 others), including all 6 of their American League Pennants and all 3 of their World Series wins: 1966, 1970 and 1983. In the process, he became, and remains, the only man to win World Series games in 3 different decades.
A 6-time All-Star, he was the AL Cy Young Award winner in 1973, 1975 and 1976. He led the AL in wins 3 times and ERA twice. He pitched a no-hitter in 1969, and won 4 Gold Gloves. He was 268-152 for his career.
He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and ranked 64th on The Sporting News' 100 Greatest Baseball Players in 1999. The Orioles retired his Number 22 and elected him to their team Hall of Fame. He is now a broadcaster for the Orioles. The NCIS character of medical examiner Dr. Jimmy Palmer, played by Brian Dietzen, was named for him.
Honorable Mention to these Baseball Players: Bob Horner of the Phoenix suburb of Glendale (the only player to be named College Player of the Year and a major league Rookie of the Year in the same season, 1978), John Denny of the Phoenix suburb of Prescott (1983 National League Cy Young Award winner), Billy Hatcher of Williams (Most Valuable Player of the 1990 World Series with the winning Cincinnati Reds), and Tom Pagnozzi of Tucson (an All-Star and a 3-time Gold Glove catcher).
Honorable Mention to Vance Johnson of Tucson, a receiver and punt returner who helped the Denver Broncos win the 1986, 1987 and 1989 AFC Championships.
Honorable Mention to Rodney Peete of Tucson. In the 1991 season, he quarterbacked the Detroit Lions to what is still the only Playoff game they've won since the 1957 NFL Championship Game. He quarterbacked the Philadelphia Eagles to a Playoff berth in 1996. But he only reached 1 Super Bowl, as Jake Delhomme's backup on the 2003 NFC Champion Carolina Panthers. Today, he's better known as a broadcaster, and for being married to actress Holly Robinson Peete.
Honorable Mention to Todd Heap of the Phoenix suburb of Mesa. A 2-time Pro Bowl tight end, he caught 499 passes, and was named to the Baltimore Ravens Ring of Honor. Unluckily for him, he arrived right after their 1st Super Bowl win, and was cut and moved on to another team not long before their 2nd.
Honorable Mention to Lafayette "Fat" Lever of Tucson. "Fat" is a diminutive of "Lafayette." He most certainly was not fat as a player: 6-foot-3 and 170 pounds. He played 13 seasons in the NBA, making 2 All-Star Games with the Denver Nuggets, who recently retired his Number 12.
Honorable Mention to Mike Bibby of Phoenix. He has quite the family. His father Henry Bibby, a native of North Carolina, won 3 National Championships at UCLA, the 1973 NBA Championship with the Knicks, and reached the Finals again with the 1980 Philadelphia 76ers. His uncle Jim Bibby pitched the Pittsburgh Pirates to the 1979 World Championship, and was an All-Star the next year. His cousin Shaun McDonald was an NFL receiver. His cousin Robbie Findley scored for Real Salt Lake in their 2009 MLS Cup Final win, and played for the U.S. team at the 2010 World Cup. And his brother-in-law Eddie House was his teammate on both the Sacramento Kings and the Miami Heat.
Mike Bibby helped the University of Arizona win the National Championship in 1997. As far as I know, this makes Henry and Mike the only father-son duo to both win college basketball National Championships. Mike was named 1998 Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year. He played 14 seasons in the NBA, closing with the Knicks in 2012.
He has since returned to his alma mater, Shadow Mountain High School, first as an assistant coach, now as head coach. Among his players was his son, Mike Bibby Jr., now playing at Appalachian State University.
Honorable Mention to Kerri Strug of Tucson. Sure, her voice was odd. Sure, her ankle injury made the moment a tad melodramatic. But that horse vault at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta won the all-around Gold Medal for the U.S. women's gymnastics team. It was worth celebrating. She had previously won a Bronze Medal in Barcelona in 1992, when she was just 14 years old. So she wasn't a complete one-shot wonder.
Dishonorable Mention to Chad Curtis of the Tucson suburb of Benson. He helped the Yankees win the 1998 and 1999 World Series, including hitting 2 home runs in Game 3 in 1999, the 2nd a walkoff in the bottom of the 10th inning. In a 10-year major league career, he hit 101 home runs, and also reached the postseason with the 1996 Los Angeles Dodgers and the 1997 Cleveland Indians -- one of the few players in any sport to make the postseason in 3 straight seasons with 3 different teams.
Which is not to say he was popular with his teammates. He acted the part of the evangelical Christian, claiming that he never drank, never cursed, and never cheated on his wife. He chastised teammates for their choices in music and TV shows. He became a coach at Christian high schools in Michigan -- and then, in 2012, got busted for molesting female students. He is eligible for release from prison in 2020.
Now, the Top 10:
10. Danny White of the Phoenix suburb of Mesa. The son of Wilford White, who led college football in rushing in 1950, he followed his father to Arizona State University, where he went 33-4 as quarterback and punter, winning 3 Fiesta Bowls -- all on their home field at Sun Devil Stadium. Then he was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys, where he had an even tougher act to follow than his father: Roger Staubach.
That, and the fact that they were more interested in his punting, led him to join Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick of the Miami Dolphins with the Memphis Southmen of the World Football League. But he still had to share the quarterbacking duties with a former Heisman winner, John Huarte, who succeeded Staubach (and beat him out) for the Trophy in 1964. When that League went bust, he joined the Cowboys.
He won a ring with the Cowboys as they won Super Bowl XII, but didn't become the starter until Staubach retired after the 1979 season. He made the Pro Bowl in the 1982 season, but that year made it 3 seasons as the starter, 3 losses in NFC Championship Games (to Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington). He lasted until the 1988 season, and the team's collapse. In Cowboy terms, he was the guy between Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman.
But he wasn't done with football: He coached the Arizona Rattlers to victory in ArenaBowls VIII and XI, in 1994 and 1997. He was elected to the College Football and Arena Football League Halls of Fame, Arizona State retired his Number 11, and The Arizona Republic, the State's largest newspaper, named him the Arizona Athlete of the Century.
While his father Wilford was nicknamed "Whizzer" White, as was University of Colorado legend and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron White, the families are not related.
9. Julie Johnston of the Phoenix suburb of Mesa. In 2014, playing for the Chicago Red Stars, the centreback won the National Women's Soccer League Rookie of the Year award. She was a member of the U.S. team that won the 2015 Women's World Cup -- despite scoring an own goal for Japan in the Final.
Now married to Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz, a fellow graduate of Stanford University, she entered the 2017 season using the name Julie Ertz, was moved up to midfield, and was named U.S. Player of the Year.
Note to Zach: If the Eagles win the Super Bowl, it will be a great achievement, but it still won't be as much of a "World Championship" as your wife has won.
UPDATE: The Eagles won. He has a Lombardi Trophy, she has a World Cup winners' medal.
8. Darren Woodson of Phoenix. The Arizona State safety helped the Dallas Cowboys win Super Bowls XXVII, XXVIII and XXX, making 5 Pro Bowls. He was named to their Ring of Honor. He is eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but is not yet in it.
In the 2000 season, he was joined on the Cowboys by his teammate at Phoenix's Maryvale High School, former Giant Phillippi Sparks, father of singer Jordin Sparks.
7. Michael Carbajal of Phoenix. A Silver Medalist at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea, he competed professionally in the Light Flyweight division. At a limit of 108 pounds, it is the 2nd-lowest weight class, ahead of only Strawweight, 105 pounds.
Known as "Little Hands of Stone," in honor of his favorite boxer, Roberto "Hands of Stone" Duran, he won the IBF version of the title in 1990, and the WBC version in 1993. That year, The Ring magazine named him Fighter of the Year. He lost both titles in 1994, but regained the IBF version in 1996, holding it for 10 months.
6. Sean Elliott of Tucson. The forward led the University of Arizona to its 1st Final Four in 1988, and was a 2-time Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year and the 1989 John Wooden Award winner as player of the year.
He then became easily the best of the 13 players born in Arizona to reach the NBA, making 2 All-Star Games and winning the 1999 NBA Championship with the San Antonio Spurs. In 2000, he became the 1st player ever to return to the NBA after an organ transplant (a kidney). His Number 32 has been retired by both Arizona and the Spurs. He's not in the Basketball Hall of Fame, but he should be.
5. Charlie Hickcox of Phoenix. Part of the great swimming program at Indiana University, he won 3 Gold Medals and a Silver Medal at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, setting 2 Olympic records, 1 a world record. He was elected to the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
4. Randall McDaniel of the Phoenix suburb of Avondale. The Arizona State guard was named to 12 Pro Bowls with the Minnesota Vikings, and was named to their Ring of Honor, the NFL's 1990s All-Decade Team, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In 2000, at age 36, playing out the string with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a trick play was called, and he became the oldest player ever to score his 1st NFL touchdown. After years of volunteering with Phoenix-area schools, the recreation complex in his hometown of Avondale has been named for him.
3. Curley Culp of Yuma. No, that's not a nickname: "Curley Culp" is his full name. He won the heavyweight division at the 1967 NCAA Wrestling Tournament for Arizona State, but his best sport turned out to be football.
A 5-time Pro Bowler at defensive tackle, 6 if you count an AFL All-Star Game, he was a member of the Kansas City Chiefs team that won Super Bowl IV. In 1975, with the Houston Oilers, he was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year -- despite that being the time of the Miami Dolphins' No-Name Defense, the Dallas Cowboys' Doomsday Defense, the Pittsburgh Steelers' Steel Curtain, and whatever the Oakland Raiders called their defense. He is a member of the Pro Football and Kansas City Chiefs Halls of Fame.
2. Curt Schilling of Phoenix. He was the 1st celebrity, in any field, to block me on Twitter. I don't know if it's because I said I wanted the blood on that sock tested, or if it's because of our political differences. Let the record show that I did not make fun of his cancer diagnosis (which he has since beaten) or his bankruptcy (which he may not have) -- because those things hadn't happened yet.
The good: He had a career record of 216-146, with 3,116 strikeouts. He was a 6-time All-Star. He led the National League in strikeouts twice, and led each League in wins once. In 1997, he struck out 319 batters, an NL record for righthanded pitchers.
He helped 3 different teams to reach 6 postseasons: The Philadelphia Phillies in 1993, the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001 and 2002, and the Boston Red Sox in 2004, 2005 and 2007. He was named NL Championship Series MVP in 1993, and his complete-game shutout of the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 5 of the World Series kept the Phillies alive.
In 2001, he shared the World Series MVP with Randy Johnson. In 2004, his comeback from injury led the Red Sox to victory in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, and he also won Game 2 of the World Series to get the Sox their 1st title in 86 years. He and his teammates were named Sportspeople of the Year by Sports Illustrated. He helped them win another title in 2007.
In 2001, he received the Roberto Clemente Award from Major League Baseball, for his charity work. He has used his comeback from cancer to warn against the dangers of smokeless tobacco. Both the Phillies and the Red Sox have elected him to their team Halls of Fame. (The Diamondbacks don't have one yet.)
The bad: Whenever he saw Mitch Williams pitch for the Phillies in the 1993 postseason, he covered his head with a towel, as if to say, "I can't look." That may have hurt the team's confidence. He forced a trade to his hometown Diamondbacks (not that they were there yet while he was, for want of a better phrase, growing up), in 2000.
While he wasn't the most offending of the Steroid Era Red Sox, he was annoying enough. During the Yankees' 5-game sweep at Fenway Park in 2006, he could be seen crying in the dugout, and he became known as "Crybaby Curt."
The ugly: Angelo Cataldi, the morning man on Philadelphia all-sports radio station WIP, has said that the only reason Schilling does anything with charity is to get his face on TV. After his retirement from baseball, he founded a video game company that went bankrupt, and took a lot of people's money down with his own. And while he has the right to offer public support to whatever political candidates he wants, he has been caught promoting some noxious prejudices. For crying out loud, the man was welcomed as a writer by Breitbart.com.
His statistics say he should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame. His politics shouldn't keep him out. There are men in there who were members of the Ku Klux Klan. But Schilling has done himself no favors in regard to his candidacy for Cooperstown.
Ed Wade, general manager of the Phillies during his tenure there, well before the worst of his controversies, summed it up: "Every fifth day Curt's our horse. The other four days, he's our horse's
ass."
1. Jim Palmer of the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale. He attended Scottsdale High School 2 years ahead of Dan Quayle, who was on the golf team there, in between residences in Indiana. This provides a weird parallel: Arnold Palmer, who became a golf legend, was 2 years behind Fred "Mr." Rogers at Latrobe High School in Pennsylvania.
Jim Palmer pitched 20 seasons for the Baltimore Orioles. In 1966, he won Game 2 of the World Series, outpitching Sandy Koufax in what turned out to be his last appearance. He helped the Orioles reach their 1st 8 postseasons (narrowly missing 3 others), including all 6 of their American League Pennants and all 3 of their World Series wins: 1966, 1970 and 1983. In the process, he became, and remains, the only man to win World Series games in 3 different decades.
He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and ranked 64th on The Sporting News' 100 Greatest Baseball Players in 1999. The Orioles retired his Number 22 and elected him to their team Hall of Fame. He is now a broadcaster for the Orioles. The NCIS character of medical examiner Dr. Jimmy Palmer, played by Brian Dietzen, was named for him.
