Curt Schilling's announcement of his retirement last month triggered the usual speculation about his qualifications for the Hall of Fame. The overwhelming consensus among both sportswriter and fans was that Curt was the best big game pitcher of his time, which compensated for his spotty regular season career record, and that he should be inducted into the Hall. I'll go on record and predict that Schilling will indeed cruise into the Hall, almost certainly in his first year of eligibility.

Let me get a few things out of the way first. Schilling's post-season record is great, without question. The line says it all: 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA in 133.1 innings across 19 starts. He was great in the 2001 World Series (although he was outdueled in his epic confrontation with Clemens in game 7), and was excellent in his two starts for Boston in the 2004 and 2007 World Series. I'm obviously a big advocate of giving significant weight to the "big game" records of Hall of Fame candidates, and Schilling's post-season record is a major plus for his candidacy. And he might have had even more post-season success had he not almost single-handedly ruined Arizona's pennant hopes in 2000.

The D'backs acquired Schilling from the Phillies in late July 2000, hoping to protect a slender lead over the Dodgers and Giants down the stretch. The D'backs were a half game in front of the Giant and 2.5 games in front of the Dodgers when Schilling made his first start for Arizona on July 28th, pitching an 8 inning, six-hit gem. He followed that with a six-hit shutout in his next start and three more solid starts, winning 4 of his first 5 starts for the D'Backs. And the D'Backs desperately needed each of those wins because, despite Curt's success, the D'Backs lost the lead and were trailing the Giants by 1.5 games after Schilling's complete game win on August 18th. With 41 games left to play, however, there was plenty of time for the D'Backs to cash in the dividends of their acquisition of Curt Schilling.

Schilling, however, lost his next four starts and went 0-5 in his six starts from Aug. 23 to Sept. 17, compiling a 6.08 ERA along the way. By the time Schilling beat the Giants on Sept. 22 it was almost over for the D'Backs, having already been eliminated in the division race and barely surviving in the wild-card race. The D'Backs, only 2.5 games back of the Giants on Aug. 30, were 12.5 back after getting eliminated on Sept. 21.

The D'backs coped considerably better with Schilling's September troubles in 2002. The D'backs were up by 9 games on Aug. 26. Schilling and Johnson were repeating their great 2001 performances and further establishing themselves as the greatest 1-2 pitching punch since Koufax and Drysdale in 1965. The D'backs were still 7 games up after Schilling's start on Sept. 15, winning in 13 innings after Schilling took a four run lead into the seventh and blew it over the next three innings (Schlling left after eight innings with a no-decision). On Sept. 20, with nine games left, Arizona was 7.5 games up and on the verge of clinching when Schilling took the mound. Schilling responded with his worst start of the year, giving up 14 hits and 9 runs in 7.1 innings. The D'backs lost each of their next four games as well, and by the time Curt made his next start against the Cardinals on Sept. 25 the D'backs were riding a five game losing streak that had shrunk their lead to 3.0 games with five to play. Schilling came out blazing against the Cards, striking out 7 in the first three innings, but surrendered three-run HRs to Rolen and Drew in the 4th and 8th innings and lost, 6-1. The lead was now 2 games with four to play. But Randy Johnson restored order the next day, pitching a complete game six-hitter, allowing only two unearned runs. The D'backs clinched the N.L. West the next day.

Curt was good in September of 2001 (3-0 in five starts, 3.41 ERA) and, as everyone should recall, great in October. But in three very hotly contested races in Arizona from 2000 to 2002 Schilling went 6-5 in 16 starts with a 4.54 ERA, and was instrumental in losing one division race for the D'backs and nearly losing another one.

Schilling's September record in his three races with the Red Sox (2004, 2005 and 2007) is better than his D'backs record, but still a mixed bag. He went 4-0 in five starts for the Sox in 2004, but in 2005 he won only his two of his first seven starts after returning to the Boston rotation in August (5.56 ERA in those seven starts) before beating the Yankees on the last day of the regular season - the day after the Yankees had clinched the division title. Schilling's woes contributed significantly to the Sox blowing a four game lead over the Yanks in the last three weeks of the season.

In 2006 the Yanks and Sox were staging another epic battle, with the Sox holding a 1 game lead over the Yanks in the AL East going into August. Schilling, however, won only one of his six August starts, going 1-3 with a 5.22 ERA, and the Sox were eight back by the time September arrived.

Schilling went 1-2 in four starts for the Sox in September 2007, bringing his record during the Sox's pennant race Septembers to 8-4 in 15 starts with a 3.29 ERA.

All told, Mr. Bloody Sock's record in September pennant races with the D'backs and Sox - the period in which he was considered by some the best big game pitcher in baseball - reads 14-9 in 31 starts, with a 3.95 ERA in 221 innings. Nothing to be ashamed of, to be sure, but certainly not in the same category as various other big game pitchers over the last 50 years. And certainly not in the same league as the greatest big game pitcher of the '70s and '80s - Ron Guidry.

Ironically, Schilling's best performance in a pennant race came in Philadelphia in 1993, long before Schilling acquired his reputation as a big game pitcher, when he went 5-1 with a 3.40 ERA in September to help the Phils hold off a late charge by the Expos. Throw September 1993 into the mix and Schillings September pennant race record is 19-10 in 37 starts, with a 3.86 ERA in 263.1 innings.