Philadelphia Phillies: 50 greatest players of all-time
SP. 1992-00. Curt Schilling. 10. player. 6.
Curt Schilling started off his career as a reliever with the Baltimore Orioles and the Houston Astros before joining the Phillies for the 1992 season. He was a full-time starter the year after and soon established himself as one of the top starters in the league.
Over nine seasons in Philadelphia, Schilling had a 101-78 record, 3.35 ERA, 126 ERA+, 61 complete games, 14 shutouts, 1554 strikeouts, 1.120 WHIP and 3.74 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He earned three straight All-Star appearances from 1997 to 1999 to round out his career in Philadelphia.
Schilling was a key contributor on the unlikely Phillies 1993 National League Championship team. In the playoffs that year, he went 1-1, posting a 2.59 ERA and striking out 28 batters in 31.1 innings. He threw a complete game shutout in the World Series, although it ultimately went for naught.
Schilling truly entered the upper echelon of pitchers in 1997 at age 30. That year, he led the league with 319 strikeouts, the single-season record for strikeouts in Phillies franchise history. He also finished second in strikeouts per nine innings (11.288) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.500), third in complete games (seven), fourth in walks per nine innings (2.052), fifth in wins (17) and shutouts (two), and ninth in ERA (2.97).
Among all pitchers in franchise history, Schilling ranks fourth in strikeouts per nine innings, fifth in pitching wins above replacement, strikeouts and strikeout-to-walk ratio, seventh in wins, starts and WHIP.
Schilling’s time as a Phillie ended in 1999 when he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks. He won a World Series with them in 2001, then won two more with the Boston Red Sox, pitching effectively into his age-40 season.