Curtis Montague "Curt" Schilling (born November 14, 1966 in Anchorage, Alaska) is a former American Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He helped lead the Philadelphia Phillies to the World Series in 1993 and has won World Series championships in 2001 with the Arizona Diamondbacks and in 2004 and 2007 with the Boston Red Sox. Schilling retired with a career postseason record of 11–2. His .846 postseason winning percentage is a major-league record among pitchers with at least 10 decisions.Schilling graduated from Shadow Mountain High School in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1985, before attending Yavapai College in Prescott, Arizona. Schilling began his professional career in the Red Sox farm system as a second-round pick in what would be the final January draft in MLB. He began his professional career with the Elmira Pioneers, a then Red Sox affiliate. After two and a half years in the minor leagues, he and Brady Anderson were traded to the Baltimore Orioles in 1988 for Mike Boddicker. His major league debut was with the Orioles (1988–1990), and he then spent one year with the Houston Astros (1991).
Schilling formed a deep-rooted interest in the board wargame Advanced Squad Leader. Schilling's disappointment at not being able to attend the ASL Oktoberfest (an annual game convention) led him to create his own, The ASL Open, which debuted the weekend of January 15, 1993, in Houston, Texas. The Open was financed out of his own pocket. Schilling also started his own amateur publication entitled Fire for Effect, a bi-monthly featuring "some of the ASL hobby's best writers". When his favorite game was sold along with Avalon Hill to Hasbro, Schilling founded the small gaming company Multi-Man Publishing to maintain ASL and other Avalon Hill titles. He also started a new, professional publication entitled ASL Journal and contributed articles, editorials, and game scenarios. Schilling has played EverQuest and EverQuest II, and has reviewed two of the game's many expansion packs for PC Gamer magazine. Most recently, Schilling has been playing World of Warcraft and has become a regular guest on the popular World of Warcraft podcast, The Instance, with hosts Scott Johnson and Randy Jordan. In a July 2008 interview on The Jace Hall Show, Schilling confirmed this: "My time-sink has been MMOs for the most part, all the way back to Ultima Online, where I started, to EverQuest, EverQuest II. Last couple of years I've been pretty stuck to World of Warcraft." In 2006 Schilling created Green Monster Games, which Schilling stated, despite widespread rumor, was not named after the Fenway left field wall. In early 2007, the company's name was changed to 38 Studios. In January 2008, Schilling announced that he will be focusing on an MMORPG project after his retirement. The new game is being developed under the name Copernicus by 38 Studios. Comic book creator Todd MacFarlane and fantasy author R.A. Salvatore are working with Schilling on the project. In July 2010, the Rhode Island Board of Economic Development approved a $75-million guaranteed loan to 38 Studios. 38 Studios has promised to bring 450 jobs to the state by the end of 2012. The company is developing two products. One is a single-player game called “Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning,” which is scheduled for release in the fall of 2011. Executives from 38 Studios introduced the game at the Comic-Con 2010 convention in San Diego.
Curt Schilling 2001 world series game 4 part 1
During the Phillies' pennant run in 1993, Schilling went 16–7 with a 4.02 ERA and 186 strikeouts. Schilling led the Phillies to an upset against the two-time defending National League champion Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series. Although he received no decisions during his two appearances in the six-game series, Schilling's 1.69 ERA and 19 strikeouts (including the first 5 Braves hitters of Game 1, an NLCS record) were enough to earn him the 1993 NLCS Most Valuable Player Award. The Phillies went on to face the defending world champion Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series. After losing Game 1, he pitched brilliantly in his next start. With the Phillies facing elimination the day after losing a bizarre 15–14 contest at home in Veterans Stadium, Schilling pitched a five-hit shutout that the Phillies won, 2–0.Schilling was traded to the Diamondbacks on July 26, 2000, for first baseman Travis Lee and pitchers Vicente Padilla, Omar Daal, and Nelson Figueroa. With Arizona, he went 22–6 with a 2.98 ERA in 2001, leading the majors in wins and innings pitched. He also went 4–0 with a 1.12 ERA in the playoffs. In the 2001 World Series, the Diamondbacks beat the New York Yankees in seven games. Schilling shared the 2001 World Series MVP Award with teammate Randy Johnson. He and Johnson also shared Sports Illustrated magazine's 2001 "Sportsmen of the Year" award. In 2002, he went 23–7 with a 3.23 ERA. He struck out 316 batters while walking 33 in 259.1 innings. On April 7, 2002, Schilling threw a one-hit shutout striking out 17 against the Milwaukee Brewers. Both years he finished second in the Cy Young Award voting to Johnson. Schilling finished the 2003 season with a 8-9 record and a 2.95 ERA in 168 innings while striking out 194 batters. In November 2003, the Diamondbacks traded Schilling to the Boston Red Sox.The trade to Boston reunited Schilling with Terry Francona, his manager during his final four years with the Philadelphia Phillies. This move meant Schilling and Francona have been part of the rivalries of both New York City baseball teams, though neither were on the New York side (New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox and New York Mets vs. Philadelphia Phillies).
On March 23, 2009, Schilling officially announced his retirement from professional baseball after 20 seasons. Schilling ended his career with a 216-146 record, 3.46 ERA and 3116 strikeouts, 15th-most in MLB history. Having last pitched in 2007, Schilling is eligible for the 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot.Schilling holds the major league record for consecutive starts pitched without allowing an unearned run. In doing so, he broke his own major league record of 53 straight starts. In the game in which he broke his own record, he tied the American League record for extra-base hits allowed in a game with 10.During the prime of his career, Schilling was capable of reaching and sustaining speeds of 94-98 mph on his four-seam fastball. Throughout his career, he was characterized by a determination to go deep into ballgames, routinely pitching past the sixth and seventh innings. He combined his endurance with pinpoint control, especially on his fastball. Schilling's "out" pitch was a split-finger fastball, which he generally located beneath the strike zone (resulting in many swinging strikeouts). He also possessed an above-average changeup, a decent slider, and mixed in an occasional curveball, though he mainly alternated between his fastball and splitter. Though his velocity decreased in later years (to the 89-93 range on his fastball), his control remained excellent, and he is currently second in career strikeout to walk ratio.[Schilling campaigned for President George W. Bush in 2004, while certain members of the ownership of the Red Sox campaigned for the challenger, Senator John F. Kerry (D). Schilling said he was encouraged to run for Kerry's seat in the U.S. Senate in 2008 as a Republican (although he declined to say who had encouraged him) according to the Boston Herald. However, Schilling was quoted in The Boston Globe as saying that he intended to pitch in 2008, which would preclude a Senate run.[Schilling is a supporter of care for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) sufferers. His organization, Curt's Pitch for ALS, allows fans and organizations to sponsor him, donating to the ALS Association for every strikeout he throws. He also donated to the charity his $25,000 winnings in a celebrity version of Jeopardy! that originally aired on November 9, 2006. In the 2004 playoffs, after the operation on his ankle, Schilling wrote "K ALS" (short for "strike out ALS") on his shoe, knowing that the cameras would be focusing on his foot numerous times while he was pitching. He also does a weekly radio show with WEEI in Boston that raises over $100,000 each year for ALS patients and research.
Jenson Alexander Lyons Button MBE (born 19 January 1980) is a British Formula One driver currently signed to McLaren. He was the 2009 World Drivers' Champion. Button began karting at the age of eight and achieved early success, before progressing to car racing in the British Formula Ford Championship and the British Formula Three Championship. He first drove in Formula One with the Williams team for the 2000 season. The following year he switched to Benetton, which in 2002 became Renault F1, and then for the 2003 season he moved to BAR. They were subsequently renamed Honda for the 2006 season, during which Button won his first Grand Prix in Hungary, after 113 races. Following the withdrawal of Honda from the sport in December 2008, he was left without a drive for the 2009 season, until Ross Brawn led a management buyout of the team in February 2009, and Button suddenly found himself in a highly competitive, Mercedes-engined car. He went on to win a record-equalling six of the first seven races of the 2009 season, and secured the 2009 World Drivers' Championship at the Brazilian Grand Prix, having led on points all season; his success also helped Brawn GP to secure the World Constructors' Championship. For 2010, he moved to McLaren, partnering fellow British racer and former world champion Lewis Hamilton. Button is currently Britain's highest Formula One point-scorer, with 567, due in part to the new scoring system which allocates more than double the number of points that were allocated in the past. Button was born on 19 January 1980 in Frome, Somerset and brought up in nearby Vobster. He was named after his father's friend Erling Jensen, changing the "e" to an "o" to differentiate it from Jensen Motors. He was educated at Vallis First School, Selwood Middle School and Frome Community College. He is the fourth child of South African-born Simone Lyons and former Rallycross driver John Button, who was well-known in the UK during the 1970s for his so-called Colorado Beetle Volkswagen. After his parents divorced when he was seven, he and his three elder sisters were brought up by their mother in Frome. He failed his first driving test for getting too close to a parked vehicle.
Button began karting at the age of eight, after his father bought him his first kart, and made an extraordinarily successful start. In 1989, aged nine, he came first in the British Super Prix. He won all 34 races of the 1991 British Cadet Kart Championship, along with the title. Further successes followed, including three triumphs in the British Open Kart Championship. In 1997, won the Ayrton Senna Memorial Cup, and also became the youngest driver ever to win the European Super A Championship. Aged 18, Button moved into car racing, winning the British Formula Ford Championship with Haywood Racing; he also triumphed in the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch. At the end of 1998, he won the annual McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award. His prize included a test in a McLaren Formula One car, which he received at the end of the following year Button entered the British Formula Three Championship in 1999, with the Promatecme team. He won three times —at Thruxton, Pembrey and Silverstone—and finished the season as the top rookie driver, and third overall. He finished fifth and second respectively in the Marlboro Masters and Macau Grand Prix, losing out by 0.035 seconds to winner Darren Manning in the latter. At the end of 1999, Button had his McLaren test prize at Silverstone, and also tested for the Prost team. A vacant race seat became available at the Williams team, following the departure of Alex Zanardi, and team boss Frank Williams arranged a 'shoot-out' test between Button and Formula 3000 racer Bruno Junqueira, with Button securing the drive. This made him Britain's youngest ever Formula One driver. Button was heavily hyped before his first race: former driver Gerhard Berger described him as a "phenomenon"; the head of his karting team, Paul Lemmens, compared him to Ayrton Senna; and Williams' technical director Patrick Head said he was "remarkably mature and definitely a star of the future". However some had misgivings about his lack of experience and ability to cope with the pressures of Formula One. Following the buy-out of Brawn by Mercedes, Button announced on 18 November 2009 that he would be leaving the team to move to McLaren for the 2010 season. He signed a three-year deal for a reported £6 million per season to drive alongside former world champion Lewis Hamilton. Button said he moved because he wanted the motivation and challenge from competing head-to-head with Hamilton, and that Brawn GP had offered him more money. A number of people, including former Formula One drivers John Watson, Jackie Stewart and Eddie Irvine, believed the move was a mistake, and that Button would struggle to compete with Hamilton at McLaren. After a seventh place finish in the opening round in Bahrain, Button won the second race in Australia from fourth on the grid. Button was the first to come in for slick tyres on a damp but drying track, which lifted him to second place after the other drivers had pitted. He inherited the lead when Vettel retired with brake problems and maintained his lead to the end without changing his tyres again. His victory made him the thirteenth driver in Formula One history to have won Grands Prix for at least three different constructors. Following an eighth place finish in Malaysia, Button went on to win his second race of the season from fifth on the grid in China, by staying on slick tyres while most of the other drivers pitted for intermediates, he was promoted to second place. However, the rain did not come, and the other drivers had to pit again for dry tyres. Subsequently, he went on to lead the Drivers' Championship, with McLaren leading the Constructors' Championship. In Spain he was leapfrogged by Michael Schumacher and finished a frustrated fifth, before retiring in Monaco due to an overheating engine on lap three. As a result, Button lost his lead in the Championship, dropping to fourth behind both Red Bull drivers and Alonso. Button then finished second in Turkey after Red Bull teammates Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, who were leading the race, collided with each other. His own teammate Hamilton took the win, after the two of them briefly touched after a few corners of wheel-to-wheel racing. This promoted Button to second overall in the Championship, just behind Webber. In Canada he followed up this result and remained second in the Championship, 3 points behind his teammate Hamilton. At the European Grand Prix in Valencia, Button finished 3rd and maintained 2nd place in the title race.
Button is known for having a very smooth driving style; journalist Mark Hughes wrote in 2009, "Button has a fantastic feel for how much momentum can be taken into a corner and this allows him to be minimal in his inputs—his steering and throttle movements in particular tend to be graceful and beautifully co-ordinated." This allows him to perform well in tricky conditions, such as his maiden win in the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix. Many believe using his smooth style he can conserve his tyres better during race conditions than other drivers. However, his smooth style can also mean he struggles to generate the necessary tyre temperature on cool days or undemanding tracks. Coupled with his driving style, Button has demonstrated intelligent race decisions such as his pit stop strategy during the 2010 Australian Grand Prix. Jackie Stewart drew similarities with the driving style and racecraft of Alain Prost. In an interview in 2003, Button said about Prost: "His way of driving was so smooth. He is the person I have modelled myself on". However, he contradicted himself in 2009, when he said, "I've never tried to model myself on anyone.I don't think many people do when they are pursuing their career." Parallels have also been made with the McLaren partnership and rivalry to 2008 World Champion Lewis Hamilton to the Prost-Senna rivalry of the 1980s, though the latter clearly had a more tempestuous relationship. Like many Formula One drivers, Button resided in the principality of Monaco but he has since moved to Guernsey. He said that it was the great training possibilities that took him away from the tax haven. He also has properties in the United Kingdom and Bahrain. His hobbies include mountain biking, competing in triathlons and body boarding, and his car collection includes a Nissan GT-R, a 1956 VW Campervan, a Honda S600 and a Mercedes C63 AMG. He previously owned a blue on black Bugatti Veyron. He was engaged to the actress and singer Louise Griffiths before ending their five year relationship in May 2005. Button has two tattoos: a black coat button on his right forearm; and Japanese kanji-characters on his ankle which say "一番" (Ichi ban, "Number One" in Japanese), this was done before he won the world title.
