His fastball topped out at 90 mph and his split-finger fastball was in midseason form in a 63-pitch outing.

10:04 AM EST on Thursday, March 17, 2005

BY SEAN McADAM
Journal Sports Writer

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- On the main field at City of Palms Park, before yet another sellout crowd, a rematch of last fall's World Series was set to get underway. But just before 11 a.m. yesterday morning, all eyes were focused on the action taking place on a distant back field.

AP photo

With pitching coach Dave Wallace watching in the background, Curt Schilling pitches an important side session yesterday.

Huddled behind the backstop were general manager Theo Epstein, manager Terry Francona and a host of people from the front office. Out behind the mound was pitching coach Dave Wallace.

They were all intent on watching Curt Schilling, one of last October's heroes, take another step as he prepares to ready for the season and recover from last fall's ankle surgery.

Schilling has already recused himself from an Opening Day start on April 3 in Yankee Stadium, but if yesterday is any indication, it may not be long after that he rejoins the Red

Sox rotation.

Over three innings of work, facing Doug Mirabelli, Kelly Shoppach, Simon Pond and minor-leaguer Dusty Brown, Schilling threw with surpising command and velocity.

"I was really, really encouraged," said Francona, "and I think (Schilling) was, too. He's getting better. I think he could have gone out there (and pitched in an exhibition game) today."

Schilling's fastball topped out at 90 mph and his split-finger fastball was in midseason form, an improvement over last season when Schilling could never quite get the feel for arguably his best pitch.

"It's a step in the right direction," said Schilling, who warmed up for about 15 minutes before the simulated game began. "I think stamina-wise, I was a little bit gassed at the end. But I think that was to be expected. In my mind, (pitching in) a game is the next logical step."

Schilling threw to catcher Jason Varitek for the first time this spring, who was suitably impressed.

"But it's all about how he feels from here on," Varitek cautioned. "He had a real good split, but we didn't throw it more than a half-dozen times. I wasn't worried about his velocity. I was worried about his sharpness and location and those were good, for the most part. We'll see where his health takes him tomorrow."

Mirabelli labeled Schilling's split-finger fastball "unhittable. He had good arm action. If he threw that every pitch, you couldn't hit it."

"He was throwing everything," said Pond, "and making it look easy."

That Schilling was touching 90 mph with his fastball was surprise to most, given the setting -- a late-morning glorified side session on an empty back field.

Schilling once more all but definitively ruled himself out of the April 3 opener in Yankee Stadium.

"If you do the math," he said, "I don't think (I'll make it). In my mind, I will pitch in the big leagues the day I'm ready to be activated."

While Schilling builds up his endurance and gets ready to face hitters in a game situation, he said the ankle is no longer a concern for him. He's merely an otherwise healthy pitcher two weeks behind his teammates.

"I'm not even thinking about (the ankle)," he said. "From late April to the World Series, we dealt with it on every start. This is first time in almost a year that it's a non-issue. With the therapy we've been doing, it's getting to the point where I don't have to worry about it; I just have to take care of it."

The fact that Mirabelli drove a pitch out to left on him, "tells me how far I have to go," Schilling joked.

In truth, that may not be far.

"I think he feels that he's ready to compete," Mirabelli said. "Health-wise and arm-wise, he's building up. There were definitely a few pitches that jumped on you. But it definitely wasn't what we saw in Game 2 of the World Series, either. How could it be?"

But yesterday was a start.