09:35 AM EDT on Thursday, April 28, 2005

BY KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- In an odd twist of fate, a Curt Schilling Bobble Ankle Doll was unveiled yesterday by the Brockton Rox baseball team. Instead of the player's neck shaking back and forth, the Red Sox pitcher's famous right ankle was attached by a flimsy spring.

A few minutes after the Rox showed the collectible, the doll came to life as Schilling hobbled into a Fenway Park conference room to talk about his ankle. But this was no joking matter. Instead of celebrating the toughness Schilling displayed during last October's run to a world championship, the toy only emphasized the fragility of a body part that's about to receive even more notoriety.

The Red Sox said yesterday that Schilling will be placed on the 15-day disabled list (sometime later this week, probably today) after developing a "mild bone bruise" on his right ankle. Schilling says he hurt himself while throwing a sixth-inning pitch to Travis Lee in a game last week against Tampa Bay, a contest that Schilling and the Sox ultimately lost, 6-5.

Schilling, as well as the Red Sox, insisted the injury has little to do with last fall's drama when a detached tendon in the ankle needed to be sutured to the bone in order for the burly right-hander to even take the mound. Schilling went on to beat the Yankees in Game 6 of the ALCS and the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 2 of the World Series, becoming a New England hero as much for his bloody sock as his pitching.

"I knew when I threw the pitch I had done something. I felt a sharp pain," Schilling said. "My initial idea was I dislodged something or broke through some scar tissue (from offseason surgery on the tendon). I remember it because I think it was the hardest pitch I had thrown all year, and I was really trying to reach back and I felt it."

The team placed Schilling in a light walking boot, not unlike the one being used by lefty David Wells, another Boston starter rehabbing a sprained foot on the DL. Even the most optimistic Sox fan has to wonder how long both will be away from the mound. The plan is for Schilling to lie low for about two weeks and then resume pitching. But it's clear that is the best-case scenario. Any date when Schilling (and Wells, for that matter) will return is clouded in ambiguity.

AP photo

The Curt Schilling Bobble-Ankle Doll, unveiled at a news conference at Fenway park yesterday, emphasized the pitcher's fragility.

"It's slightly above the area where he had surgery last year," said general manager Theo Epstein. "He'll be in a boot and rest it for two weeks. Our doctors think that will clear it up and he'll be able to resume pitching."

Schilling spent most of spring training easing his way back into shape and making it clear he wouldn't be ready by Opening Day. That prediction came true, but even when he was activated on April 13 for a start against the Yankees, it was clear Schilling wasn't in top form. He appeared heavier, no doubt from an offseason spent recovering from surgery. He lost that game and went just 1-2 with a 7.13 E.R.A. in his three starts, but still insisted yesterday that he didn't return to the mound too quickly.

"It's not part of the (tendon) surgery. It's a stress, bone-bruise type of thing," Schilling explained. "Basically, the ankle bone is not able to handle the force of putting weight on it right now."

Schilling couldn't throw during a scheduled side session on Monday, and a bone scan showed a bruise of the ankle. Like Wells, Schilling's case seems to be a lot like a stress fracture, but the Red Sox say they caught both cases before any break developed.

"With this situation, if we tried to pitch with it there was a very legitimate possibility we could break the bone and the season would be done. That wasn't very attractive," said Schilling.

Schilling says he'll confer with the medical team that handled his surgery and rehab and act accordingly, and hopes he's throwing again in two weeks. Manager Terry Francona said yesterday he'll replace Schilling and Wells in the starting rotation with John Halama and a pitcher to be determined, perhaps Jeremi Gonzalez or Abe Alvarez from the Pawtucket Red Sox.

"When we're cleared to get back on it and put pressure on it, we'll go ahead," said Schilling. "I'll take it a day at a time and I'll push it when I can push it."

The injury also answers some questions lingering in Schilling's mind. While his arm felt strong, his efforts at the end of spring training and in the season's three starts were uneven, at best. With another chance now to fully rest his ankle, he'll again attempt a complete return to form.

"I'd start someone off with a fastball at 87 (mph) and then throw a cutter at 93. That puzzled me," he said. "I haven't had the feel in my legs and my arm to be consistent. This answers some questions for me."