The Providence Journal Gretchen Ertl

No one can say Curt Schilling doesn’t have it in perspective.

“I’m talking to a woman … who’s 31 years old and the picture of perfect health … pregnant … who’s been told she has stage-four cancer and has six to nine months to live,” he said.

“You know what? That’s tragedy. This is nothing.”

So spoke the veteran right-hander yesterday on WEEI radio’s Dennis and Callahan Show when he broke the news that his season — and probably his career — have come to an end. Attempts to rehabilitate his injured right shoulder have failed, and Schilling will undergo surgery Monday in Delaware.

The operation — which will be performed by his personal physician, Dr. Craig Morgan — will prevent him from pitching this year. And he says that unless he’s “literally, completely healthy” after surgery, he’s thrown his last pitch in the major leagues.

“If it’s over, and my last pitch was in the 2007 World Series, honestly, I’m OK with that,” he said. “I just can’t stress enough where I am mentally with this. I have not a regret in the world. None of this makes me bitter or angry.”

Schilling was diagnosed with a torn biceps tendon in his right arm in February, and Morgan recommended immediate surgery that might have enabled Schilling to return in midseason. Morgan said that without the surgery there was a “zero [to] five percent” chance Schilling would be able to pitch this year.

The Red Sox disagreed, and the two sides locked horns in a dispute that turned nasty for a time.

Eventually, the Sox — who had signed Schilling to a one-year, $8-million deal in November 2007 — persuaded Schilling to take the rehab route. He began working on the shoulder in February and had worked his way up to throwing bullpen sessions in recent weeks.

But he said that on a scale of one to 10 (“with 10 being able to pitch in a big-league game”), he never got beyond “a three.” His last session, last Friday in Cincinnati, went so badly that it convinced Schilling that his arm should be examined.

“It started to get painful again, non-throwing pain,” he said. “I went through four months of strengthening with, really, no pain whatsoever. And I was excited about the fact that I was not generating inflammation and pain. … [But eventually] throwing went from being kind of an uncomfortable thing to a downright painful thing.”

When asked whether he thought Morgan was correct in his original assessment, Schilling responded: “I don’t know. And I don’t care ... It doesn’t matter. I’m going in to make it not hurt anymore, which is pretty much what I care about.”

He did say, however, that his physical problems now extended beyond the torn biceps.

“A lot of stuff has happened over the last couple of weeks,” said Schilling, who indicated he has an injury to his labrum and may have rotator-cuff damage, as well. “It’s a lot of things. I’m not exactly sure [what the problem is] … Until [Morgan] goes in there and gets done, anything [I might say about the extent of the injury] is speculation.”

As for next year, Schilling is unsure whether or not he wants — or will be able to — return.

“If … there was minimal to negligible damage once it was opened up and I got fixed, coming back next year would be something I would look at as an option,” he said. “But it wouldn’t be [for] a full season. I would come back … [to] pitch maybe in the second half of the season. And, again, that is … only if getting, literally, completely healthy is an option.”

As for whether or not he’d return to the Red Sox, Schilling said, “I haven’t even thought about it. I don’t know.” But later he said he would audition himself to contenders at next year’s All-Star break –– “in a David Cone, hired-gun kind of thing” –– and said, “I wouldn’t care where it was or what it was. From a personal standpoint, my family’s OK with that.”

The statement hinted at a rift between himself and the Red Sox organization, something he returned to later in the conversation.

“I think, at some point in time during this process, there was a lot of things in question about me from an integrity/principle standpoint,” he said. “And I hope that those things aren’t in question with the people involved anymore. But I never intended for this to be the way it is. I never misled anybody. And we are where we are because I got hurt. And I can’t change that.”

When asked why –– at his age and with all he’s accomplished –– he would want to go through another rehab (which he said would be “five times as much as [I’ve] ever had to do from a rehabilitation standpoint”), he responded: “I still got the fire … I don’t want it to end this way.”

But if this is the end, he said he was fine with it.

“I’ve been blessed a billion times over,” he said. “And I’ve been given far more than I ever, ever, ever could have imagined. To be able to spend the last couple of years of my career as a member of this franchise in front of these fans is a gift I’ll never be able to repay. This is not a funeral. It’s not a bad thing ...

“To be able to finish it here, if that’s what happens, is OK. I have nothing but appreciation and gratitude and love for the people that root for this team.” SCHILLING IN THE POSTSEASON

W-L: 11-2 ERA: 2.23 IP: 133 1/3  H: 104 BB: 25 Ks: 120

•WINNER OF POSTSEASON SERIES WITH: 1993 Phillies (NLCS), 2001 Diamondbacks (NLDS, NLCS, World Series), 2004 Red Sox (ALCS, ALDS, World Series), 2007 Red Sox (ALCS, ALDS, World Series)

•LOSER OF POSTSEASON SERIES WITH: 1993 Phillies (World Series), 2002 Diamondbacks (NLDS), 2005 Red Sox (ALDS)

amartone@projo.com