Curt Schilling had earned this moment.
After becoming the first pitcher in history to start six postseason games, Schilling hoisted the World Series trophy in the jubilant Arizona Diamondbacks clubhouse Sunday night until deciding it was time to share. He spotted team Chairman Jerry Colangelo and made the handoff.
“This is yours,” said Schilling, who went 4-0 with a 1.12 ERA in the postseason. “And why don’t you take some of this with it?”
Schilling then pulled out a bottle of champagne and gave Colangelo a victory shower.
“It feels better than you could imagine,” Colangelo said, holding the trophy. “You dream about it, but when it happens, it’s much better.”
Schilling wasn’t just sucking up to the boss. The Diamondbacks have a true affection for Colangelo, who was raised in Chicago Heights and played Big Ten basketball at Illinois. They admire the way he overcame a money crunch in recent years to help give Arizona its first championship in professional sports.
Colangelo’s efforts have been well documented. He made cash calls and took out loans worth about $65 million, including a $20 million boost from the commissioner’s office, so he could pay the bills while trying to build a winner.
Colangelo also convinced his highest-paid players to defer $17 million in salary, enabling the team to sign free agents Mark Grace and Reggie Sanders. That money will eventually have to be paid with interest.
Colangelo had to take those desperate measures after being caught off guard by declining attendance at Bank One Ballpark. He also was stung by his organization’s $125.9 million in start-up costs and baseball’s decision to wait five years before letting expansion teams share revenue from its national TV contract.
But though some of Colangelo’s toughest financial days might be ahead of him, he has pledged not to pull a Wayne Huizenga.
Huizenga, claiming he had lost millions, dismantled the Florida Marlins after the team won the 1997 World Series. Huizenga sold the team to John Henry in 1999, and the franchise has yet to recover. It still plays before tens of thousands of empty seats night after night in a football stadium.
Colangelo scoffed at the notion that his team will suffer a similar fate.
“I just think it’s different ownership, different management, different philosophy, different commitment, different passion,” Colangelo said. “If that isn’t enough, then I don’t know what else I can tell you.”
Colangelo can’t promise that the Diamondbacks will look the same next year. No owner can promise that about his team.
The Yankees figure to cut ties with Chuck Knoblauch, Scott Brosius and perhaps Tino Martinez and right-hander Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez. Another veteran, Paul O’Neill, plans to retire.
Arizona retains its key players, including aces Schilling and Randy Johnson, Luis Gonzalez, Steve Finley, Matt Williams and Grace. The Diamondbacks might try to save salary by cutting loose Tony Womack, who was paid $4 million in 2001, in favor of Triple-A shortstop Alex Cintron.
Their only prominent free agents are outfielders Sanders and Danny Bautista and pitchers Mike Morgan and Bobby Witt.
With a farm system rated 29th out of 30 teams by Baseball America, Colangelo will have to get creative to continue to put out a winning product without boosting the payroll. Thankfully for Diamondbacks fans, Colangelo has been down that road before.
