Curt Schilling - '93 NL East Hat

The hat "in action"

Editors Note: This was originally posted on Wednesday, June 7th. Since then, Mike Lieberthal has been named as the 2012 Phillies Wall of Fame honoree. Despite lingering resentment over Schilling's departure from Philadelphia, I am happy to say I voted him in the number 1 spot during this season's fan vote period. Whether you like him personally or not, no one can deny what he meant to the team during the '93 season, or those horrible late-90's seasons. It is a shame that a personal controversy will postpone his election to the Wall of Fame, but here's to hoping for a successful election next season.

Last July Hunt Auctions featured "The Curt Schilling Collection" for their online auction. Schilling is famously a baseball historian, and collector - which made me wonder why he would be unloading so much of his personal memorabilia. Hundreds of items, including his 1993 World Series home jersey were made available to the public. We can speculate now about why he decided to dump the treasures, but it may not be unreasonable to think it may have something to do with his video game company. In the end, it was a rare opportunity for Phillies fans like me (and you).

Admittedly, Curt Schilling was never one of my favorite Phillies. Injuries, fights with team management and a request for a trade ultimately soured my memories of his years in town. Love him or hate him, he was a significant contributor to Phillies history, and a key member of the NL East Championship in 1993. There were several pieces of his collection that I would have liked to own, but I knew I had to stay within a budget and wanted something "personal" with a connection to my favorite season (1993). I focused attention on the hat Schilling wore during the Phillies National League East clinching celebration in Pittsburgh, and was lucky enough to end the night as the highest bidder. It wasn't use in game action, but it fit the criteria and looks great on my shelf.