Curt Schilling quietly retired from baseball via blog, ending an up and down career that saw him go from Philadelphia to Phoenix to Boston, reaching hero status in at least the last two cities.

Co-MVP in 2001 with Randy Johnson in one of the greatest World Series’ ever played.

Bloody sock.

Those are the only two things you need to really know about Schilling’s postseason success, but it really goes much deeper than that.

Schilling ended his career with an 11-2 record and a 2.23 ERA in the postseason. He is the guy that will likely never have to pay for a meal in Boston for the rest of his life due to his integral part of bringing that city the title they thought they’d never get. He was one of eight players to be on both the 2004 and 2007 Red Sox squads (Schilling, David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Jason Varitek, Mike Timlin, Tim Wakefield, Kevin Youkilis and Doug Mirabelli). What Schilling accomplished after the regular season ended should be enough to merit consideration for the Hall, but factor in his pretty damn good career in the regular season and I think Schilling is a lock.

When you start to consider pitchers from 1990 and later, you are going to see a different standard than you saw 20 years ago. Schilling’s 216 wins doesn’t seem like first ballot stuff by the old measuring stick, but when you look at his prime years, you realize just how good he was.

Between 1997 and 2004, Schilling was in the top four in Cy Young voting four times, being the runner up in 2001, 2002 and 2004. If it weren’t for Randy Johnson (future Hall of Famer) and Johan Santana (likely Hall of Famer barring injury), Schilling would have been a three-time Cy Young winner. He was a victim of circumstance to not have more hardware, but that doesn’t take away from his amazing accomplishments. Schilling will likely go down as the best pitcher never to win a Cy Young Award, but he will be getting some nice recognition up in Cooperstown.

As Rob Neyer points out, what he did after hitting 30 was simply amazing.

Schilling announced his retirement on his blog in a short and to-the-point announcement. For a guy who loves being in front of the camera and getting the attention more than any player I ever covered, it’s a bit surprising to see him slip out the back door like this. Expect a massive tour of radio and television interviews to follow, but for now, we have his words that he wrote to explain his decision and emotions.

Four World Series, three World Championships. That there are men with plaques in Cooperstown who never experienced one, and I was able to be on three teams over seven years that won it all is another ‘beyond my wildest dreams’ set of memories I’ll be allowed to take with me.

The game always gave me far more than I ever gave it. All of those things, every single one of those memories is enveloped with fan sights and sounds for me. Without the fans they would still be great memories, but none would be enduring and unforgettable because they infused the energy, rage, passion and ‘feel’ of all of those times. The game was here long before I was, and will be here long after I am gone. The only thing I hope I did was never put in question my love for the game, or my passion to be counted on when it mattered most. I did everything I could to win every time I was handed the ball.

I covered Schilling for his years in Arizona and he was a love him/hate him kind of player. He always had something to say and he was always brutally honest. Off the field, everyone had a different opinion. The one thing that everyone could agree on was that no one played the game harder, or respected the game more than Schilling did. He was a player’s player and a throwback to the glory days of the game. Never was he unprepared and always was he appreciative of his place in the sport. You may not like the man, but you have to love the ballplayer.

In addition to his on-field merits, Schilling was also among the first players to be outspoken against steroid use in baseball. He was years ahead of the game when it came to steroids, and he is likely one of the reasons that the game is on the path to getting cleaned up.

In my opinion, there is no doubt that Schilling is a Hall of Famer, and in today’s baseball world of steroids and scumbags, I think the voters will appreciate him when his time comes to get on the ballot.

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