Curt Schilling got motivation from people who said he couldn’t start on three days’ rest in the 2001 World Series. He also knew it was something he could physically handle.
“The first thing was, everybody said I couldn’t. And the second thing was, everybody’s talking about if you do, you’re not going to be successful, nobody’s really done it well,” Schilling told The Post last night. “That was incentive, in and of itself.
“But for the most part, physically I was able to do it. From a mechanics standpoint, I had simple mechanics. I didn’t tax myself. That 48 innings I pitched in October was probably the best 48 innings I threw all year.”
Eight years ago, Schilling twice did for the Diamondbacks what CC Sabathia did for the Yankees last night. Schilling pitched two World Series games on three days’ rest against the Yankees and was dominant, allowing three runs in 14 innings while striking out 18 in Games 4 and 7. Schilling was also terrific in Game 1
“The key for me was staying with my gameplan from Game 1 and executing that on those three games,” Schilling said. But he insists his stuff was just as good despite less rest.
“No question,” he said.
Joe Girardi wasn’t the first manager to start Sabathia on three days’ rest. Last year, Milwaukee’s Dale Sveum started him four straight times on three days’ rest — his final three regular-season starts and his first in the playoff.
“I got to witness it,” Sveum said. “And it was pretty impressive what he did in those three days’ rest.”
With Milwaukee, Sabathia was brilliant in his three regular-season short-rest starts (0.83 ERA) but lost NLDS Game 2 to the Phillies, allowing five runs in 3 2/3 innings.
“His velocity was the same,” Sveum told The Post.