10 Questions for Curt Schilling

The Boston Red Sox were one win away from last year's World Series when the New York Yankees squashed their dreams again. So Boston acquired Curt Schilling, pitching ace and (with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001) proven Yankee slayer. So far he has delivered, with a 21-6 record this season. As he got ready for the playoffs, he talked with TIME's Mitch Frank.

WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR THE RED SOX TO WIN THE WORLD SERIES?

It's a matter of 25 guys determining that the most important thing in life is winning 11 games in October. There's the added baggage of Boston history, but if you allow that to be a part of what you're doing, you're behind the eight ball before you start. I've known since last November, when I signed here, what they brought me here for. If I don't go out and do what I've done in past postseasons, then anything I've done from April to September is meaningless. That's certainly a different twist to it, but you know what? That's life.

THE SOX HAVEN'T WON THE SERIES SINCE THEY TRADED AWAY BABE RUTH IN 1920. IS THERE A CURSE OF THE BAMBINO?

It's silly, but it's something you hear all the time in Boston. As a Christian, I know for a fact that the curse doesn't exist. Boston hasn't won a World Series not because of a curse but because the teams they played have been better than them and have done the things they had to do when it mattered most.

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YOU BEAT THE YANKEES IN 2001. WHAT'S THE SECRET?

There's no secret. When you play the Yankees, you have to do everything right. Pitching, defense, offense. You can't allow opportunities to pass. You can't give them more than 27 outs in a game. All the fundamental, boring things. The postseason is not about playing well. The postseason is about playing great. A quality start in baseball is giving up three runs in seven innings. That's a loss in October.

ARE THE YANKEES REALLY BASEBALL'S "EVIL EMPIRE"?

No, that's rhetoric. The Yankees possess some of the classiest players in the big leagues Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, guys you absolutely look forward to competing against, guys you look at and think, "Yankees." It's an organization founded on winning. Does their payroll disparity change the game? Absolutely. When they struggle with anybody, they go out and buy a new piece, and that's what's different.

WHO'S TOUGHER, RED SOX OR YANKEES FANS?

I think any living Red Sox fan would have to be considered tougher just because of what they've had to grow up with and endure. That's baggage Yanks fans don't have. It's a rivalry of epic proportions in which one side hasn't really had the chance to answer the bell yet.

HOW DOES LIVING IN BOSTON COMPARE WITH PHOENIX?

Probably the same as Mars to Earth. Everything about it is different.

YOU'VE LONG USED VIDEO ANALYSIS AND THE STAT APPROACH MADE FAMOUS IN THE BOOK MONEYBALL. HOW HAS THAT CHANGED THE GAME?

I think there's been some fundamental changes in scouting and player evaluation. A lot of teams are taking a very different approach as far as looking at young players, moving away from some of the physical things that mattered in the past and focusing on drafting and bringing in baseball players. For my performance, there are statistics that have always mattered to me base runners per nine innings, hits and walks per inning pitched, opponents' batting average. Things like that, to me, are indicators of a pitcher more than anything.

WHY HAS YOUR FELLOW ACE PEDRO MARTINEZ STRUGGLED RECENTLY?

It's just one of those things. Everybody wants a reason, and in the Moneyball era everything is supposedly definable. It's not true. I have as much confidence in Pedro taking the ball in any game in the postseason as anyone I've played with.