Painful as this is to write, it looks like the Red Sox are likely to be World Series champs -- maybe as early as tonight -- for the second in four years. So much for the idea of a "curse" ... though to be fair, if any team knows the frailty of a 3-0 post-season series lead, it's the Sox (and Yankees, of course).

Still, with all due respect to Josh Beckett and even Daisuke Matsuzaka, the guy the Sox have ridden this far (emotionally anyway) is the old war horse himself, Curt Schilling. A likely future Hall of Famer, Schill is also probably the greatest "Curt" (or even "Kurt") to play in the major leagues ... or is he? Let's find out in this latest installment of Baseball's Hall of Names ...


A few rules to start ...

First, though we will consider players named both "Curt" and "Kurt" for this team, we will not allow middle names (like the fine RHSP Lawrence Curtis "Larry" Jackson, a five-time All-Star), nor will we allow last/family names (there have been 11 major leaguers with the last name Curtis, as well as one Curtright and one Kurtz; none are eligible) ... Well, we will make one exception to that first rule, as the middle-named John Curtis "Jack" Chapman is the only Curt/Kurt to have managed in the big leagues to date ...

And we will also allow certain exceptions to that second rule, like William Curtis "Curt" Walker -- but only if the player made the tasteful decision to go by "Curt" ... On the other side of that, players who had the given first name Curtis are acceptable, even if they officially went by the extended version of the name, like OF Curtis Granderson ... No Kirks are allowed, even though they appear in the BaseballReference.com search returns for "Kurt," and guys like SP Kirk McCaskill, OF/DH Kirk Gibson and CL Randall Kirk Myers would be locks to make this team, if eligible ... Any way, here we go; it's time to meet a team that's bound to be ...

TAKING A CURT'N CALL
** indicates Hall of Famer (none yet)
* indicates All-Star

MGR John Curtis "Jack" Chapman (351-502, parts of 1876-92)

LINEUP
C Kurt Suzuki (.249 as 2007 OAK rookie)
1B Curt Blefary (mostly OF; '65 AL ROY, .237, 112 HR, 1965-72)
2B Curt Welch (.263, 453 SB, 1884-93; mostly OF, 36 games at 2B)
SS Kurt Stillwell* (.249, 1986-93, '96; 1988 AS with KCR)
3B Kurt Bevacqua (.236, 1971-85)
LF Curtis Granderson (.302, 23 HR, 26 SB in 2007)
CF Curt Flood* (.293 in 15 years; seven Gold Gloves)
RF Curt Walker (.304, 1919-30)
DH Curt Ford (.245, 1985-90)

BENCH
C/1B Curtis Thigpen (.238 as 2007 TOR rookie)
SS/2B/3B Curtis Wilkerson (.245, 1983-93)
SS/UTIL Kurt Abbott (.256, 1993-2001, did all but P, C)
OF Curtis Pride (.250, 1993-2006)
2B Curt Roberts (.232 as starting rookie with '54 PIT; .223 career '54-56)
OF Curtis Goodwin (.248, 1995-99)

ROTATION
RHSP Curt Schilling* (216-146 through 2007)
LHSP Curt Simmons* (193-183, 1947-67 except '51 in military)
RHSP Curt Davis* (158-131, 1934-46, 10+ wins 11 times)
LHSP Curt Young (69-53, 1983-93)
RHSP Kurt Kepshire (16-15, 1984-86)

BULLPEN
CL-RH Curt Leskanic (50-34, 55 saves, 1993-2004)
LHRP Kurt Birkins (6-4 with BAL since 2006)
RHRP Curtis King (6-2, 2 saves, 1997-99)
LH-LONG Curt Wardle (8-9, 1984-85)
RH-LONG Curt Barclay (9-9 with '57 Giants; 10-9 career)

CURTLY SPEAKING ... The majority of everyday player candidates were primarily outfielders, to the point that the entire starting right side of the infield is made up of two guys who were primarily outfielders, though Blefary did get a fair amount of time at 1B and Welch did spot duty just about everywhere, including three dozen games at 2B ... Welch had six straight 50+ SB season, with a high of 95 in 1888, but his one pitching appearance was just one inning and led to six earned runs, meaning he had a career ERA+ of 7 ...

The last pitchers cut from the team included Kurt Knudsen, who was 6-5 in his career and Curt Fullerton, who was 10-37 ... Curt S. Brown, Kurt Miller and Curt Kaufman were a combined 7-14 in the 1980s and '90s ... Among the everyday players, OF Curt Motton couldn't survive the outfield glut, as his career .213 mark from 1967-74 didn't quite, ah, "curt" the mustard ...

For the record, then, our 25-man roster includes six Kurts, six Curtises and 13 Curts ... There are plenty of all three names, um, "curtently" active in the minor leagues, so there may be more candidates for this team in the coming seasons ...