Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling has announced he would rather pitch than face Sen. John Kerry for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts in 2008 which has been widely rumored after an appearance on a local radio station.

The right-handed ace, who last week had been rumored to be a U.S. Senate candidate in Massachusetts in '08, announced Monday morning on Boston-based WEEI-AM that he plans on pitching that year.

"My wife and kids want me to continue to play, which was the only reason I was retiring in the first place ... they talked me into it and I felt it was a decision that I wanted to make to continue to play, so [2007] will not be my last season," Schilling told the sports-radio station. "I was convinced and my family was abiding by that decision [to retire], and they talked me out of it, so I will be playing in 2008."

I'm not posting this as a Republican but as a Red Sox fan. Forget Kerry, G38, and keep pitching for Boston. Let's focus on the real pariah.