Curt Schilling pitches in Game 2 of the 2007 World Series. (Reuters)

According to The Boston Globe, former Boston Red Sox ace Curt Schilling is contemplating a run for the vacant U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts previously held by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy.

The Globe speculates that if he runs, Schilling — who starred earlier in his major-league career with the Philadelphia Phillies — will seek the Republican nomination in the special election that will be held Jan. 9 to fill Kennedy’s seat. If so, Schilling will face a steep uphill battle to win the seat, given that Massachusetts is one of the bluest states in the Union.

On the other hand, there is a precedent for Republican U.S. senators who have been ace pitchers for the Phillies: Jim Bunning, who has served as Kentucky’s junior senator since January 1999, starred with the team in the mid-1960s in a stint that was highlighted by the perfect game he tossed against the New York Mets on Father’s Day in 1964.

Should Schilling be elected, pro-lifers can only hope that he would be as solidly pro-life as Bunning has been. Bunning, who is Catholic, has consistently earned a 100% pro-life voting rating from National Right to Life.

And in April, Bunning delivered this eloquent statement on the floor of the U.S. Senate elaborating on his pro-life beliefs, in the context of explaining why he opposed the confirmation of pro-abortion Catholic Kathleen Sebelius as secretary of Health and Human Services.

Said Bunning, “The leader of the Health and Human Services Department should be balanced and reasonable. There is nothing in Governor Sebelius’ record that makes me think she is either of these things when it comes to protecting the life of the unborn.”