Curt Schilling became Curt Schilling in Atlanta. 
The year was 1993, Schilling, with the Philadelphia Phillies at the time, blocked out the deafening thump of the Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium's tomahawk chop and pitched eight shutout innings to help the Phillies past the Braves 4-3 in Game 1 of the NLCS. 
The Phillies would go on to win the series, ending Atlanta's quest for a third consecutive World Series appearance. 
Schilling would allow only three earned runs and struck out 19 in 16 innings over two games. He was named series MVP without ever winning a game. 
To this day Schilling cites that experience in Atlanta as turning point in his career. 
"I think before that I was a loud nobody," said Schilling, who gets the ball for the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Braves in Game 3 of the NLCS on Friday. 
"Then I became a loud somebody." 
A somebody indeed. 
Since that series, Schilling has pitched three straight complete playoff games, including a five-hit shutout in Game 5 of the 1993 World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. 
The right-hander pitched a three-hit shutout in the series opener and tossed a six-hitter in Arizona's 2-1 victory in the decisive fifth game. 
The only run he allowed against St. Louis was a solo home run to J.D. Drew in the eighth inning of Game 5. 
"We like our chances when (Schilling) takes the mound," D-Backs manager Bob Brenly said. 
"Whether it be the post-season or whether it be a regular season or a spring training game, we know we're going to get the same kind of consistent performance out of him. We like sending him out there." 
Schilling threw seven scoreless innings in his only start against the Braves this season a 7-0 Diamondbacks win on Aug. 10 in Atlanta. 
Facing Schilling will be John Burkett , who will be making his first career start in the championship series and his third in the post-season. 
"We have a lot of confidence in Burkett going into the season. Unfortunately, we didn't get him a lot runs. He could have easily been a 15-20 game winner with some run support." 
Burkett allowed two runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings, winning the clinching game of the Braves' three-game sweep of the Houston Astros in the division series. 
On April 27, against the D-Backs, Burkett tossed a three-hitter in a 9-0 victory. The win was his first of the season and his only complete game. 
Burkett is 2-1 in four lifetime starts against Arizona. 
In Game 1 on Tuesday, Arizona's Randy Johnson snapped his seven-game post-season losing streak with one of his most dominating playoff performances in his career. 
After he surrendered a two-out base hit to Chipper Jones in the first inning, Johnson retired 20 straight batters. 
Tom Glavine followed Johnson's gem with one of his own in Game 2. He allowed a run and five hits over seven innings as the Braves routed the Diamondbacks, 8-1 to even the best-of-seven series. 
H e a d l i n e s :