Gary Thorne (who is definitely one of my favorite broadcasters) said during last night's Red Sox/O's game that Curt Schilling wore a red, painted stocking during the 2004 post-season and that it wasn't actually blood leaking through from his injured ankle. Thorne says Sox catcher Doug Mirabelli let him in on the PR stunt a few years back. Mirabelli says Thorne is lying (I'm cleaning up what he actually said). Schilling and Manager Terry Francona say it's a lie too.Here's my take. I remember watching those games pretty closely (especially Game 6 of the ALCS). And I remember seeing the splotch, whatever it was, getting progressively bigger and bigger as the game went on. So it was either a growing blood stain, or Schilling was carefully having extra paint applied to his stocking in between innings in the midst of an elimination game, with a chance to end an 86-year World Series curse at stake.
But on the flip side, what would Thorne have to gain from saying something like that if he knew it wasn't true? He would have known ahead of time that every member of the organization would come to Schilling's defense (which they have) and that people would start calling for his job (which I'm sure is bound to happen if it hasn't already). What purpose would that possibly serve him as a broadcaster? It seems more like career suicide than anything else.
My guess is this. Thorne and Mirabelli were talking about the sock a few years back, Mirabelli jokingly said "oh no, it was just paint" and Thorne misunderstood his sarcasm.
There's only one way to prove who's telling the truth- test the sock. It's in the Hall of Fame. That will quickly put an end to all this (and if he's wrong, maybe to Thorne's career too).
2 comments:
Kurkjan actually reported on ESPNNews that Thorne spoke with Mirabella today and admitted afterward that it was a misunderstanding and that Mirabelli was joking around and Thorne took it seriously. So, you nailed it with one of your scenarios.
Also, they mentioned on PTI that the stain on the sock in the hall is now greenish. Paint wouldn't do that.
I can't believe this even became a story, or that anyone would believe that Schilling or the Red Sox organization would stage the bloody sock for drama. Coming back down 3-0 wasn't drama enough? What a joke. I did think Schilling was overreacting at first, but then again, people are questioning his integrity, which would probably anger me a bit, too. Forget about testing the sock, too, even in response to the wager he made ($1M to a charity following a test of the sock). That's just another assault on Schilling's character. He may be an ass in the media sometimes, but I don't question his competitiveness or integrity.
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