What a Bloody Mess
When you're a member of the media, if you've got a scoop, it's best to break it in a timely fashion. Not...say...3 years after the fact.
The great story we were talking about the other night was that famous red stocking that he wore when they finally won, the blood on his stocking. Nah. It was painted. Doug Mirabelli confessed up to it after. It was all for PR.
The above is Gary Thorne discussing Curt Schilling's performance in Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS, when The Big Republico defeated the Yankees on a what could best be described as a "bloody ankle." People consider Schilling heroic for pitching on this "bloody ankle," the sock it was sheathed in even takes up a space in Cooperstown. So these are pretty serious (inconsequential) accusations by Thorne.
I don't know whether I buy it. I wouldn't put it past anyone to paint a sock in order to ensure a legacy, but it seems unlikely still. The fact that Thorne spent the minutes before the accusation criticizing Schilling for having a blog makes me think this is more vendetta-related. What bugs me the most about Thorne's accusation (and I typically like Thorne, especially when he used to call the Stanley Cup Finals with Bill Clement) is that he throws his "source" under the bus. No self-respecting member of the media does that. And Mirabelli was pissed.
What? Are you kidding me? He's [expletive] lying. A straight lie, I never said that. I know it was blood. Everybody knows it was blood."
Schilling himself:
"It gets stupider," Schilling added, according to the newspaper. "I got the 9-inch scar for you. You can see it. ... There are some bad people in your line of work, man."
And, for kicks, Theo Epstein:
"You're kidding me, right? I'm the GM of the team, not Jerry Springer. I couldn't give two [expletives] about what was on his sock, I care that we won the game. The rest, and Gary Thorne, is just noise."
And there it is. He won the game. That's what should be remembered about that night. Isn't there anything else we could be talking about?
