Curt Schilling Says He'd Pay If Sock Wasn't Bloody (Update1)

By Danielle Sessa

April 27 (Bloomberg) -- Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling said he'll wager $1 million with anyone who tries to prove the sock he wore during the 2004 World Series wasn't bloody. The proceeds would go to charity.

Schilling, whose right ankle was surgically repaired so he could pitch in the postseason, had a red stain on his sock during Boston's Game 6 victory over the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series and again when he pitched in Game 2 of the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. He won both games.

Questions over whether it was blood came up this week when Baltimore Orioles announcer Gary Thorne said Boston catcher Doug Mirabelli told him it was paint and done as a publicity stunt. Thorne said yesterday it was a misunderstanding and he didn't realize Mirabelli was joking.

``It was blood,'' Schilling wrote on his Web site. ``You can choose to believe whatever you need to, but facts are facts. The 25 guys that were in that locker room, the coaches, they all know it.''

The sock he wore during the World Series is now in the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The Red Sox said the one he wore during the Yankees game probably was put in the laundry or thrown out.

Schilling said on the Web site that he would donate $1 million to charity if someone proves the stain on the World Series sock isn't blood. If Schilling wins the bet, then the person has to give $1 million to the ALS Association, which is searching for a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease.

``Grab an orthopedic surgeon, have them suture your ankle skin down to the tissue covering the bone in your ankle joint, then walk around for 4 hours,'' Schilling wrote. ``After that go find a mound, throw a hundred or so pitches, run over, cover first a few times. When you're done check that ankle and see if it bleeds. It will.''

Curt Schilling Should Be On Mount Rushmore

Noted loudmouth and ex-Phillies pitcher Curt Schilling famously pitched Game 6 of the ALCS in 2004 with a hurt ankle, which also famously bled through his sock. The win helped the Red Sox rally from a 3-0 deficit to upset the Yankees and eventually won the World Series.

Last night, during a game, announcer Orioles announcer Gary Thorne made an interesting comment during the Baltimore-Boston contest: It was actually painted on! But of course! I've actually heard that rumor before, but it doesn't make much sense; it's not like his ankle wasn't hurt, it'd be pretty silly to actually paint on fake blood just to make yourself look tougher.

The Red Sox denied it; the guy Thorne said told him about it says he doesn't even know Thorne, etc. But the best comment comes from Terry Francona, the Phillies manager who successfully guided the team to a 65-97 record in 2000:

"What we're going through today as a nation, you hate to use a word like heroic on the field, but what Schill did that night on the sports field was one of the most incredible feats I ever witnessed," Francona said. "[Thorne's remarks] go so far past disappointing. Disrespectful to Schill, to his vocation. I'm stunned.

"I am just floored. Schill takes his share of shots, and this one is so far below the belt that I'm embarrassed and I wish somebody would have had the good conscience to ask me. I saw the leg. If that had been painted, I wouldn't have had my knuckles so white, and having so much anxiety."


"I don't want to say Schilling's a hero, but, man, he makes the people on Flight 93 look like pussies."

Schilling's sock called into question [Boston Globe]
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