April 25, 2007

O's Announcer Matter-Of-Factly Says Mirabelli Confessed Schilling Put Red Paint On His Sock In 2004 ALCS/WS -- No Blood -- All Done For PR

12:15 AM UPDATE! Here is my transcript from the game (broadcast by Mid-Atlantic Sports Network and archived at MLB.com), with Bako batting in the bottom of the 5th:
Jim Palmer: He's 40 years old. He asked the Red Sox to pick up an option for next year. And Theo Epstein said we're not in the business of picking up options for 41-year old pitchers, but if you pitch well, we'd love to have you back.

Gary Thorne: 0-2 delivery in the dirt.

Palmer: Of course, he announced it on his blog.

Thorne: Oh yeah. Well nothing's done by Curt Schilling unless it's on his blog.

Palmer: Well, there's a great line here. It says "No mere sports reporter could hope to be as authoritative on the subject as Schilling himself. For the avid fan, reading Schilling on Schilling may offer the sort of enlightment an art historian might expect if a diary were to suddenly be discovered in which Rembrandt set down self-critical evaluations of every brush stroke shortly after removing his smock and cleaning his brushes." That was an editorial in the Globe ...

Thorne: And there was no puncutation in that by the way.

Palmer: No, no.

Thorne: Bako's got a 1-2 count here.

Palmer (laughs): Well, 2 strikes, 2 outs, I had to get it in there in a hurry.

Thorne: It's good.

Palmer: But the Globe's just talking, I mean that's Curt.

Thorne: Well, the press hates him in Boston --

Palmer: Yeah.

Thorne: -- because he doesn't cooperate. 1-2 delivery and that one's taken in the dirt. 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. Two ball, two strike count.

Palmer: Yeah, that was the 2004 World Series.

Thorne: Yeah.

Palmer: That second appearance.

Thorne: 2 and 2, 2 down. Orioles struggling here just trying to get somebody on and get something going against him. He wanted that call, didn't get it, did a little jump step, 3-2 count.
************

Thorne says "It was all for PR" in such a tired voice, as though naturally everything is done for PR and we should be able to see through this shit right away. That "Nah" is equally dismissive, the equivalent of asking "you didn't really believe that was blood, did you?"

What the hell were they talking about "the other night"?

****

Slander? Call your lawyer, Curt! It's lawsuit time!

In the bottom of the 5th inning of tonight's game, Gary Thorne was talking about Schilling and how "the press hates him up in Boston" because he does not cooperate with them and talks to the fans directly via his blog.

Then Thorne rambled for a bit before mentioning Schilling's performance during the 2004 ALCS and World Series. And in a matter-of-fact tone, as if this was common knowledge to all baseball fans, but he has to say it because he's talking about 2004, Thorne starts talking about "the bloody stocking", saying "Of course, it came out later, Doug Mirabelli admitted that it was paint on the stocking -- he confessed that it was all done for PR."

I'd love to get the exact quote, but there is no mistaking what Gary Thorne said. And sidekick Jim Palmer -- who earlier had said it was Nolan Ryan who delivered the straight talk to Schilling to get his career back on track (whereas everyone in the rest of the world knows it was Roger Clemens) -- said absolutely nothing.

21 comments:

s1c said...

Cue the twilight zone music and bring out tin foil hats. It was all a mind game.

mattymatty said...

Wow, thats really wierd. Not only did I miss that comment, but I've never heard anything like it before...

Jim said...

Jeez, I missed that. It was around that inning I discovered that Sportsnet was carrying NESN cuz Jays were RO'd. It's a really odd thing to make up shit like that. His ESPN gigs must be going to his head. It's all about entertainment, damn the facts.

laura k said...

I heard the comment, loud and clear. Allan and I looked at each other with our mouths hanging open. Thorne said, "Mirabelli confessed it - it was paint - all done for PR" in the most matter-of-fact tone you can imagine.

In 2004, there had been some broad, nasty hints in some of the NY-area media, suggesting that Schilling might have painted his sock red. It wasn't quite an accusation, just innuendo. Some Yankee bloggers jumped on it, and then it died down.

To my knowledge, that was it. When we heard this tonight, I asked Allan, is it possible we missed some huge chunk of news? Like we were both in a coma for 2 months during the offseason?

laura k said...

I have the distinct feeling you'll be reading about this in tomorrow's Globe.

Kristin said...

I heard that too! Where the heck did he get that info?

Jim said...

See pg. 10, 11, 12 over on the SoSH game thread for discussion. One guy said he even saw the sock at the HoF (which is where I thought it was). Somebody should call the Thornes (and Buffys) out when they air irresponsible shit.

allan said...

i have confirmation that thorne said exactly what i heard him say.

more later.

Jere said...

Wow, glad I'm not in the aforementioned Twilight Zone on this. I just finished my post about it and came over here. I actually put up the picture I took of the sock at the Hall. It's totally blood.

I remember Torre saying (in an interview I heard, I didn't just "Gary Thorne" this) that he didn't know how hurt Schilling was. And I've heard the "ketchup" theory, but I've never heard that Mirabelli admitted it was "painted on," as Thorne said.

Beth said...

what i want to know is, why are they so concerned with this in baltimore?

Sam said...

Mirabelli has in fact said this before... as a joke. When I heard the O's guy say it, I got the impression that he also said it jokingly. I think the other guy in the booth was chuckling a little. At the least they had been joking around before and after it.

I wouldn't say that he "matter of factly" stated it so much as he said it deadpan.

allan said...

these fucking clowns presented it as fact. as if it was known by all fans and since they were talking about schilling and 2004, they had to mention it, as though it were a rule. like how morons have to say moneyball when youkilis bats.

if thorne thought it was a joke -- or wanted to present it as a joke -- or even as a possible question mark (raised by angry mfy fans and writers) -- there are many, many ways he could have done that -- but he did not.

and palmer -- who did not jump in to help him in any way.

laura k said...

He was definitely not joking. There was nothing in his delivery to suggest it was a joke.

It was around that inning I discovered that Sportsnet was carrying NESN cuz Jays were RO'd.

Damn! We knew the Jays were rained out in the Bronx, and we forgot to check SportsNet. They'll often go to the Sox game if there's no Jays game. Damn.

Then again, we would have missed this gem.

laura k said...

Here's Edes column on it today.

You give him an exclusive and he writes about it without attribution?? Am I missing something or are the names "Allan Wood" and "Joy of Sox" mentioned in invisible ink?

allan said...

I am seriously pissed off.

Steve Garfield said...

Why does the Globe cover this with the accusation as the lede?

"Bloody mess
The Orioles barely touched Curt Schilling last night. But his reputation was the target of an attempted hit when the O's TV booth questioned his bloody sock.

"The blood on his stocking. It was painted. Doug Mirabelli confessed up to it after." -- Gary Thorn"

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2007/04/26/bloody_mess

The Boston Globe is now the National Enquirer.

allan said...

Why does the Globe cover this with the accusation as the lede?

Because the event in question was pretty well-known -- it is probably the first thing Schilling will be remembered for years from now -- and a nationally known sports announcer is saying it was completely faked.

Sir Jahmez said...

Yes, the bloody sock was in the Hall of Fame. I saw it in early July 2005 - I even have pictures somewhere. What a joke - I usually like the orioles (not nearly as much as the sox) but this is ridiculous. Jim Palmer should go back to selling cars.

jackals2004 said...

World Series...Didn't this happen against the Yankees in for the Pennant. Never mind Thorne not getting the story correct on the Sock. Both Palmer and Thorne got the game wrong.

allan said...

There are two socks.

I believe Curt threw the one from ALCS 6 in the trash and sent the one from WS 2 to Cooperstown.

laura k said...

Why does the Globe cover this with the accusation as the lede?

It's completely appropriate. It's an outrageous accusation made against an ace pitcher who either risked his career for his team or (if the accusation were true) is one of the biggest phony blowhards baseball has ever known. The announcer accuses him of faking a major incident "for PR" (??) and claims a teammate confirmed that.

And the game was a routine win in April.

Of course the accusation is the lede.