Curt Schilling, Internet Embarrassment

Curt Schilling crossed over from star pitcher to Boston folk hero on the night of October 19, 2004, when he started Game Six of the American League Championship Series against the Yankees with splotches of what looked like blood on the sock that covered his right ankle. Schilling had injured that ankle in the previous series, and he’d pitched poorly in the first game against the Yankees. But there he was again, after some medical assistance, giving it another go. Joe Buck, the game’s announcer, helped with some on-the-spot mythologizing: “Like a scene from ‘The Natural,’ Schilling climbs the mound and prepares to take on this Yankee lineup.” He pitched brilliantly that night, giving up one run in seven innings, as the Red Sox continued what some observers would call the greatest series in sports history, from down three games to zero, which would culminate, the next night, in a Game Seven rout of their rivals. A week later, Schilling would turn in another solid performance in the second game against the Cardinals in the World Series, which the Sox would sweep, giving the team its first title since the Woodrow Wilson Administration. For history, Game Six against the Yankees would be known as the “bloody sock” game.