Shannon Stewart Is A Singles-Hitting Coward

In case you missed it, Curt Schilling took another no-hit bid into the late innings only to have it obliterated by a punchy little ground ball. Schill must be taking this one pretty hard because his blog has nothing to say about it yet. Or maybe he's just tired. The 40-year-old has averaged 6.5 innings per start this season, which is a ratio Freddy Garcia can only dream of.

Still no no-nos for Schilling in his career, his most recent chance (actually an attempt at a perfect game) being the infamous "chickenshit" game that led to another one of those stupid debates about the "unwritten rules." More importantly, that game triggered the storied Bochy-Brenly rivalry. And good from them, because until then they were pretty much the same guy for an entire generation of young fans.

It's nice to see an older pitcher who resists that "he can't fire it anymore, but he's wily" paradigm and isn't an aloof Texan that sweats testosterone. Schill, for all his detractors, is still easier to like than Roger "No Neck" Clemens because he resembles the guy pitching in your softball beer league more than a creepy middle-aged gym rat.

Curt Schilling--the best pitcher of the last 30 years to never throw a no-hitter or win a Cy Young?




Apologies to Shannon Stewart, of whom the Baker Bowl is quite fond.

Curt Schilling Can't Catch A Break

Curt Schilling has not been getting along with the media early on this season. First he was antagonized over the whole Dan Shaughnessy imbroglio (all evidence of which has been curiously removed from Schill's blog).

Now he's being called a fraud by Gary Thorne (vis a vis Doug Mirabelli) during Wednesday's Bosox-Orioles broadcast for supposedly faking the famous "bloody sock" during the 2004 ALCS:

In the bottom of the fifth, Orioles play-by-play man Gary Thorne said on the air that he had been told by Red Sox catcher Doug Mirabelli that the substance was paint, not blood.

"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," Thorne told broadcast partner and Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer.

"Nah," Thorne said. "It was painted. Doug Mirabelli confessed up to it after. It was all for PR. Two-ball, two-strike count."

I like how Throne dropped that potentially libelous bombshell and, without skipping a beat, kept moving on with the play-by-play.

This can't be true. He's a hockey guy, for Pete's sake! What the hell is he doing calling Orioles games? (Though I imagine they both get similar ratings.)

Schill loves the limelight, but I don't know--that looks pretty legit to me. After making himself look like a total Valley Girl, I think Thorne can forget about getting that Christmas card this year.

Curt Schilling Accused of Being Self-Aggrandizing. Really. [Deadspin]
Mirabelli Denies Saying Bloody Sock Wasn't Real [ESPN]

Good News For Brett Myers

Historically, the Phillies seem to have a affinity for chunky pitchers with overactive sweat glands (see: Kevin Millwood, Curt Schilling, Ricky Bottalico, Jose Mesa, et al). Well, all the equipment guys who've had to collect all their ratty game-worn caps over the years must be writing "Why didn't you think of this sooner?" letters to New Era, who are introducing a new polyester-based moisture-wicking cap this season:

But replacing the traditional wool is a polyester fabric that MLB and New Era say is designed to "wick" away sweat and evaporate it, resist shrinkage and fading and reduce odor and glare.

"Wool isn't a performance fabric. ... This is really the first time we're departing from that. It's purely to make sure we're keeping up with the performance attributes," says John DeWaal, New Era's vice president of global marketing.

Remember, New Era's already on notice for their stupid new batting practice caps on display during spring training. We'll see just how good these caps are when Freddy Garcia gets into his first based-loaded jam.

Really, only Schilling could pull off the ratty look with any panache. You could tell how long he'd pitched by the percentage of pink on his "P." One of those should be in the Hall of Fame if it isn't already.

Baseball Caps To Have New Feel [USA Today]