Curt Schilling Says Red Sox Not Inviting Him To World Series Pregame 'Completely Expected'
BOSTON (CBS) – David Ortiz, Pedro Martinez, Jason Varitek, Kevin Millar, Tim Wakefield, Alan Embree, and Keith Foulke were on the field for the ceremonial first pitch at Fenway Park before Boston beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 2 of the World Series.
Schilling, whose political opinions have generated headlines in recent years, was not invited to take part in the ceremony. The pitcher, who delivered the famous "bloody sock" performance against the New York Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series, has also been critical of Red Sox ownership in his post-baseball career.
A Red Sox executive told Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe that "We did not reach out to him, but it is not out of spite." In a Facebook post after Game 2, Schilling disagreed.
"What they did, or did not do, tonight was done 100% on purpose and completely expected," Schilling posted on Facebook.
Schilling said that he is hated by "white privileged 'men'" and "people who've never broken a sweat, cried and or bled for something bigger than themselves."
"I've held true to my loves, passions, beliefs, and faith in a world desperate to make people abandon all of them," he wrote.
Schilling said he received messages of support from Red Sox fans after he was not included in the ceremony.
"No need. I will sleep soundly again tonight because I know what I did in 2004, the men on that field know what I did," Schilling wrote. "Most importantly? The men who sit in that ivory tower and pass their judgment from on high know EXACTLY what I did and it shames them as men knowing they'll never in their lives be able to do anything remotely close to that."
"I don't need a ceremony to know what we did that year," Schilling added.