May 04, 2017
Curt Schilling is at it again.
On Wednesday night, two days after Orioles outfielder Adam Jones told reporters that Red Sox fans at Fenway had hurled racial slurs (and a bag of peanuts) at him, the former Phillies pitcher tweeted a link to a story from the country's preeminent sports outlet, turtleboysports.com, titled "Fenway Bleachers Vendor: I Was There And No One Yelled Any Racial Slurs At Adam Jones."
In addition to the link, Schilling simply added, "So who is lying?"
So who is lying? https://t.co/9OkKnzAGoy
— Curt Schilling (@gehrig38) May 4, 2017
The source – a website whose most-popular posts include "No Hillary, Here Are 11 Reasons Why White Privilege Is Not A Real Thing" and who recently published one succinctly titled, "Globe Writer With Biracial Son And Black Father In Law Coincidentally Sits Next To Unnamed Racist Fan At Fenway Park Who Said Something Blatantly Racist To Him And Is Banned For Life" – didn't seem to bother Schilling, who won a pair of World Series titles with the Red Sox (plus another with the Diamondbacks).
On Thursday, the pitcher-turned-conservative-pundit went all-in with his comments prior to his show on the Brietbart Radio Network.
"I don't believe the story, given the world we live in," Schilling said on his webcast. "I don't believe it, for this reason: Everybody is starving and hungry to sit in front of a camera and talk and be social justice warriors. And if a fan yelled loud enough in center field for Adam Jones to hear the N-word, I guarantee you we would've heard and seen fans around on CNN on MSNBC, they would've found multiple fans to talk about what a racist piece of junk Boston is.
"Since Tuesday night, we've had one person come forward who we found out was lying about the fact that they were in the area and heard it, and other than that we've had nobody." [nydailynews.com]
Apparently Schilling, who was suspended from his position as a broadcast analyst at ESPN after sharing a racially insensitive meme and later fired for an anti-transgender Facebook post, just doesn't think the evidence adds up.
"I spent most of my adult life in baseball parks. I heard the N-word out of my black teammates' mouths about 100 million times," Schilling continued. "For somebody to talk loud enough for Adam Jones to hear the N-word in center field, other people would have heard it.
"If somebody did say it, we're going to see it and hear about it, and I would apologize to Adam Jones for doubting him, but until then, I think this is bulls--t. I think this is somebody creating a situation." [nydailynews.com]
In a world where alternative facts and one's own beliefs can increasingly trump reality, it's interesting that this is the incident in which Schilling requires actual proof before rendering a verdict.
"I don't really know Adam Jones, so it has nothing to do about liking (him)," Schilling added. "But when this stuff happens, this is the boy that cries wolf."
Curt's clearly forgetting how that story ends.
It's also hard to claim that Jones' is crying wolf since the Red Sox issued a formal apology to the Orioles outfielder. But such an admission of guilt by the organization – don't forget, companies HATE admitting to wrongdoing of any kind – isn't enough for the former video game mogul, whose own company (38 Studios) defaulted on a $75 million loan from the state of Rhode Island and failed to make payroll before laying off all its employees.
He wants some kind of proof, beyond the claims made by the victim – in this case, Jones.
"Absolutely. They should [kick fans out for using racial slurs]. That's fine. I don't have a problem with that. What would I have done? I would've confronted the man and asked him to keep his mouth shut," he said. "I don't like it. No one likes it, especially at a public event. But you and I both know, everybody here knows for a guaranteed fact, somebody will come out with a camera. Every event for the last 10 years has been on a camera phone, has had people running to the media. I want to see a fan come out and say 'Yeah, I heard it, the guy said it, he was an idiot.' I don't care if he was sober or drunk, either way he should've been booted, if it happened.
"But we're gonna hear from somebody in the section that saw (Jones) called a racist (word). If not, he's lying. And I say he's lying. If he isn't, I will apologize. I will absolutely apologize on the air and I will be sincere about it if it happens." [nydailynews.com]
I wouldn't hold your breath.
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