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Schilling
and Pinella in a war of words
by Daniel Paulling
May 3, 2005
There has been bad blood between the Devil Rays
and the Red Sox. Not as much as between the Yanks and Sawx, but
quite a bit. While no one really knows what sparked this feud, the
start might have been a few seasons ago. Pedro Martinez was starting
for the Red Sox and pegged D-Rays’ outfielder Gerald Williams.
Multiple beanings have occurred since then as well as an idea to
get back at a pitcher in the American League: take a swing and let
go of the bat.
With the rivalry escalating further and further, the D-Rays and
the Red Sox met at Tropicana Field last week and fuel was thrown
onto the fire. There were multiple hit batters in the first two
games. In the top of the seventh, Lance Carter threw behind left
fielder Manny Ramirez and then over the head of designated hitter
David Ortiz. These two purpose pitches led to a clearing of the
benches.
Red Sox manager Terry Francona, knowing retribution was necessary,
began warming up his bullpen for the bottom of the seventh. He then
ordered starter Bronson Arroyo to plunk Devil Rays star Aubrey Huff,
which culminated in another bench clearing fight.
On Sunday, Curt Schilling did not have his best stuff on the mound,
so he gave the next best thing: the best stuff out of his mouth.
Schilling went after D-Rays’ manager Lou Piniella with no second
thoughts.
“The problem is when you’re playing a team with a manager
who somehow forgot how the game is played, there’s problems,”
Schilling said in reference to the Rays manager. “Lou’s
trying to make his team be a bunch of tough guys, and the telling
sign is when the players on that team are saying, ‘This is
why we lose 100 games a year, because this idiot makes us do stuff
like this.’ They said that on the field.”
Lou Piniella responded with some choice words of his own.
“Forget how the game is played? I have forgotten more baseball
than this guy knows.
“On the idiot subject, I’m appalled he would actually
say something like that. I had a meeting with my team and to a man
they denied it. He’s questioning my character and integrity,
and that’s wrong. He’s never played for me, never really
spoken to me, so he really doesn’t know what I stand for.
“If I were Curt, I would be really embarrassed at the cheap
shot he took and get the story correct. I’ll tell you I’ve
always admired his pitching ability and competitiveness, but I can
honestly tell you I’ve lost a lot of respect for him. I’m
looking forward to talking to Curt myself and get this matter cleared
up.”
In his response to Schilling, manager Lou Piniella definitely took
the high road, which is exactly what he should have done. Lou is,
without a doubt, a knowledgeable baseball man. This is a definite
low blow from the Red Sox pitcher; Schilling’s face should
be as red as his bloody sock because of his embarrassment. Lou did
not drop down to Schilling’s level, which ought to be commended.
As for his alleged words about the Devil Rays players that think
their manager is an “idiot,” this is clearly out of line.
Every player feels a bond to every other player in the clubhouse
and when one of your guys gets plunked, you expect the pitcher to
retaliate.
The words delivered by Schilling were most definitely bush league,
and he knows it. The pitcher should to submit an apology to clear
the air between the two, because the next series between these two
teams will have a few more inside fastballs and definitely be quite
a series to look for.
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