Francona advises pitcher to curtail comments
By HOWARD ULMAN, AP Sports Writer
May 9, 2007
Curt Schilling apologized Wednesday for criticizing Barry Bonds and was advised by his manager to keep some of his opinions to himself.
The Red Sox pitcher leveled the criticism Tuesday on a radio show then backed off his remarks Wednesday in an entry entitled "Public Apology," on his blog.
"Everyone has days and events in life they'd love to push the rewind button on, yesterday was one of those days," Schilling wrote on the blog, 38pitches.com. "Regardless of my opinions, thoughts and beliefs on anything Barry Bonds it was absolutely irresponsible and wrong to say what I did. I don't think it's within anyone's right to say the things I said yesterday and affect other peoples lives in that way.
"As someone who's made it very clear I have major issues with members of the media that take little or no pride in their work it's the height of hypocrisy for me to say what I did, in any forum."
On Tuesday morning on WEEI radio, Schilling criticized the San Francisco Giants slugger, who is 10 homers short of matching Hank Aaron's home run record of 755.
"I mean, he admitted that he used steroids," Schilling said on the show. "I mean, there's no gray area. He admitted to cheating on his wife, cheating on his taxes and cheating on the game, so I think the reaction around the league, the game, being what it is, in the case of what people think. Hank Aaron not being there. The commissioner (Bud Selig) trying to figure out where to be. It's sad.
"And I don't care that he's black, or green, or purple, or yellow, or whatever. It's unfortunate," he said. "There's good people and bad people. It's unfortunate that it's happening the way it's happening,"
Boston manager Terry Francona said before the Red Sox game in Toronto on Wednesday night that he urged Schilling to use more discretion.
"Schill came to me," Francona said. "We talked a little bit and I said, `You probably just need to stay away from some of those things."'
He said he'd let Schilling continue writing his blog.
"I don't care, as long as he stays away from certain things," Francona said. "It doesn't make sense. If you want to run for office some day and solve the world's problems, go ahead. Just not while I'm the manager."
He also said he didn't know what a blog was until Schilling's stirred controversy and doesn't plan to read it.
Schilling said on his blog that his comment about Bonds "was a callous, wreckless and irresponsible thing to say, and for that I apologize to Barry, Barry's family, Barry's friends and the Giants organization, my teammates and the Red Sox organization as well as anyone else that may have been offended by the comments I made."
AP freelance writer Ian Harrison in Toronto contributed to this story.
By HOWARD ULMAN, AP Sports Writer
May 9, 2007
Curt Schilling apologized Wednesday for criticizing Barry Bonds and was advised by his manager to keep some of his opinions to himself.
The Red Sox pitcher leveled the criticism Tuesday on a radio show then backed off his remarks Wednesday in an entry entitled "Public Apology," on his blog.
"Everyone has days and events in life they'd love to push the rewind button on, yesterday was one of those days," Schilling wrote on the blog, 38pitches.com. "Regardless of my opinions, thoughts and beliefs on anything Barry Bonds it was absolutely irresponsible and wrong to say what I did. I don't think it's within anyone's right to say the things I said yesterday and affect other peoples lives in that way.
"As someone who's made it very clear I have major issues with members of the media that take little or no pride in their work it's the height of hypocrisy for me to say what I did, in any forum."
On Tuesday morning on WEEI radio, Schilling criticized the San Francisco Giants slugger, who is 10 homers short of matching Hank Aaron's home run record of 755.
"I mean, he admitted that he used steroids," Schilling said on the show. "I mean, there's no gray area. He admitted to cheating on his wife, cheating on his taxes and cheating on the game, so I think the reaction around the league, the game, being what it is, in the case of what people think. Hank Aaron not being there. The commissioner (Bud Selig) trying to figure out where to be. It's sad.
"And I don't care that he's black, or green, or purple, or yellow, or whatever. It's unfortunate," he said. "There's good people and bad people. It's unfortunate that it's happening the way it's happening,"
Boston manager Terry Francona said before the Red Sox game in Toronto on Wednesday night that he urged Schilling to use more discretion.
"Schill came to me," Francona said. "We talked a little bit and I said, `You probably just need to stay away from some of those things."'
He said he'd let Schilling continue writing his blog.
"I don't care, as long as he stays away from certain things," Francona said. "It doesn't make sense. If you want to run for office some day and solve the world's problems, go ahead. Just not while I'm the manager."
He also said he didn't know what a blog was until Schilling's stirred controversy and doesn't plan to read it.
Schilling said on his blog that his comment about Bonds "was a callous, wreckless and irresponsible thing to say, and for that I apologize to Barry, Barry's family, Barry's friends and the Giants organization, my teammates and the Red Sox organization as well as anyone else that may have been offended by the comments I made."
AP freelance writer Ian Harrison in Toronto contributed to this story.
