Amid $75M RI loan guarantee to Schilling video game company, candidate questions bloody sock

RI candidate questions Schilling’s bloody sock

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A Rhode Island gubernatorial candidate has questioned one of the most memorable moments in New England sports history as he criticized a $75 million state loan guarantee given to a video game company owned by former Boston Red Sox star Curt Schilling.

Lincoln Chafee, a former Republican senator turned independent, on Tuesday told WPRO-AM that he doesn’t know if he trusts Schilling, and incorrectly said the former pitcher’s teammates questioned whether he faked the famous bloody sock he wore during the 2004 playoffs against the New York Yankees. The Red Sox won that playoff series and went on to win their first World Series in 86 years.

A Chafee spokesman later said the candidate respects Schilling’s athletic achievements and regrets his remark is deflecting attention from whether the deal makes sense.

In January, Massachusetts Senate candidate Martha Coakley mistakenly said Schilling was a Yankees fan. Democrat Coakley lost to Republican Scott Brown.