Bloody Hell: PC ESPN Goes 1984 on Red Sox Nation History

In George Orwell's prophetic novel Nineteen-Eight Four (1948), the protagonist Winston Smith slaves away at the Ministry of Truth (MiniTrue) erasing all sorts of inconvenient truths that deviate from the powers that be's current line.  Essentially, the novel anticipated historical revisionism for the purposes of political correctness.

2004 World Series Championship Ring

Sadly, the same process can be seen at ESPN. Curt Schilling, a former Major League Baseball player who gained notoriety for his heroic bloody sock pitching performance of game six in the 2004 World Series.  Schilling's clutch performance pitching on a bad knee set up the Boston Red Sox to break the nearly century old Curse of the Bambino, coming from a 3-0 deficit to win the MLB World Championship over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Five years ago, ESPN produced an hour retrospective of this incredible come from behind playoff rally titled "Four Days in October".  Schilling's performance was prominently featured.





However,  ESPN recently fired Curt Schilling from his on-air job because of  personal social media commentary concerning transvestites and those citing gender dysphoria from using whichever bathroom he/she/zhe prefers at that moment.  Subsequently, less than a week later, when ESPN 2 reran "Four Days in October", the chronicle of Schilling's crucial play (and the bloody sock) was strangely missing. In this case, one ought to call the channel "The Deuce" with good reason.

All week, Schilling has been proclaiming the unchecked political progressivism at his former employer, as well as noting that more than a few have displayed overt racism.  But because Schilling violated today's shibboleth of "transgender" acceptable, it seems his memory must be erased at what is purportedly a sports channel.


So know that Disney/ESPN is not only spewing liberal commentary within their sports coverage, they also have taken it upon themselves to rewrite history.  Perhaps one of the 1984 IngSoc mantras will become more poignant "Ignorance is strength". 

"Fenway is the essence of baseball"

The Boston Red Sox moved to their new ballpark at 4 Yawkey Way in 1912.  Fenway Park was said to be named after the Fenway neighborhood, which was created by filling in marshlands (the fens) in the back bay.  However, that explanation may be somewhat suspect as owner John Taylor's family also owned the Fenway Realty Company.

Fenway Park in 2014

The Red Sox first game at Fenway Park was on April 20th, 1912 in an 11 inning 7-6 win against the New York Highlanders (who were renamed the Yankees the following year).

For Fenway Park's centenary, the building was designated as a National Historical Landmark. As of 2012, the Red Sox spring training facility, Jetblue Park in Fort Myers Florida is known as Fenway South as the facility has the exact same dimensions as the so called "Cathedral of Boston"

Michael Pineda on Cheating

The New York Yankees had a couple of early April series against their arch-rivals the Boston Red Sox. Due to the cold weather in the Northeast at the start of the season, pitchers may have some trouble getting a grip on the ball.

On April 10th, Pineda pitched six strong innings for the Yankees in the Bronx.  In the fourth inning of that game, Boston's manager John Farrell became aware that Pineda had pine tar on his hand, but did not protest to the umpires.  When questioned about the incident, Pineda insisted that it was dirt on the palm of his right hand.

Less than a fortnight later, Pineda was again pitching against the Bo-Sox. Pineda claims that he could not feel the ball and he did not want to hit anybody, so he put on pine tar.  Yet instead of hiding the banned substance, Pineda smeared some pine tar on his neck, and was thrown out in the second inning. This time Pineda admitted that it was pine tar. 

MLB rule 8.02 states that a pitcher may not "apply a foreign substance of any kind to the ball." Rule 8.02 (b) states a pitcher may not "have on his person, or in his possession, any foreign substance. For such infraction of this section (b) the penalty shall be immediate ejection from the game.

Some Major League Baseball players sounded somewhat sympathetic to using something to get a grip in adverse weather (cold, extreme humidity).  But reactions to Pineda's application of pine tar to his neck were less understanding as it was so obvious.

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Johnny Damon on Winning

Granted, the BoSox broke the 86 year old Curse of the Bambino in 2004.  And Red Sox Nation's fans also rejoiced after a World Series victory in 2007.  But Damon's quip still brings a smile to a cynical sports fan's face. 

Albert Einstein on Baseball

This is the response that the famous physicist gave Boston Red Sox great Moe Berg when the professional catcher wanted to barter Einstein for math tutoring. 

Boston Mayor Menino Muffs Red Sox Reference

When the Boston Red Sox make the Major League Baseball World Series,  all of New England feels compelled to get on the bandwagon,  Blaze Radio host is a Boston Bruins booster who does not care much for baseball, but admits it is prudent to root for the Red Sox now that they are in the "big dance". 

It is expected that the hometown Mayor would lead the charge in civic cheerleader. But five term Boston Mayor Thomas Menino (D-Boston) manged to muff his MLB reference.  Boston Globe reporter Maria Cramer tweeted that Mayor Menino told a pack of reporters that he hoped that the Red Sox would win the World Series Cup and that their fans would be responsible.  

Mayor Menino seemingly melded MLB's Commissioner's Trophy with the NHL's Stanley Cup.  Oops.  This was not the first of Mayor Menino's missteps in sports quips.    But it is understandable as not every politico is an avid sports fan and they may not have access to the Teleprompter of the United States (TOTUS) to make them sound good. 

While it is amusing to twitter at Menino's sports ignorance, it is more more maddening to consider how Mayor Menino has been part of efforts to polemically politicize professional sports. Menino has been a prominent supporter of Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG).  For the last few years, MAIG has been running expensive $100,000 ads during the Super Bowl to promote their gun grabbing initiatives. 

If an elected official is a sports fan, let them go to town when their team is in the championships.  If not, stick to a script on rooting for the home team.  And be gracious about the city bets, rather than turning your nose at the hospitality in the World Series wager of the opposing side, as Menino did with St. Louis' offer of fried ravioli.  Finally, stop playing partisan politics with a veneer of sports, like with MAIG Superbowl ads.