Schilling may sell famed bloody sock to pay off loans

Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling might have to sell the famed blood-stained sock he wore in Game 6 of the 2004 American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees to help cover the millions of dollars in loans he guaranteed to his failed company.

Schilling wore the white sock when he beat the Yankees with an injured ankle and used the now-famous bloodied version as collateral when he took out loans to finance his Providence, R.I. — based video game company, 38 Studios.

The company filed for bankruptcy in June, listing the sock as collateral to Bank Rhode Island in a September filing with the Massachusetts Secretary of State's office.

The sock become a symbol of the Red Sox improbable win over the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS and Schilling wore it in the second game of the World Series— which Boston won for the first time in 86 years.  It is a sentimental icon in Red Sox history.

It is is currently on display at the National baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y..

The financially "tapped out" Schilling also listed a baseball hat believed to have been worn by New York Yankees great Lou Gehrig and a collection of World War II memorabilia, including items being held at the National World War II Museum as assets.

Richie Russek, owner of Grey Flannel Auctions estimated the sock could fetch between $50,000 and $100,000, but admitted there was nothing comparable that has ever been auctioned off.  The cap could be worth at least $150,000, he said.

The Boston Globe reported the filing Thursday.  It said Schilling personally guaranteed as much as $9.6 million in loans from Bank Rhode Island and $2.4 million from Citizens Bank related to 38 studios.

The company owes $150 million and has assets of $21.7 million, according to the court filing.

Schilling has conceded that he was "absolutely" part of the reason the firm failed.

 The former fastball-hurler — who won three World Series and also pitched for Baltimore, Houston, Philadelphia and Arizona over a stellar career — claims he lost everything he earned a a ballplayer and also put up his 20-room Massachusetts house up for sale to get out of debt.

Curt Schilling lost entire fortune on collapse of video game company

Former major-league pitcher Curt Schilling said today that the collapse of his 38 Studios video company has probably cost him his entire baseball fortune.

In his first public comments since the company filed for bankruptcy protection on June 7, Schilling said during a 90-minute interview on WEEI-FM in Boston that he personally invested more than $50 million of his own money in the company and that he had to tell his family that "the money I saved during baseball was probably all gone."

The former Boston Red Sox World Series hero— famous for his bloodied sock— said he was "tapped out" and had nothing left to keep the company afloat.

Schilling placed part of the blame on Rhode Island officials, including Gov. Lincoln Chafee, for enticing 38 studios to move to Providence from Massachusetts in 2010 with the promise of a $75 million loan guarantee. The state is working to determine how much it's on the hook for after the company's collapse.

While he conceded he "absolutely" was part of the reason the company flagship project —an online multi-player, role-playing machine code-named Copernicus— wasn't completed, Schilling said public comments made by Chafee last month questioning the firm's solvency were harmful as the firm tried— but failed— to raise capital to keep its head above water.

"I think he had an agenda," Schilling said about Chafee.  

Schilling said he hopes to return to work as an analyst at ESPN.  He took a leave of absence from the network after 38 Studios filed for bankruptcy.

38 Studios laid off its entire workforce— nearly 300 employees in Providence and more in Maryland— last month.  The move was made after the company was more than two weeks late on a $1.1 million payment to the state.  It was not the first time 38 Studios was financial trouble.  The firm had sought state tax credits to keep going, but Schilling said today he wasn't looking for a bailout.

Schilling said he hadn't done anything wrong, never took money and didn't even take a salary. He said he never intended to hurt the firm's workers

"It's been kind of a surreal 60 days or 65 days," Schilling told the radio station.  "It's crushing and devastating to see it fail the way it did."

"It's a life-changing thing," he said but added, "I'm not asking for sympathy.  It was my choice."