Chafee questions bloody sock in Schilling deal

Chafee, a Republican-turned-independent, made the comments on WPRO-AM a day after state economic development officials approved the deal with 38 Studios, which Schilling founded and owns. The deal has come under fire from gubernatorial candidates and others who say it's too much taxpayer money to put on the hook for a company that has no proven track record.

"I think it goes back to the principal, Curt Schilling, and the trust that (state economic officials) have in him to deliver," Chafee said. "I just remember his own teammates didn't like him. They thought he was a bit of a salesman. I remember one of his teammates said he painted his sock, the bloody sock, he painted it. Kevin Millar, I think, said that. I don't know if I trust Curt Schilling."

Schilling's publicist did not immediately comment on Chafee's remarks.

Schilling's sock was bloodied in Game 6 of the 2004 AL championship series against the New York Yankees as he pitched just days after ankle surgery. The Sox won the playoffs and went on to win their first World Series in 86 years.

Millar actually defended Schilling in 2007 after a Baltimore Orioles broadcaster claimed that Red Sox catcher Doug Mirabelli said the blood was paint. Mirabelli denied he said it, and the broadcaster later apologized.

Chafee campaign manager J.R. Pagliarini said later Tuesday that Chafee respects Schilling's achievements as a professional athlete and his support of charitable causes and regrets that what he intended as an offhand reference to "published reports" has deflected attention from the real issue.

"We don't trust Curt Schilling in that he doesn't have a track record of running a business of this size, and as such we're putting the taxpayers' money in jeopardy," Pagliarini said. "He's not questioning Curt Schilling's honesty and sincerity. He's just questioning whether he can produce what he says he can."

In January, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley mistakenly said Schilling was a Yankees fan after Schilling endorsed her competitor, Scott Brown, in the campaign to succeed Sen. Edward M. Kennedy in Washington. Coakley, a Democrat, lost to the Republican Brown.

The loan guarantee granted to 38 Studios requires it to relocate from Maynard, Mass., to Rhode Island and to create about 450 jobs with an average salary of $67,500 by the end of 2012.

Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Timothy Cahill also weighed in on the deal Tuesday, saying Rhode Island made a "bad decision" and saying it's wrong for a state to take action to help individual companies.