NEW YORK — A bloody sock worn by Curt Schilling while pitching for the Boston Red Sox in Game 2 of the 2004 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals was sold for $92,613 at a live auction on Saturday night at the Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion.
Schilling’s bloody
sock sold on auction block
NEW YORK — A bloody sock worn by Curt Schilling while pitching for the Boston Red Sox in Game 2 of the 2004 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals was sold for $92,613 at a live auction on Saturday night at the Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion.
Bidding began at $25,000 several weeks ago. Texas-based Heritage Auctions anticipated it would get more than $100,000.
An anonymous bidder submitted the winning bid.
Schilling had loaned the sock to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y., after the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004 for the first time in 86 years. But it was returned to him last year so he could sell it to cover millions in loans for his startup.
38 Studios was lured to Providence from Massachusetts after Rhode Island’s economic development agency in 2010 approved a $75 million loan guarantee. The company ran out of money less than two years later and filed for bankruptcy. Rhode Island faces a tab of some $100 million related to the deal, including interest, and the agency is suing Schilling and others, saying it was misled.
Rhode Island won’t see any of the proceeds from the sock’s sale; Schilling listed the sock as bank collateral last year in a filing in Massachusetts. He has said he invested some $50 million in the company and lost all his baseball earnings. Selling the sock, he told WEEI-AM in Boston, is part of “having to pay for your mistakes.”
The sock up for sale is actually the second of two. The more famous one was stained when Schilling pitched through an ankle injury during game 6 of the 2004 American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees; that sock is said to have been discarded at Yankee Stadium.
Jeter resumes on-field running drills in Tampa
TAMPA, Fla. — Yankees captain Derek Jeter practiced on-field running and agility drills for the first time since breaking his ankle last fall.
Jeter worked out at Steinbrenner Field on Saturday with players who didn’t travel for the Yankees’ spring training opener against Atlanta.
“It’s a natural progression, but everything went good,” Jeter said. “It went fine.”
The 38-year-old broke his left ankle lunging for a grounder in the AL championship series opener against Detroit on Oct. 1 and had surgery a week later. He expects to be ready for opening day against Boston on April 1.
Miami catcher Mathis out six weeks with broken collarbone
JUPITER, Fla. — Miami Marlins catcher Jeff Mathis has broken his right collarbone in the team’s spring training opener and is expected to be out six weeks.
Mathis was injured in the fourth inning Saturday when he was hit by a foul ball off the bat of St. Louis Cardinals slugger Matt Holliday. After Holliday walked, Mathis was replaced by Kyle Skipworth.
Marlins rookie manager Mike Redmond says it’s a big blow to the club because Miami doesn’t have a lot of depth behind the plate.
Mathis, projected to be the backup to starter Rob Brantly this season, singled in two at-bats during Miami’s 8-3 victory.
Ferrer to defend Buenos
Aires title vs Wawrinka
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — David Ferrer will defend his Copa Claro title in the final against Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland.
Ferrer defeated fellow Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-2 Saturday on the outdoor clay, and Wawrinka defeated Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 7-5 to reach his first final in the Argentine capital. He lost his two other semifinal appearances, including last year to Almagro.
Ferrer won in Auckland, New Zealand, last month and will be going for his 20th career title.
Wawrinka broke Almagro in the 11th game of the second set and won when Almagro retuned his serve wide.
Wawrinka aims for his fourth ATP title.
Kei Nishikori advances
to Memphis final
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Kei Nishikori of Japan advanced to the final of the U.S. National Indoor Championships when Australian Marinko Matosevic retired Saturday with a bone bruise in his right foot after losing the first set 6-4.
Today, Nishikori will face Feliciano Lopez of Spain, a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 winner over Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan. Lopez will be seeking his third title in his eighth career ATP final after a match he thought he had won with an ace — even preparing to shake hands with the chair umpire — only to replay the point because of a let ruling.
No. 5 Nishikori was the only seed to advance out of the quarterfinals after he ousted top-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia.
Matosevic led 2-0 before Nishikori broke back, and the 23-year-old player broke Matosevic again to go up 4-3. Matosevic then called for a trainer, who bandaged the ball of his right foot.
Nishikori served out and won the set in 37 minutes. Matosevic then retired.
Berdych beats Tursunov
in semifinals in Marseille
MARSEILLE, France — Top-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic beat qualifier Dmitry Tursunov of Russia 6-2, 6-1 Saturday to reach the final of the Open 13.
Berdych will seek his first title of the season when he faces Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat Gilles Simon 6-2, 6-2 in an all-French semifinal.
Berdych, the 2010 Wimbledon runner-up, didn’t lose a single point in his service games in the first set, while breaking Tursunov twice to take control. Berdych saved the only two break points he faced at 4-0 in the second set, before clinching the victory with an ace.
Tursunov is a former top-20 player who has dropped to 119th in the rankings. He was playing in his first semifinal since June 2011.
Berdych helped lead the Czech Republic to the David Cup title last year.
Kvitova defeats
Errani to win Dubai title
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova won her first title in six months when she beat Sara Errani 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 in the Dubai Championships final on Saturday.
Kvitova also beat the Italian en route to her previous title — her ninth — in New Haven on the eve of the U.S. Open.
She had won her previous three matches with Errani, ranked one spot better than the Czech at No. 7, but this was their toughest match yet.
From wire sources