Curt Schilling's Bloody Sock

The suffocating coverage of Dwight Freeney’s injured ankle reminds me of the Curt Schilling ‘Bloody Sock Saga.’

Believe it or not, that was just five short years ago that Schilling mowed down the Yanks in Game 6 of the ALCS on October 19, 2004.

99 pitches, seven innings, one run, four hits, four K’s, no walks.

Thing-of-beauty!

It took New York seven innings to cross the plate, a Bernie Williams HR off Schilling, yet by then the Red Sox had already totaled four runs against former-Cub John Lieber for a 4-1 lead, which stood for an eventual 4-2 win.

Given the condition of Schilling’s right ankle, which needed a tendon sutured into place just days before, the outing was undoubtedly one of the best all-time performances in post season history.

The rest of the story, of course, is history, and that of which baseball fans remember very well. Because not only did the Red Sox pull off its unprecedented 0-3 series comeback against the Yankees, but they also broke the club’s 86 year World Series drought (must be nice, eh).

Schilling, not surprisingly, also made a second bloody sock outing — winning Game 2 of the World Series.

The later outing alone is a tall, if not impossible, order for Freeney to fill come Super Bowl Sunday. But as Schilling proved, stranger things have happened!