Friday, April 27, 2007

One conversation a year or two ago -- Gary Thorne can't even exactly remember -- turned into a journalist's worst nightmare yesterday for the Baltimore Orioles' play-by-play announcer: He woke up and he was the story.

During Wednesday's broadcast of the Boston Red Sox' 6-1 victory over the Orioles, Thorne mentioned that Doug Mirabelli had told him the red mark on pitcher Curt Schilling's infamous sock during the Red Sox' memorable World Series march was not blood, but paint. The result was an angry Red Sox clubhouse, an incensed Mirabelli and a firestorm in Boston.

Yesterday, Thorne explained what happened that fateful day in the Red Sox' clubhouse. He and Mirabelli chatted, and as a throwaway question at the end, Thorne asked if it was really paint on Schilling's sock. Mirabelli responded with "sarcasm and jabbing that goes on in the clubhouse," Thorne said. Thorne thought Mirabelli was serious, and he repeated the answer as such on MASN's broadcast Wednesday.

"It was a misunderstanding as to what was said in the clubhouse at the time," Thorne said. "He said one thing, and I heard something else. I reported what I heard and what I honestly thought he said. After talking with him today, there's no doubt in my mind that's not what he said and that's not what he meant."

Media swarmed Thorne when he walked on the field yesterday for his usual preparations. The same happened to Mirabelli earlier in the Red Sox clubhouse, and he said Thorne had completely misunderstood him.

"I don't feel bad about doing what I thought was right and what I believed," Thorne said. "I feel bad the whole thing happened, because I don't want to disparage him or Schilling or anybody else. I wasn't looking for a story. I didn't want something to come out of this. And when it came, I was flabbergasted. The most important thing for me was talking to Doug.

"To me, it's a nonissue. The sock to me has always been, I guess I don't get it. The story is much deeper and much bigger."

"It's kind of funny and people are going to run with it," said Orioles first baseman Kevin Millar, who was a member of the 2004 Red Sox. "It's not fair. It's basically calling Schilling out on something that's not fair. We all know there will probably be a DNA test tomorrow. CSI will be down there."

How much, Millar was asked, was this blown out of proportion because it's the Red Sox?

"One hundred percent," he said.

-- Adam Kilgore