ESPN suspends Curt Schilling over tweet
Ex-pitcher pulled from Little League World Series broadcast team after tweet compares Muslims to Nazi-era Germans
ESPN is telling Curt Schilling to put a bloody sock in it.
The sports network announced Tuesday it was pulling the analyst and former major league pitcher from its Little League World Series broadcast team over a tweet by Schilling that compared Muslims to Nazi-era Germans.
Schilling, 48, retweeted a post Tuesday morning that said, "Only 5-10% of Muslims are extremists. In 1940, only 7% of Germans were Nazis. How'd that go?" Schilling later deleted the post from his Twitter feed. He retired from baseball following the 2007 season and joined ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" broadcast for the 2014 season.
The network said the tweet was unacceptable and that it "made that point very strongly to Curt." ESPN said Schilling was removed from the Little League World Series assignment "pending further consideration."
For his part, Schilling accepted his suspension in another Twitter post Tuesday afternoon.
This is not the first time Schilling has been outspoken on social media. He's posted several questionable memes to his Facebook page and, in March, the three-time World Series champion verbally jousted with and publicly exposed Twitter users who threatened to sexually assault Schilling's daughter after he congratulated her on being accepted to Salve Regina University in Rhode Island.
Last November, Schilling took to Twitter again and engaged in a fiery debate with ESPN colleague Keith Law over the theory of evolution, which Schilling does not believe in. The confrontation earned Law a five-day suspension from the social network. Schilling was not punished.
The former Red Sox, Diamondbacks, Phillies, Orioles and Astros pitcher is a six-time All-Star. He finished as the runner-up for the National League Cy Young Award three times.
Remembered as a fierce postseason pitcher, perhaps his most famous moment on the mound came in Game 6 of the 2004 American League Championship Series against the Yankees. Schilling earned the win despite a torn tendon in his ankle that caused blood to seep through his sock during that game and another in the World Series. The Red Sox went on to win the World Series for the first time since 1918 and Schilling's "bloody sock" is displayed in the Hall of Fame.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
May 16, 2012: Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, center, is followed by members of the media as he departs the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation headquarters, in Providence, R.I. (AP)
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