Internet fight! Curt Schilling vs. the Sons of Sam Horn. Intern Bill looks into it.

On one side of the room: Sons of Sam Horn. Manny’s numbers mean more than his occasional bout of petulance (which we’ve chronicled before) and thus Theo should not have traded him.

Other side of the room: Curt Schilling. Manny was disruptive in the locker room, and there’s more to being a teammate than swinging a productive bat. He choose Jason Varitek as an example.

My question is this. How did a city so steeped in tradition and filled with blue collar people become so ok with a man sticking his middle finger up to anyone in the world that would look? The power of the home run and sweet swing is pretty amazing when you think about it. You want to rail on me here because my arm blew out and I didn’t pitch this year that’s fine. But to do this in a vacuum when you all read and heard the same things I did is somewhat, I don’t know the word but it’s something … I am sure I have former teammates that would say less than nice things about me, don’t we all? But I promise you I’ve never ever been a guy that would garner even 5 no votes, much less 24, in a team wide poll of “Do you want him here or not”..

Jason Varitek is arguably one of the most respected men in the game. There is literally NOTHING he does not do with 100% effort and integrity. If he was hitting 290 he’d be the most beloved person in this city. He’s not and at the same time there is an almost ‘anti-Jason’ movement going on. The amount of hours he puts in rivals Manny when it comes to hitting.

As much as I want to ‘hang out’ here and on some of the gaming forums and just ‘be one of the guys’, it’s not possible. I have been naive enough to think I could and you could just ‘let it happen’ but at the end of the day it really is not possible.

Jason Varitek is a man I’d lay down my life for, on and off the field, Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Mike Lowell, Wake, Dougie, Papi, all of them. Put 24 guys in a clubhouse who’d kill for you and you for the with 1 guy that didn’t give a shit about you, well, can you see where I am coming from?

There’s a lot here to consider. Should an athlete put him or herself out on the Internet, open to be criticized? Is it productive to answer claims from anonymous people, knowing that an athlete can’t possibly answer them all individually or collectively? Is it reasonable to question who knows more about the game of baseball – a 20 year major league veteran who might be going to the Hall of Fame, or a group of message board posters? Discuss.

Hat Tip: (Projo Sox Blog)