Schilling’s Bloody Sock: Grossest Thing Ever Sold Because of Bankrup...

Ladies and gentlemen, the winner and neeeewwwwwww champion of smelliest and most disgusting thing ever auctioned off because of a bankruptcy: Curt Schilling’s famous bloody sock!

The sock, worn by an injured Schilling during the 2004 World Series while he helped pitch the Red Sox to their first championship in 86 years, is expected to fetch more than $100,000 at an online auction next month.

Schilling, whose failed video game company 38 Studios LLC filed for bankruptcy in June, had said last year that the possibility of selling the sock was a case of “having to pay for your mistakes.” He said he lost all the money he earned as a baseball player.

The funny thing is, the sock being sold is actually only the second-most famous bloody sock Schilling wore that October. The sock Schilling wore while stifling the New York Yankees in Game 6 of that year’s American League Championship Series was reportedly thrown in a trash can of the old Yankee Stadium after the game. The Red Sox won that game to force a Game 7, which they also won en route to banishing the so-called “Curse of the Bambino.”

When sports starts go bankrupt, the stuff they auction off is usually, you know, the usual. Former baseball player Lenny Dykstra, for example, got rid of his World Series ring and other mementos, including the ball he hit to beat the Houston Astros in Game 3 of the 1986 National League Championship Series. Retired Cleveland Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar wasn’t lucky enough to ever earn a World Championship ring, but he did auction off his 2007 Chevy Tahoe.

The closest parallel we can think of at the moment is former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle and current NFL Network analyst Warren Sapp, who hasn’t had the best luck auctioning off his house or selling off his 240 pairs of size 15 Nike Air Jordan sneakers.

Write to Joseph Checkler at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeCheckler.