BUTCHSLAPGATE
D-Lowe Blow: Stearns Pulls Out Lowe, Wakefield Video Conversations from Off-the-Field Late Night Charity Party
(but they still don't say anything newsworthy)
On FOX-25's evening news, sports anchor Butch Stearns, in an effort to show he had players on tape supporting his claim that Curt Schilling and Pedro have issues, showed video of Derek Lowe at the The Franciscan Hospital for Children's charity party at Comedy Connection, Thursday night August 12.
(Stearns says he doesn't want to be part of a story, yada yada...)
BS: "...I don't make up stories. In fact, I've talked to several Red Sox players this year, both on and off the air.. off the record, about this subject. Here's what a few of them had to say recently on the record."
BS to D-Lowe: "... But what is their relationship (Pedro and Curt), do they push each other?"
D-Lowe: "Probably not, probably not, I think they're totally different guys. I mean you can call one 'A', call the other one 'Z', and there's a lot in between and ah the fact that people may say 'OK, now it's, you know, maybe Curt Schilling's team' you know, that doesn't sit well with him (Pedro) I would imagine, you know he does have three Cy Youngs..."
(Wake simply says they challenge each other)
FOX-25's David Wade: "And Butch what you're not saying here on the air because I know that you don't want to hang out some of your friends on the team, or some of the people that you know on the team, but what you're not saying here is that they told you off-the-air, some people have told you off-the-air that the two are not friends, that they're just, they're teammates and that's it."
BS: "Well here's the interesting thing David to me and why it's a story and why it's a topical one. Very soon Pedro or Schilling's gonna pitch Game One of the World Series or of the playoffs or Game 7 of a deciding series. And when Pedro hits free agency, I've been told by one player, that it will be a factor. Schilling's relationship, his presence, the dynamic of him being here with Pedro, in Pedro's decision. They're not sure whether it's good or bad, but it will be a factor. So to me, that's what makes it a story about their relationship and whether Pedro's future will be in Boston or not."
DW: "Well Curt Schilling didn't want it to be a big story, he made it a big story Butch..."
Who should be the Game One starter in the playoffs?
"I don't know how people are going to have the guts to come and tell me they're going to push me back. But if they did it, I wouldn't argue. I'm only an employee here that does his job." -- Pedro Martinez
Stearns Tries to Outfox Schilling
9.23.04: Fox 25's Butch Stearns (BS) was back calling into WEEI's Big Show today. Butch started yapping about how he doesn't "make stuff up!" and said "I have a tape of several players saying what I said yesterday" which he will play on the FOX-25 News. He said this is a story because "it will affect whether or not Pedro re-signs in Boston." Butch is angry with people at WEEI (read: Dennis, Callahan, Meter) today and said they questioned his credibility. He said he received threatening messages at FOX-25 and added "If you're gonna call my line at least have the balls to leave a name and number!"
Curt Gets Stern with Butch
AP Photo
"Because you don't see us playing grab-ass on the field doesn't mean a thing." -- Curt Schilling
9.23.04: Fox 25's Butch Stearns (BS) was on WEEI's Big Show today. Butch started yapping about how he had some information that the relationship was not great between Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez adding "How do you think Pedro feels when he sees Schilling pitch a game like last night?" and "go look at the tapes (of past games) you never see Schilling and Pedro embrace after a win." (oops, see above from July)
"Next we have Curt in the car up next here on the Big Show (sans Ordway again when Curt calls, must kill him, Pete Sheppard, Steve Burton and Butch Stearns)"
Schilling: "How you doin' guys... (hey we got Schilling! How ya' doin' Curt?), hey listen I'm not going to be long but I'm gonna say one thing, I don't know who it was that just said something regarding Pedro and I... (that was Butch Stearns -- that was me Curt) Don't be stupid enough to think you can make something out of nothing. That's how dumb idiotic rumors get started by those who don't know the game. I have (well we're glad you calle...) I HAVE nothing but the utmost respect for Pedro. I think he's probably one of the best pitchers I've ever pitched with. He's a great guy. We get along awesome. Because you don't see us playing grab-ass on the field doesn't mean a thing. Don't say something stupid and something ignorant like that. (BS: Alright Curt, I understand, and I'll apologize for that, but can I ask you a question?) No. Here's my problem. If I don't call up you don't apologize for it, you don't retract it, and somebody calls and you make it a bigger deal than it is (BS: I'm not trying to make it...) It's a stupid idiotic comment to make. It's irresponsible. And you know what it's ignorant, because you don't know, obviously you just made it up (BS: I didn't make anything up) Sure you did. Sure you did. I've hugged Pedro on the field this year, after we've won a game, that's a stupid thing to say... isn't there some other controversy you can go to? Because you had some valid points, but don't make up stupid stuff."
BS: "Alright fair enough Curt. Can I ask you a question? (CS: shoo) What do you care to offer us about your relationship with Pedro? That's all."
CS: "But... how... I love him. Pedro's an awesome guy. And he's arguably one of the best pitchers I've ever pitched with. He's a fantastic human being."
BS: "Do you feel like you guys have pushed each other in a good way, for the good of the team?"
CS: "I don't know if we push each other, I've learned a ton from watching the guy pitch this year. A ton. (BS: Same or different than relationship with Randy as players?) No it's different because RJ and I lived right down the street from each other. We both have four kids. Our wives are very close. So there's a lot of different... it was different. As teammates and as friends, Pedro has my utmost respect and he's a guy I'd kill for, absolutely."
Steve Burton: "Hey Curt, in all fairness to Butch, I'm the one who brought up the subject and what I said was 'how do you think... Pedro's used to being the ace of the staff. Here you come in..."
CS: "No, no you didn't preface it with that, you just said 'how do you think Pedro feels when Schilling pitches well?'"
SB: "Right, and I think that's a fair question. I think..."
CS: "Wait, wait, wait, why is that a fair question? Because in that situation you'd be jealous? (SB: what's that?) Given a similar situation, you'd have problems with it?"
SB: "I think some people would, yes. I think that's a very fair question."
CS: "You're assuming Pedro is 'some people.' Pedro is not 'some people' Pedro's one of the five best people on the planet at what he does. People like that tick differently than people like you. You have to. The top five in the world at anything they do and they're going to be so vastly different people than you are, or that most normal people are. Yeah, they're human. They have emotions, but you know what? You get here doing things differently than most people do. I gotta go guys, I just wanted to make sure that people understood that that's not a top subject."
SB, BS, PS: "Curt? Curt? I think he had to go..."
"I did not make it up (report of Pedro and Curt having problems). I know who my sources are, and you know what? So do you. If you want to continue this conversation, I'll be at the park all weekend long." -- Butch Stearns, later on FOX-25 News
Schilling Adds Voice to Talk of the Red Sox
Millar: "We didn't party enough Friday night."
Gary Tanguay and Kevin "Chicken and Ice Cream Diet" Millar on FSNE's Friendly's Scoop.
GT: "We need to clear the air on a situation. After the big win Friday night in New York, Derek went out and struggled on Saturday, you know what happened to Pedro on Sunday, but there was a buzz around, especially on sports radio (huh?) that maybe the team got a little too exuberant Friday night, thinking there would be a rainout Saturday afternoon, and that you guys weren't resting and preparing for the game on Saturday. Do you have a comment about that?"
KFK: "It makes me laugh. I want to know who starts these rumors because 1. We didn't party enough Friday night. If we would've went out and partied, we woulda done better (laugh). We got too much rest (roll eyes here) The weather has nothing to do with it. We prepare to play every day. We're professionals. We're grown men. We're allowed to have a few beers. We're allowed to go out and eat dinner. We're allowed to go to bed at 1:30am. I mean we're men with gray hairs as you see, so no, that's a totally false statement and it makes me laugh. The bottom line is Derek Lowe had a rough start (understatement of the century), we went down 10-0 in the second inning (it was only 9, slow down cowboy) and good luck, the stars were out of the game by the fifth.
