PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Bidding is under way for the bloody sock worn by former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling in the 2004 World Series, which he put up for sale after the high-profile collapse of his video game company.
Chris Ivy, director of sports for Texas-based Heritage Auctions, said online bidding opened at $25,000 and was up to $32,500 by Monday. Live bidding will take place in New York City on Saturday.
The sock — stained when Schilling pitched on an injured ankle during the second game of the World Series that the Sox went on to win — had been on loan to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. But it was returned to Schilling so he could sell it to cover personal loan guarantees to his startup, 38 Studios.
The auction house has estimated the sock will go for at least $100,000.
"I wouldn't be surprised to see it go for much more than that," Ivy said. "It's definitely one of the headline grabbers."
The sock will be displayed at the auction house's Manhattan office beginning Wednesday, according to Ivy.
38 Studios was lured to Providence from Massachusetts after Rhode Island's economic development agency in 2010 approved a $75 million loan guarantee. Less than two years later, 38 Studios ran out of money, laid off all its employees and filed for bankruptcy. Rhode Island is now likely on the hook for some $100 million related to the deal, when interest is factored in.
But whatever Schilling fetches for the sock won't go to the state; he listed the sock as bank collateral last year in a filing in Massachusetts.
Ivy said he expects about 150 to 200 people to attend the live auction Saturday at the Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion, now home to the Ukrainian Institute of America. Other featured items include a jersey worn by U.S. Olympic team captain Mike Eruzione during the Miracle on Ice victory over the Soviet Union in 1980 and a jersey worn by New York Yankees great Lou Gehrig.
