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Putting the ‘shill’ in Schilling

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Times Staff Writer

The Boston Red Sox will have a bountiful June at the ticket window. Pitcher Curt Schilling is seeing to that.

Expanding his duties beyond the white lines, Schilling seems to be living up to the first syllable of his name, taking it upon himself to boost ticket sales.

Roger Clemens signs with the Yankees. Schilling responds in his blog, “I could care less now,” and points out, “It would have been nice to have him, but we didn’t need him, we don’t need him.”

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The Yankees and Clemens are in Boston on June 1-3.

Barry Bonds chases Hank Aaron’s home run record. Schilling is ready as baseball’s conscience: “I mean, there’s no gray area. He admitted to cheating on his wife, cheating on his taxes and cheating on the game. ...” He adds, “There are good people and bad people.”

The Giants hit Boston on June 15-17.

Schilling may be a little unclear on Marketing 101. The Yankees and Giants? Guaranteed sellouts, big guy. Now, the Colorado Rockies also come to town in June. Maybe he could slam John Denver’s music?

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Trivia time

Name the only two pitchers in the baseball Hall of Fame who have losing records.

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Then again ...

Schilling has used his blog to rail at sportswriters for sensationalizing stories, such as his sock from the 2004 playoffs. Was it blood? Paint? Ketchup from a hot dog?

So after having a day to think about what he said about Bonds -- and a day to read his words -- Schilling decided he had gone a little too far.

In a lengthy apology, he wrote: “Everyone has days and events in life they’d love to push the rewind button on, yesterday was one of those days.”

No worries, Curt, but why do you hate John Denver’s music?

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... And the land of the free

Police officers, security guards and ushers remain diligent at Yankee Stadium, stopping fans from moving when “The Star Spangled Banner” and “God Bless America” are played at each game. Ushers also stand at 20-foot intervals, blocking the main aisle with chains.

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Yankees spokesman Howard J. Rubenstein told the New York Times that owner George Steinbrenner “wanted to do all games to remind the fans about how important it is to honor our nation, our service members, those that died on Sept. 11 and those fighting for our nation.”

By preventing fans from going to the bathroom?

Ah, nothing says freedom like one man telling everyone else what to do.

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Oops ...

The June edition of Sports Illustrated Kids features the Phoenix Suns’ Steve Nash and the Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki on the cover with the question, “Who’s Better, the Suns or the Mavs?”

Psst, kids, it’s a trick question. The answer: the San Antonio Spurs.

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Six degrees at ice level

OK, so ...

The San Jose Sharks, led by former Ducks coach Ron Wilson, lost to the Detroit Red Wings, led by former Ducks coach Mike Babcock, who will now face the Ducks with the winner possibly facing the Ottawa Senators, who are led by former Ducks coach Bryan Murray, a former coach of the Red Wings, a team once coached by Johnny Wilson, Ron Wilson’s uncle.

No Kevin Bacon links, you say?

Well, Babcock, Murray and Ron Wilson coached Paul Kariya, who was in “Mighty Ducks 3” with Emilio Estevez, who was in “Stakeout” with Richard Dreyfuss, who was in “The American President” with Michael Douglas, who was in “One Night at McCool’s” with Matt Dillon, who was in “Wild Things” with (drum roll please) Kevin Bacon.

Ta-da.

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Trivia answer

Rollie Fingers (114-118) and Bruce Sutter (68-71).

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And finally

Washington Nationals pitcher Jason Bergman, 0-3 this season, this week stressed focusing on quality starts, commenting after a no-decision, “I’m not really overly concerned with wins.”

How would he know? He hasn’t had one yet.

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chris.foster@latimes.com

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