Curt Schilling came to the defense of his daughter, Gabby, after she was attacked on Twitter. (Getty)
Former Major League hurler Curt Schilling came to his daughter Gabby’s defense, a week after congratulating her via Twitter for her acceptance to college at Salve Regina, where she will pitch for the softball team.
The former Philadelphia, Boston and Arizona star tweeted the note on February 25.
It immediately brought out the trolls, who bombarded Gabby and Curt Schilling with vile, vulgar and violent tweets.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. It All Began With a Simple Congratulatory Tweet to His Daughter
Congrats to Gabby Schilling who will pitch for the Salve Regina Seahawks next year!!
Curt Schilling simply tweeted a congratulations to his daughter. He didn’t direct it to her Twitter account – @GabbyS_chilling.
Salve Regina is in Newport, Rhode Island, and the Seahawks compete in Division III.
Students from the school also tweeted harassing remarks, and Curt Schilling appeared on the Dan Patrick Show Tuesday morning and said those trolls have been dealt with.
2. Gabby & Curt Schilling Began Receiving Vulgar Attacks
Gabby Schilling (Twitter)
Almost immediately the attacks began. They were tame at first, such as people saying that they wanted to date or party with her. Schilling said he expected those.
But they quickly escalated to tasteless and threatening, using words like rape and other sexual dialogue.
You can listen to the Dennis & Callahan Morning Show discuss the tweets and situation:
AUDIO: Curt Schilling takes on the Twitter trolls 3-2-15 http://t.co/Rnd3f4KkMP
3. Adam Nagel & Sean MacDonald, Who Worked For the Yankees, Were Identified as the Trolls
Schilling with his wife Shonda. (Getty)
The two of the main trolls were posting tweets under “Hollywood @primetime 227” and “The Sports Guru @Nagels_bagels.”
Hollywood was identified as Sean MacDonald, who worked as a part-time ticket seller for the Yankees. He was fired.
The Sports Guru was identified as Adam Nagel, a student at Brookdale Community College in New Jersey. He has been suspended.
Both Twitter accounts have been deactivated.
4. Schilling Came to His Daughter’s Defense on His Blog
(Getty)
Schilling wrote a lengthy post on his blog 38 Pitches on March 1. Read the post here. Be warned, the tweets are graphic. Schilling took screenshots of the tweets and posted them in his blog.
t.co/6V4Ql8gd0e There are repercussions to your actions in the real world
He rips into both trolls and outs Nagel by name. He didn’t have MacDonald’s name at the time of his post.
@gehrig38 don’t know what i would do without you, i love you so much!!
Schilling then appeared on The Dan Patrick Show Tuesday and explained why he reacted the way he did:
WATCH: Curt Schilling explains to Dan Patrick why he reacted the way he did to disturbing tweets about his daughter: http://t.co/2TgSqRRmRf
5. Gabby Is a Senior in High School
hahahahahahahahahaha merry christmas from the schillings🎅🎄🎁 http://t.co/W9kR1xyziU
Gabby is a 17-year-old senior at Medfield High School in Medfield, Massachusetts, and she will pitch at Salve Regina next season.
Her father won 216 games as a pitcher in a 20-year career, which included three World Series championships, three 20-win seasons and six All-Star Game appearances.