Schilling's plea to stay in Game 4 of 2001 World Series was fabricated

As time goes on, Curt Schilling's legacy in the majors gets more and more put into question.

In FOX Sports broadcaster Joe Buck's recent autobiography "Lucky Bastard" - which hits book shelves Nov. 15 - the longtime announcer shed some light on Schilling's insistence to stay on the mound for the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 4 of the World Series against the New York Yankees. This, after manager Bob Brenly - who was wearing a microphone for FOX - opted to take Schilling out of the game, according to Patrick Sauer of VICE Sports.

It was great theater. It belonged on Broadway.

Here is what we didn't know. Earlier in that inning, Schilling had told his catcher, Damian Miller, that he was running out of gas: 'Whatever happens, this is my last inning. Don't let him put me back out there again.' Naturally, Miller told Brenly.

But Schilling could see the microphone on Brenly's uniform. He knew he would look better if he begged to keep pitching on national television. So he asked Brenly to keep him the game ... They both knew he was coming out.

Schilling was pitching on three days' rest and was cruising through seven innings, allowing only one run while striking out nine batters. With the game tied at one and the Diamondbacks up 2-1 in the World Series, the decision to pull Schilling came back to bite Brenly, as reliever Byung-Hyun Kim surrendered three runs, including the well-known walk-off home run to Derek Jeter.

The story was initially well-received by fans and made Schilling look like a determined, tenacious fighter on the mound. But if Buck's account of the events is really how it all went down, it changes the outlook significantly.

The Diamondbacks went on to win their first and only World Series in Game 7, thanks to Luis Gonzalez' walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth.