Schilling might need eyes checked

Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling already underwent career-threatening shoulder surgery. But he also might want to get his eyes checked.

When Schilling and his wife, Shonda, attended Sunday’s NASCAR race in New Hampshire with presidential candidate John McCain and his wife, Cindy, the right-hander mistook the Arizona senator’s wife for his own, the Boston Herald reported.

As the group made its way through a crowd, Schilling grabbed Cindy McCain’s hand.

“We all got separated in this huge room with lots of people,” Shonda Schilling said. “I walked ahead with (racing legend) Richard Petty while Curt stopped to sign autographs.

“So when he started to walk away, he grabbed Cindy’s hand. She didn’t seem to mind and went along with it. But when he realized what he was doing, he held up their hands and said, ‘Hey, Shonda, look at this!’ Suddenly, Richard grabbed my hand, and I said, ‘Don’t worry, I’m being taken care of.’ “

Apparently, all Curt saw was “a blonde in a blue shirt,” said Shonda Schilling, who, like Cindy McCain, sported short blonde locks and a long-sleeved navy blue T-shirt.

It was unclear if John McCain mistook a loud-mouthed NASCAR fan wearing blood-stained socks for the Red Sox star.

• W.W.E.H.D. — Before NFL official Ed Hochuli drew the ire of San Diego Chargers fans by blowing a call late in the Chargers’ 39-38 loss at Denver on Sunday, he had attracted a cult following based mainly on his chiseled physique.

The Web site “whatwouldedhochulido. com” calls Hochuli “the kindest, smartest, fairest, tannest and most well-muscled referee in all of football and perhaps the world. He was born of Zeus‘ thigh.”

So what would Ed Hochuli — a former college linebacker and partner in a Phoenix law firm — do if he blew a call that cost a team a victory?

First, he would admit the mistake, as he did this week when he said, “The ruling on the field was that it was an incomplete pass. We went to replay; it should have been ruled a fumble.”

Then, he would take responsibility and answer every one of hundreds of irate e-mails from Chargers fans.

“You can rest assured that nothing anyone can say can make me feel worse than I already feel about my mistake on the fumble play. You have no idea,” Hochuli wrote in one e-mail response. “Affecting the outcome of a game is a devastating feeling. Officials strive for perfection — I failed miserably. Although it does no good to say it, I am very, very sorry.”

• Any doubt that it’s football season in Texas?

David Thomas of the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram passes along this plea from the Greater Tarrant County Pastors Association:

“Please refrain from using your iPhone to obtain last-minute injury news and adjust your fantasy football team’s starting lineups during Sunday morning services.”

• In case you missed it, Gaylord Perry, the Hall of Fame spitball pitcher, celebrated his 70th birthday on Monday.

In lieu of 70 candles, Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times noted, they simply lit a grease fire.

COMPILED BY TODD DEWEY REVIEW-JOURNAL