Former major league All-Star Curt Schilling revealed Wednesday that he has been diagnosed with cancer.
“I’ve always believed life is about embracing the gifts and rising up to meet the challenges,” the 47-year-old said in a statement. “We’ve been presented with another challenge, as I’ve recently been diagnosed with cancer. Shonda and I want to send a sincere thank you and our appreciation to those who have called and sent prayers, and we ask that if you are so inclined, to keep the Schilling family in your prayers.”
Through an ESPN spokesman, Schilling declined to say what type of cancer he’s battling.
Schilling won 216 games, was a three-time Cy Young runner up and won three world championships before retiring at the age of 40 in 2007. He’s been eligible for the Hall of Fame the last two years, receiving 39 percent of the vote in 2013 and 29 percent on this year’s overstuffed ballot. Since retirement, he made news by starting a video game company that later went bankrupt, leading to a lawsuit against him by the state of Rhode Island. He’s recently done studio work for ESPN on Baseball Tonight, and he had been slated to join the network’s broadcast booth for Sunday Night Baseball this season.