ESPN source: Schilling claims 'baseless'
The Boston Red Sox and Major League Baseball concluded in an investigation that the team's medical staff member, Mike Reinold, did not urge former starting pitcher Curt Schilling to use performance-enhancing drugs to treat a shoulder injury in 2008.
Schilling made the claims earlier this week. A source close to the investigation told ESPN Boston that those claims are "completely baseless."
Schilling said Wednesday on ESPN Radio that teammates suggested PEDs as a possible means to extend his career. Schilling officially retired in 2009 because of shoulder problems with a 216-146 career record.
"At the end of my career, in 2008 when I had gotten hurt, there was a conversation that I was involved in, in which it was brought to my attention that this is a potential path I might want to pursue," Schilling told ESPN Radio.
Schilling said former members of the organization were involved.
MLB responded Friday, saying it investigated the allegations and the matter is closed.
Reinold, whom the team hired as a rehabilitation coordinator in 2008 before firing him in 2012, was reportedly the accused staffer. ESPN Boston reported that the investigation concluded that Schilling's claims are not true and that Reinold had no history with PEDs.
"Schilling didn't stand up enough (to investigators) for what he said happened," the source said. "Our investigation also discovered there was some (bad) history between Schilling and (Reinold)."
Schilling responded on Friday by via an email to ESPN Boston.
"It happened," he wrote. "I informed the club, and there were other players that heard the conversation, who I spoke with after. The club immediately informed MLB, and they launched an investigation in which all parties were interviewed. If someone's saying it didn't happen, I am not sure why, since the two people in the discussion are gone -- I'm retired and the other person was fired last year, I think. But it doesn't shock me that people would deny it was 'an event,' though I am unsure why."