The Red Sox and Major League Baseball both found that Curt Schilling was lying about getting offered performance-enhancing drugs in the Boston clubhouse back in 2008.
Schilling’s claim that a member of the team’s medical staff raised the possibility of using PEDs to treat his injured shoulder was “completely baseless,” investigations done by the team and MLB concluded, according to ESPNBoston.com sources.
Schilling stood by his remarks in an e-mail to ESPN.
The retired ace pitcher told GM Theo Epstein at the time and Epstein reported the alleged incident to MLB, prompting an investigation. The events came into the spotlight again this week when Schilling brought them up in a radio interview with ESPN’s Colin Cowherd.
“It happened,” Schilling said in the email. “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.”
Schilling would not name the person he said offered up the path of using banned substances, but in multiple interviews he did exonerate those who did not. Multiple sources told ESPNBoston.com that Schilling accused Mike Reinhold, who was named the team’s rehabilitation coordinator in 2008 and with whom the team cut ties with after the 2012 season.
Thorough investigations by the club and MLB started within a week. The players’ union was informed and sources told ESPNBoston.com that both investigations came to the same conclusion.
“Completely baseless,” one source said. “It didn’t happen. The staff member did not say it and he had no PED history whatsoever.”
Added one MLB source: “Schilling didn’t stand up enough [to investigators] for what he said happened. Our investigation also discovered there was some [bad] history between Schilling and [Reinold]. Investigators interviewed one witness to the conversation, who said he did not think in any way that [Reinold] said, ‘Hey, this is something you should consider.’ “
Schilling told ESPNBoston.com that the Red Sox did not investigate the incident. Schilling did tell WEEI.com that he regretted not being more forthcoming with investigators. He said in multiple interviews this week that he was actually upset at Epstein for reporting it to baseball brass.
In a statement Friday, MLB said it considered the matter closed.