Curt Schilling is no stranger to criticism.
But while most of the controversy surrounding Schilling stems from his extreme political beliefs, the former MLB pitcher is now getting pushback for revealing serious medical information about a former teammate.
During the latest episode of Outkick’s The Curt Schilling Baseball Show, Schilling revealed that former Boston Red Sox pitcher and current NESN analyst Tim Wakefield is battling a serious form of brain cancer. There is no indication that Schilling had permission to reveal Wakefield’s diagnosis, which had not been previously known publicly.
“This is not a message that Tim has shared and I don’t even know if he wants it shared. But as a Christian and a man of faith, I have seen prayer work and so I’m going to talk about it,” Schilling said. “Recently, Tim was diagnosed with a very serious, very aggressive form of brain cancer.”
Schilling went on to say that he and Wakefield hadn’t remained particularly close since the end of their playing careers, but did stay in touch. He also revealed that Wakefield had underwent surgery and that the situation is “incredibly serious.”
Curt Schilling reveals Tim Wakefield has brain cancer pic.twitter.com/KJisFuqFyy
— RandomMagazines (@RandomMagazines) September 28, 2023
As news of Wakefield’s diagnosis spread, many took to social media to criticize Schilling for revealing news that he seemingly wasn’t given permission to share.
This is NOT your place @gehrig38. It wasn’t your news to share. BS
— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) September 28, 2023
Others roundly criticized Schilling for sharing news of Wakefield’s medical diagnosis without his consent.
What Curt Schilling did to out Tim Wakefield’s cancer is extremely inappropriate and wrong.
If Tim wanted everybody to know he would’ve said something.
No need to make this situation harder on him than it already is
— 🎙️Not Another Sox Podcast🎙️ (@NASPpodcast) September 28, 2023
So in a two day span, Curt Schilling has both revealed to the public that a beloved player has agressive brain cancer against his wishes, and posted full fledged modern nazi propaganda about “the Jewish Question” and “The Final Solution”
Absolute scumbag. Despicable human.
— Schmendrik Lamar (@SchmendrikLamar) September 28, 2023
It's absolutely horrific that Curt Schilling decided HE can share extremely sensitive information about the Wakefields.
Just a terrible human being on so many levels.
— Joey (@soxfanjoey) September 28, 2023
Schilling: " … this is not a message that Tim has asked anyone to share, and I don't even know if he wants to share it …"
Then he plows ahead and shares it anyway. What a guy.
— Chad Finn (@GlobeChadFinn) September 28, 2023
Finally, the Red Sox themselves came out with a statement. While it didn’t mention Schilling by name, it did say that the news about Wakefield’s health was shared without his permission and they intended to keep his treatment private.
https://twitter.com/GlobeChadFinn/status/1707432533632209226
Earlier this week, Schilling received criticism for reposting modern Nazi propaganda regarding “The Jewish Question” on social media. In 2015, the Red Sox Hall of Fame member revealed a collection of Nazi memorabilia he owns, which he defended as “a collection of World War II stuff.”
[OutKick]
