Schilling Says Cancer Was Caused by Smokeless Tobacco

Reveals that he had oral cancer.

We knew that Curt Schilling had battled cancer during the last year. What we didn’t know was what kind and why.

That changed during an interview with a Boston radio station Wednesday: Schilling, a pitcher on the wild 1993 National League champion Phillies, said that he had had oral cancer, probably caused by 30 years of smokeless tobacco use.

MLB.com reports:

“It’s a dangerously addictive habit that I wish I had never done,” Schilling said.

Schilling had a heart attack in 2011 and required surgery to place a stent in one of his arteries, and he told WEEI on Wednesday that he has lost 75 pounds during his bout with cancer.

“I am in remission,” Schilling said. “[However], I don’t have any salivary glands. I can’t taste anything and I can’t smell anything.”

Commissioner Bud Selig said MLB may take up the issue of tobacco use with players during the next round of talks on the collective bargaining agreement.