Curt Schilling’s revelation a warning about tobacco use

By Maureen Mullen / Boston Globe

Photo: Former Red Sox righthander Curt Schilling blames 30 years of smokeless tobacco use on his cancer diagnosis.

When Curt Schilling, 47, announced Wednesday morning that he had been dealing with oral cancer, the news wasn’t exactly a surprise. That had been the speculation since the former Red Sox right-hander announced earlier this year that he had been diagnosed with cancer. But, he had declined to specify which type until now.

On Wednesday he didn’t mince words linking his cancer to his 30 years of chewing tobacco.

“I’ll go to my grave believing that was why I got what I got,” he said during an appearance on WEEI’s Jimmy Fund Radio Telethon.

Schilling’s news was still filtering through Fenway Park before Wednesday’s Red Sox game against the Angels. Following the death of Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, who was just 54, from oral cancer in June – and also a user of smokeless tobacco – Schilling’s news caught many off-guard.

“It’s, of course, heart breaking,” said Mookie Betts, 21, the Sox’ top prospect. “A great player like Curt Schilling, who played all those years and means so much to so many people. Nothing against him at all, but it just shows tobacco use doesn’t care who you are. Tony Gwynn, a great player. It doesn’t matter who you are; you can get cancer from it and you can get sick from it. So I think it’s important for the young players to see that and recognize it and realize that you need to stop. I try and get guys to stop.”

While Schilling’s news was heart-breaking, for some it wasn’t unexpected.

“I’m not surprised,” said Dawn Van Sloun, of Omaha, visiting Fenway for the first time with her husband Doug. “It’s tobacco and there’s warning labels all over it. It’s not the first and it won’t be the last.”

“It’s unfortunate that it won’t be the last,” Doug Van Sloun said.

The hope, though, is that Schilling’s announcement, along with the death of Gwynn, will serve as a warning to others.

Ernest Csak was visiting Fenway from New York City with his 13-year-old son Gregory.

“I think the fact that he came out and said that it’s tobacco use right on the heels of Tony Gwynn dying, I think it’s great that they come out and try and discourage kids from using that stuff,” Csak said.

The elder Csak, who wore a Mets jersey while his son wore a Yankees hat and jersey, had a long talk with Gregory on the ride up from New York.

“Driving up I talked to him about how Curt Schilling beat the Yankees first in 2001 and then of course the bloody sock,” Csak said. “So there’s a lot of rich history in baseball and to see cancer get in the way, with the use of tobacco or performance-enhancing drugs, it’s kind of sad because Curt Schilling has been a phenomenal pitcher. After 9/11 happened he wrote an open letter to New York City, so he’s really a class act. I really hate to see this.”

“But you know what,” said Barbara Young, of Londonderry, NH, “all the players do that.”

“And they pay the price for it,” said her friend, Richard Hufnagel, also of Londonderry. “It’s a tough lesson to be one of the boys.”

While tobacco use has been a part of the culture of the game for decades, Major League Baseball is trying to change that.

“It’s banned throughout the minor leagues and it has been for a number of years,” said manager John Farrell. “MLB has taken steps to dissuade players from using it through educational programs that are administered to every team. It’s even gotten to the point now where players can be fined if smokeless tobacco is in view of the general public. And there have been some of those warnings or penalties levied on some of our guys.

“The number of guys that use it here, I don’t have an exact count. But I do know some of our guys do use it.”

The message of the dangers of tobacco use has gotten through to some players. Angels catcher Chris Iannetta, 31, was born in Providence and attended St. Raphael Academy there before he was a fourth-round pick by the Rockies in 2004 out of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, the heart of tobacco country.

“That’s something that, unfortunately, it’s a habit. Fortunately for me it’s a habit I never started, that or smoking,” Iannetta said. “I saw how hard it was to quit for everybody else. So I just said, you know what, I might as well not even start. Obviously anyone that’s battling any form of cancer my heart goes out to them and their family and you hope that they can battle through it.”

Standing up to peer pressure was not an issue for Iannetta.

“It wasn’t too hard for me,” he said. “It wasn’t something that I really cared too much about. So it was on the easier end of the spectrum. But for a lot of people it’s a lot harder. I grew up in the Northeast, where I don’t think it’s as prevalent as it is in some other regions of the country.”

Betts had great incentive to not give in to the pressure.

“I’ve had a lot of people ask me [to try it],” Betts said. “But I’ll never in my life do that just because I see what it looks like. My mom and my fiancé say if I ever do that, we’ll both leave you. So I can't lose my mom and her.”

Betts, from Brentwood, Tenn., right outside Nashville, tries to pass that message on when he goes home.

“I stress to kids in high school and middle school, everybody who sees it, because growing up everybody sees big league guys spitting and chewing,” he said. “I had guys on my high school team do it and I didn’t. I just didn’t understand the point of following, knowing that it says ‘can cause cancer’ on the can. So I really stress to those kids back in high school not to do it.”

Perhaps it’s just a matter of time – along with education and enforcement – before the message gets through.

“I think there will be a point, though, where it’ll sort of fade away, just like smoking is,” said Doug Van Sloun. “So, it’s just going to take a while to get it out of the older baseball players. Get them chewing bubble gum and seeds.”

And perhaps Schilling can serve as a lesson to others.

“I think there’s some things in life that people have to make their own mistakes on,” said Csak. “But something like this, if you can learn from somebody else, that’s a valuable lesson right there. I think life is full of that, though. Sometimes we follow the wisdom of others. Sometimes we just have to make our own mistakes.”

“But, hey,” said Hufnagel, “even if he reaches one youngster, it’s worth it.”

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