Curt Schilling never mentioned Jed Hoyer or Theo Epstein when making his bold claims on Thursday, but Hoyer decided to clear the air before fingers start getting pointed.
Schilling claimed during an appearance on ESPN Radio on Wednesday that he had been approached about using PEDs while recovering from an injury by someone working for the Red Sox in 2008. Schilling said those who approached him no longer work for the organization, which immediately sent plenty of people on a witch hunt.
Hoyer and Epstein were among those bound to come up in speculation, simply because they were prominent members of the organization in 2008 who have since moved on. However, Hoyer made it clear during an interview with 670 The Score in Chicago on Thursday that he had no knowledge that such an incident may have occurred, and that if it did, he and Epstein were in no way involved.
“The first I ever heard of that was this morning when I saw it, so clearly, no, it didn’t ring true to me at all,” Hoyer said. “I can tell you it would be preposterous that Theo or I would be involved in that. So I can comment for the two of us. I obviously wasn’t there. I don’t know the story he’s talking about so I can’t comment on the rest of it. I can tell you certainly it wasn’t Theo or me.”
Hoyer served as the Red Sox’ assistant general manager in 2008, while Epstein was the team’s GM. Each has moved on to the Cubs organization, but Schilling’s claims are something no one in baseball wants to be linked to in any way, shape or form. Hoyer went on to say that he’s never had a direct conversation about a player using PEDs.
“In my position going from intern to baseball operations all the way to assistant GM and GM it’s never something I’ve ever been confronted with, no,” Hoyer said. “But it is something that is a constant discussion in baseball because whether it’s a guy tests positive or there’s suspicions, it’s something people talk about, but it’s never something I’ve ever been directly confronted with.”
Schilling later said in an interview with WEEI.com that it wasn’t Epstein, Hoyer, former Red Sox manager Terry Francona or a baseball ops person who approached him. The former Red Sox pitcher insists by making the claims, he was simply trying to prove that it’s not always bad guys making bad decisions when it comes to PEDs.
Schilling also said he wasn’t trying to draw intention to himself. Obviously, things have gone much differently, though.
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