Earlier in the season former MLB pitcher and current ESPN analyst Curt Schilling was suspended from the network's baseball coverage due to a controversial tweet. He'll be back next week.
The Associated Press confirmed on Sunday afternoon that Schilling will return as a studio analyst for ESPN during the MLB postseason. Schilling, who gave a pre-race prayer at a NASCAR Spring Cup Series race yesterday, made a comment to reporters that led many to ask about his status with ESPN after the MLB regular season.
"I think we join the team after the regular season ends and do the postseason and the World Series," he said, via Jeff Gluck of USA Today Sports. "Then I have one year left at ESPN on my contract, so I would assume as of right now, yeah, I'd be back. If not, I'll figure something out."
After those comments, ESPN was contacted to confirm the news, and they did. Schilling will be back in the booth with the "Baseball Tonight" crew for the American League wild-card game on Oct. 6.
Schilling was suspended at the end of August after tweeting out a meme that led many to believe he was comparing Muslim extremists to Nazis. Schilling apologized for the tweet and explained that was not his intention, but it was perhaps the straw that broke the camel's back because he had made a number of previous tweets that raised eyebrows.
The tweet read, "It's said only 5-10% of Muslims are extremists. In 1940, only 7% of Germans were Nazis. How'd that work out?"
As a result, ESPN suspended him from their Little League World Series and Sunday Night Baseball broadcasts for the rest of the regular season and did not say when the former MLB pitcher would return to the booth.
Jessica Mendoza has taken over during Schilling's absence. It's unclear what ESPN will do with her once Schilling returns.
