38 Studios Founder Curt Schilling Diagnosed With Cancer

Curt Schilling, former Major League Baseball pitcher and founder of now-shuttered 38 Studios, told ESPN that he has cancer. Schilling currently works as a baseball analyst for ESPN.

"I've always believed life is about embracing the gifts and rising up to meet the challenges," said Schilling in a statement released by ESPN. "We've been presented with another challenge, as I've recently been diagnosed with cancer."

This isn't the first time cancer has struck the Schilling family, as Curt's wife Shonda battled stage 2 malignant melanoma in 2001. Schilling has also had previous health issues, including a heart attack in 2011 that required surgery.

The Boston Red Sox, the team that Schilling helped lead to World Series titles in 2004 and 2007, tweeted: "Sending heartfelt thoughts to Curt Schilling and his family during this difficult time."

Curt Schilling's athletic legacy is golden, but his time in the video game industry was brutal. His company, 38 Studios, went bankrupt in 2012 shortly after publishing RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. The company had previously received $75 million in loans from the Rhode Island government, a matter that has since been entangled in legal battles for the last two years.

"Shonda and I want to send a sincere thank you and our appreciation to those who have called and sent prayers, and we ask that if you are so inclined, to keep the Schilling family in your prayers," Schilling's statement continued.

"My father left me with a saying that I've carried my entire life and tried to pass on to our kids: 'Tough times don't last. Tough people do.' Over the years in Boston, the kids at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have shown us what that means.

"With my incredibly talented medical team, I'm ready to try and win another big game. I've been so very blessed and I feel grateful for what God has allowed my family to have and experience, and I'll embrace this fight just like the rest of them, with resolute faith and head on."