When Curt Schilling spoke out against Jose Canseco "ruining some people's lives" with the release of his 2005 book

In 2005, Curt Schilling spoke out against Jose Canseco after the latter made several MLB players' steroid use public in his book Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big. Schilling also wanted all of Canseco's records to be disregarded from the history books.

Curt Schilling was playing for the Boston Red Sox at the time, while Jose Canseco had retired by then. Both players are considered to be legends of the game; Schilling and Canseco share five World Series wins between them.

Schilling was a terrific pitcher and was part of the 3,000 strikeout club, whereas Canseco was one-half of the Bash Brothers along with Mark McGwire and formed a formidable duo for the Oakland Athletics.

When Canseco released his book, Curt Schilling went public by attacking his rival, stating that there were a lot of inconsistencies in his account. However, he did accept that not all of what Canseco said was entirely false.

"What you saw [Thursday], unfortunately, was the result of someone who didn't think a lot in a lot of different instances before he ruined some people's lives," Schilling had said. "That's not to say that he lied. I don't believe his book is all lies. I believe that there's some truth in it, but that's for each and every one of us to decide."

Curt Schilling was asked to testify in court, not as a suspected user, but as a vocal opponent. He vehemently demanded that Jose Canseco's records be written off for cheating.

Testifying before Congress barely a month after Canseco's book release, Schilling said:

"He admitted to being a cheater. His whole career was a sham."

But Robert Saunooke, Canseco's lawyer, questioned Schilling's credibility.

"Curt's inconsistencies indicate that he has no clue but supports baseball so he can keep his high-paying job. Schilling was brought to Washington with the sole purpose that he believed [steroid use] was rampant, and he changes his story," Saunooke had said.

The congressional hearings included the likes of Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Jason Giambi, Iván Rodríguez, and Juan González, who were given subpoenas by the court. The hearing tried to solidify stricter rules of steroid use in baseball. In court, Palmeiro accepted that he had used steroids, whereas Mark McGwire refused to answer.

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Curt Schilling felt sympathetic towards Mark McGwire

Mark McGwire, the other half of the Bash Brothers alongside Jose Canseco, was also named by his partner for steroid use in the 2005 book. Schilling said that he felt bad for him "as a person."

"Mark is a friend," Schilling had said. "He made decisions based on advice and I can only speak about my situation and how I would have acted. It's tough when you have a guy sitting there refusing to talk and the guy sitting next to him absolutely denying steroid use. As a person, not as a player, I felt bad for him to have to go through that."

Canseco has tried to make amends several times in his friendship with Mark, but that has come to nothing as McGwire has refused to talk.

Meanwhile, Curt Schilling has become a very controversial figure post-retirement, mostly due to his comments against liberals that do not conform to his political affiliations.