Curt Schilling lost entire fortune on collapse of video game company

Former major-league pitcher Curt Schilling said today that the collapse of his 38 Studios video company has probably cost him his entire baseball fortune.

In his first public comments since the company filed for bankruptcy protection on June 7, Schilling said during a 90-minute interview on WEEI-FM in Boston that he personally invested more than $50 million of his own money in the company and that he had to tell his family that "the money I saved during baseball was probably all gone."

The former Boston Red Sox World Series hero— famous for his bloodied sock— said he was "tapped out" and had nothing left to keep the company afloat.

Schilling placed part of the blame on Rhode Island officials, including Gov. Lincoln Chafee, for enticing 38 studios to move to Providence from Massachusetts in 2010 with the promise of a $75 million loan guarantee. The state is working to determine how much it's on the hook for after the company's collapse.

While he conceded he "absolutely" was part of the reason the company flagship project —an online multi-player, role-playing machine code-named Copernicus— wasn't completed, Schilling said public comments made by Chafee last month questioning the firm's solvency were harmful as the firm tried— but failed— to raise capital to keep its head above water.

"I think he had an agenda," Schilling said about Chafee.  

Schilling said he hopes to return to work as an analyst at ESPN.  He took a leave of absence from the network after 38 Studios filed for bankruptcy.

38 Studios laid off its entire workforce— nearly 300 employees in Providence and more in Maryland— last month.  The move was made after the company was more than two weeks late on a $1.1 million payment to the state.  It was not the first time 38 Studios was financial trouble.  The firm had sought state tax credits to keep going, but Schilling said today he wasn't looking for a bailout.

Schilling said he hadn't done anything wrong, never took money and didn't even take a salary. He said he never intended to hurt the firm's workers

"It's been kind of a surreal 60 days or 65 days," Schilling told the radio station.  "It's crushing and devastating to see it fail the way it did."

"It's a life-changing thing," he said but added, "I'm not asking for sympathy.  It was my choice."