Theo Epstein: Curt Schilling consulted 'Negotiating For Dummies' during contract talks

Theo Epstein recalls how Curt Schilling negotiated his own contract with the Red Sox.

Chicago Cubs general manager Theo Epstein took a moment during a his interview with the Pardon My Take podcast to recall a story where the Red Sox were negotiating a contract extension with starting pitcher Curt Schilling.

Schilling negotiated the terms of his contract by himself—well, sort of. He did seek the sage advice of a book. 

Here's what Epstein remembers about the discussions:

Epstein: So we were negotiating back and forth. He had fired his agent and he was representing himself. We were negotiating a contract extension back and forth.

PMT: That's a mismatch. (Laughs)

Epstein: Yeah, that's what I thought. I thought we were doing pretty well in the negotiations. So we reach a deal. We're happy with it and we go back to print it out in his little home office. We were using his computer and his printer to print it out and there on his desk is a well-worn dog-eared copy of the book Negotiating for Dummies...Every time he was pretending to go to the bathroom, he was running back and looking at that book.

Schilling, of course, denies this. 

“The book was there absolutely. But no, hate to bust the bubble, it wasn’t referenced,” Schilling wrote in a text to WEEI.com. “It was a gag gift from my lawyer when he heard they were coming in to negotiate and we were laughing about how it was going to go.”

Who are you going to believe—the world’s greatest leader or the guy who fought with a Sidney Ponson impostor?