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Curt Schilling Set To Return To ESPN For MLB Playoff Coverage

LOUDON, N.H. (AP/CBS) — Curt Schilling is headed back to TV for ESPN.

Schilling said Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway he would return to work for the sports network as part of its baseball postseason coverage team. ESPN confirmed that Schilling would return to the studio for "Baseball Tonight" following its coverage of the American League wild-card game.

Schilling was benched from telecasts for the rest of the regular season in August and the wild-card game on Oct. 6. in the wake of his anti-Muslim tweet.

The former star pitcher and "Sunday Night Baseball" analyst was pulled by ESPN from a major league game and the network's coverage of the Little League World Series last month after he retweeted a post that compared Muslims and Nazi-era Germans. He has one year left on his contract with ESPN.

At the time, Schilling said he'd made a "bad decision."

Schilling later sent an email to a sports media site about his Twitter post, causing a further uproar.

ESPN said at the time of his punishment "Curt's actions have not been consistent with his contractual obligations nor have they been professionally handled; they have obviously not reflected well on the company."

Schilling, who also has used Twitter to defended his family over personal attacks, said social media has become "the new 30-second commercial" and too many people want to go viral "for all the wrong reasons."

"A lot of people have told me in the past, you tell it like it is," he said. "I try to explain to people that I don't. I tell it like I think it is."

Schilling, who has been treated for mouth cancer, is a three-time World Series champion with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Red Sox. He played from 2004-07 with the Red Sox, who won the World Series in his first and last seasons with the team.

He delivered the prayer before Sunday's NASCAR race.

TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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