SARASOTA, Fla. -- Few things are scarier in life than the words ''you have cancer.'' Fortunately, it hasn't gotten that bad for Curt Schilling -- yet.
The Philadelphia Phillies ace pitcher recently got the scare of his life when an oral examination revealed a white lesion in his mouth, a condition known as leukoplakia that is caused by smokeless tobacco.
Schilling, who has dipped since he was 16, was told to quit or become a primary candidate for mouth cancer.
''The sad part is I had to wait until there was no choice,'' he said. ''It's in somewhat of an advanced stage. If I allowed it to go any further, the next step is malignancy. But there's a very, very good chance of total reversal if I quit.''
Would you want to leave your life to chance?
Reds pitcher Pete Harnisch knows how Schilling feels. A year ago last Thursday, Harnisch gave up chewing while playing for the New York Mets. What followed was a hellish ordeal that helped lead to a serious bout with depression and sidetracked Harnisch's career.
Their situations are different some ways -- Harnisch never had lesions and was not on the verge of cancer, and Schilling hasn't experienced the side effects of depression and anxiety that ripped apart Harnisch's life. But they understand each other all the same, and have talked since Schilling's diagnosis.
''I don't think it's a question that if you dip long enough, you're going to get sores,'' Harnisch said. ''It's a scary thing, you know?''
Harnisch, who dipped for 13 years, appears to have kicked the habit. It has now been more than a year since he last chewed, and he has no desire to start again.
''It's dangerous stuff,'' he said. ''It's hard for me to say how difficult it is to stop, because not everything I went through was a result of that. It was a contributing factor, but it wasn't everything. Quitting wasn't really that hard. I took it as a challenge.''
Schilling tried to stop once before and went through many of the typical withdrawal symptoms, becoming violently ill. Just because chew is legal doesn't mean it's not as tough to quit as any illegal drug.
''It's been two days, but it feels like two weeks,'' Schilling said last week. ''It's the hardest thing I've ever tried to beat in my life and I still haven't beat it.''
You have to wonder why someone would start chewing in the first place. Everyone knows -- or should know -- it can be as deadly as smoking and perhaps more so than some illegal drugs like marijuana.
''I don't know why I started,'' said Harnisch, who first dipped in college. ''Maybe it was a combination of wanting to be cool and seeing other guys doing it, hanging around with the guys one day and somebody puts some in. You say, 'Hey, let me try it,' and that's how it happens.''
Reds catcher Brook Fordyce, who doesn't chew, nearly fell prey to the same pressure. One day as a kid his brother let him try some, but didn't tell him he wasn't supposed to actually chew the tobacco like gum. He accidentally swallowed it and spent a lot of time praying to the porcelain god, as they say-- hanging over the toilet throwing up.
''I thought it was a raisin,'' Fordyce said. ''I never touched it again.''
Fordyce believes that guys start because baseball can be a nerve-wracking and sometimes boring game. Like chewing sunflower seeds, the healthy alternative, snuff can help take the edge of an anxious or dull moment.
''Nobody chews seeds because they're hungry. It's because there's nothing to do,'' Fordyce said. ''I don't think it's pressure, but somebody tries tobacco because they see someone do it at the big league level. I don't think the young guys do it as much as the older guys anymore.''
Baseball has banned smokeless tobacco in the minor leagues and fines players if they're caught. But no such ban exists in the major leagues, and none is likely to as long as the players' association has so much control.
Should baseball do something about it in the big leagues? Harnisch firmly says no.
''We're all adults,'' he said. ''These are grown men, they're old enough to make their own decisions. It's legal if you're 18 years old. Why should major league baseball be above the law? But by the same token, I'd say guys are better off not doing it.''
Fordyce believes it's about education, which would be a start. But can baseball morally stand by and do nothing while great players like Schilling are waylaid by its powerful addiction? Harnisch has a point that it's legal, like smoking. Smoking, however,isn't such a wide-spread problem in the game, nor is it ingrained in the baseball culture like chew.
Baseball needs a clear policy on this issue. If smokeless tobacco is banned from the minor leagues, it should be banned from the majors as well. If it's not banned in the majors, it shouldn't be banned in the minors.
Here's an idea: don't fine guys for doing it on their own time, but punish them if they do it in the clubhouse or on the field. That's still allowing people to make their own decisions off the field, but at least says it's not okay to do something so obviously bad for you when you're around the game. Players aren't allowed to smoke in the dugout, so why should they be allowed to chew?
In the end, Harnisch's best advice is just not to start in the first place.
''I knew when I was doing it is was bad for me, but I was still doing it. You just don't think about it,' Harnisch said. ''If anybody tells you they don't know it's bad, they're crazy. It's dangerous stuff.''
Scott MacGregor covers the Reds for the Enquirer.
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