Good evening. This is Dead Legends. We find the craziest, strangest, and most unbelievable stories in baseball history and deliver them to you in an email that’s short and sweet.

Let’s dive in.

Today’s story is about a superstar pitcher who played in the league for 19 years, made over $100 million, and then lost it all in one shot.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard of Curt Schilling.

He’s a six-time MLB All-Star, three-time World Series champion, and a member of the 3,000 strikeout club.

And who could forget the bloody sock.

Schilling was something like a demigod in New England after he helped the Red Sox snap their 86-year curse.

So WTF happened? How did this guy lose all his money??

Three words: Video Game Studio.

Towards the tail end of his playing career, Curt started a company called Green Monster Games.

They later changed the name to 38 studios in 2010, and moved the company to Rhode Island.

Why Rhode Island you ask?

Plain and simple: they needed money.

Apparently, Curt invested more than $50 million of his own money, but that wasn’t enough to take this venture all the way.

One would think, with all the rich and powerful folks Schilling knew in Boston, he’d easily be able to raise the funds from someone there locally.

38 Studios knocked on every door in town, but this project had more red flags than a bull fighting contest.

They were only able to raise an extra $5 to 10 million from outside investors, but then the State of Rhode Island came forward with a $75 million loan - backed by tax payers money.

The idea was that the company would stimulate the economy and when their first game came out, millions would pour in.

It's a good story, but seems a bit risky if you ask me.

Part of the terms of the deal were that 38 studios would move their HQ to Rhode Island and hire 125 people in the first 12 months.

They actually exceeded on that promise.

On April 12, 2011, 160 employees started working at the new 38 Studios office in Providence.

But the very next year, the company filed for bankruptcy.

The reality is, the loan from Rhode Island was a wild and reckless gamble.

In the final months, the company was burning more than $5 million a month.

On May 24, 2012, employees were notified by email that they had been let go, effective immediately.

The news came as a surprise to nearly everyone involved, including the state of Rhode Island and Governor Lincoln Chafee who said that they hadn't heard a word about possible layoffs or a closure.

The aftermath was even messier.

The real question is..

Schilling said his company failed because it didn’t raise enough money, not because he did anything malicious or illegal.

He also faulted Rhode Island politicians for giving him a loan guarantee in the first place.

But anyone with eyeballs can see that something went seriously sideways with this deal.

The studio did put out one game - Kindoms of Amalur: Reckoning.

It did okay, but it only sold 1.22 million copies in the first 90 days; they needed to sell 3 million.

When they didn't hit that number, the entire company collapsed.

The venture was a complete failure, and a brutal way for a legend to ruin his reputation.

The total settlements in the case ended up at about $61 million.

A number of other parties settled - including Schilling and other 38 Studios executives, lawyers and companies that worked on the deal, and officials at the economic development agency in Rhode Island.

At the end of the day, the people of Rhode Island were left on the hook for about $38 million.

RIDICULOUS STATS

BASEBALL TRIVIA

STRANGE NAMES

If you're just joining us, we play this game every day where we try to find the weirdest names throughout baseball history.

Why? Don't ask us, it's just something we like to do.

If you've been rocking with us for awhile now, you know what time it is.

Today's winner is:

Ole Frosty only played two games in the big leagues and got shelled pretty badly.

In six innings, he gave up eight runs, five earned.

Overall, he played 13 seasons of professional baseball, but most of it was in the minors.

After baseball, Frosty went on to pursue a career in the medical field as a doctor.

THE DEAD LEGENDS ARCHIVE

If you like this story, check out some of our past favorites:

• The Backstop: Johnny Bench dodges death

• The Hitman: Minor league prospect joins the mob

• The Drug Scandal: How a mascot became the Pirate's plug

• The Jeep: Derek Bell’s car gets auctioned off in an epic prank

• The Bizarre Death of Len Koenecke: A failed season, a hijacked plane, and a self-defense murder