Ravech on interviewing friend, colleague Schilling for SC segment tonight

Curt Schilling discusses bout with cancer during interview with Karl Ravech. (Joe Faraoni / ESPN Images)

Karl Ravech and Curt Schilling on the set of Baseball Tonight. (Joe Faraoni / ESPN Images)

Karl Ravech and Curt Schilling on the set of Baseball Tonight. (Joe Faraoni / ESPN Images)

ESPN Baseball Tonight colleagues Karl Ravech and Curt Schilling on the Baseball Tonight set. (Joe Faraoni / ESPN Images)

Curt Schilling talks with colleagues and friends in the ESPN green room before his interview with Karl Ravech. (Joe Faraoni / ESPN Images)

Tonight, on the 6 p.m. ET edition of SportsCenter, Baseball Tonight host Karl Ravech sits down with friend and returning ESPN MLB analyst Curt Schilling to discuss Schilling’s recent battle with cancer. ESPN announced earlier today that Schilling would resume his MLB analyst role starting with Thursday’s 10 p.m. ET edition of Baseball Tonight on ESPN2.

In February 2014, Schilling and ESPN announced that he was taking a leave of absence after he had been diagnosed with cancer.

Interviewing Schilling was a unique experience, Ravech said, because of their friendship and working relationship.

“One thing I noticed was that he’s emotionally detached himself from all of it. I think he looked at it as another challenge in his life,” Ravech told Front Row. “He looked at it as, ‘what is it going to take me to get through this?’ as opposed to ‘am I going to survive?’ It was refreshing to hear.”

Ravech believes Schilling’s return to work will prove to be therapeutic for the three-time World Series Champion.

“I think this was the final step in his recovery process,” Ravech said. “And, if there’s a locker-room mentality in sports where players miss leaving that environment when they retire, I think he’s found that here in working with the ESPN MLB team. Getting back in this environment I think will help him a lot.”

Below is a sampling of social media reaction to the news of Schilling’s impending return to ESPN’s airwaves from friends and media colleagues: