Curt Schilling says he's running for Senate in 2018, setting up potential blockbuster race with Elizabeth Warren

Former star major-league pitcher and conservative firebrand Curt Schilling said Tuesday that he's made up his mind and will challenge Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts for her Senate seat in 2018.

"I've made my decision," he said, according to Ted Nesi of WPRI. "I'm going to run. But - but - I haven't talked to Shonda, my wife."

Schilling has flirted with a political run for years, having been floated as a potential candidate since his retirement after the conclusion of his big-league career in 2008. The pitcher has also expressed interest in running for president.

Schilling, a supporter of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, stirred controversy recently when he defended Trump after a recent video showed him apparently remarking that he'd be dating a young girl "in 10 years."

During an appearance on the Fox Business Network, host Trish Regan asked Schilling about the video.

"The conversation you're having about the things he said about the 10-year-old girl, to me, is at the very heart of why this is a problem," Schilling said, referring to the young girl in the video. "How many times - and I have three boys and a daughter - how many times have you looked at a young man and said, 'Wow, is he going to be, he's a beautiful young man. Wow, he's a gorgeous young man,' and that man was 12, 13, 14, 15?"

Schilling was fired by his previous employer, ESPN, where he served as an analyst, for sharing a Facebook post featuring a man dressed as a woman and commenting that "a man is a man no matter what they call themselves."

He shared the post to express his support for laws prohibiting transgender individuals from using the bathroom of their choice.

"I don't care what they are, who they sleep with, men's room was designed for the penis, women's not so much," the post continued. "Now you need laws telling us differently? Pathetic."

Schilling later slammed ESPN for employing "some of the biggest racists" on air.