Curt Schilling, the former Boston Red Sox great who was eligible to be inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame for the first time this season along with others from the so-called steroid era like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, said it was fitting the Hall of Fame will not be inducting any new members this year.
“I think it’s fitting, Schilling said in an interview with ESPN. “If there ever were a ballot or a year to make a statement about what we didn’t do as players, this is it.”
Schilling was referring to the failure on the part of players and Major League Baseball to clean up what was an obvious problem with performance-enhancing drugs like steroids and Human Growth Hormone (HGH) the last two decades.
Schilling said that there is a difference between getting into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot and getting into the Hall of Fame on subsequent ballots.
He said getting in on the first ballot should be reserved for “special players.” He said Craig Biggio, the former Astros catcher and second baseman, was one such player. Biggio received the most votes (68.2%) of all the players eligible this season but fell short of the 75% threshold.
Schilling received 38.8% of the vote this year from baseball writers, which was more than what Bonds or Clemens got. He said he was pleased that voters recognized him as a potential Hall of Fame member.
This is the first time since 1996 when baseball’s Hall of Fame will not induct a new member. The only other time this has happened since 1965 was in 1971.
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