Curt Schilling did not get enough votes to get into the Baseball Hall of Fame this year, and neither did anyone else.
Schilling, a right-handed ace starting pitcher with two World Series championships and one of the best postseason records in MLB history, came the closest to winning induction, but ultimately fell 16 votes shy.
Schilling’s name appeared on 71% of the ballots, a threshold of 75% is needed to gain induction.
The list of candidates included Curt Schilling, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Omar Vizquel, Gary Sheffield, and Scott Rolen.
That list reads like a veritable who’s who of the greatest baseball players of the last 35 years. All of which possess records of irreproachable on-field accomplishment. However, the voting members of the Baseball Writers of America did not vote strictly based on on-field accomplishment. Instead, the writers placed extra emphasis on “character” and “integrity.”
The character and integrity requirements hit candidates like Clemens and Bonds when it came to the steroid issue. It hit Schilling because his politics conflict with that of most of the voters.
Schilling, an outspoken and passionate conservative, has taken several stances that conflict with the left-wing orthodoxy so prevalent in the mainstream media. Most notably, Schilling drew the ire of the left when he spoke out against the movement to allow transgender men in women’s bathrooms, by pointing out that a men’s room is designed for a “penis.”
Schilling was fired from his job as an ESPN baseball analyst when he compared the relatively small numbers of Muslims who are terrorists, to the small number of Germans who were Nazis, in an attempt to show that small groups should still be taken seriously.
In a message posted to Facebook, Schilling requested that his name be removed from Hall of Fame consideration next year.
“I will not participate in the final year of voting. I am requesting to be removed from the ballot. I’ll defer to the veterans committee and men whose opinions actually matter and who are in a position to actually judge a player,” Schilling wrote. “I don’t think I’m a hall of famer as I’ve often stated but if former players think I am then I’ll accept that with honor.”
“The only players other than Schilling who received more than 50 percent of the vote in the 2021 election were outfielder Barry Bonds with 248 (61.8), pitcher Roger Clemens with 247 (61.6) and third baseman Scott Rolen with 212 (52.9),” a release from the Hall read. “As with Schilling, Bonds and Clemens will be in their final year of BBWAA eligibility in 2022. This was Rolen’s fourth year on the ballot.”
Next year would have been Schilling’s final year on the ballot.
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