[ad_1]
Curt Schilling once again failed to make the Hall of Fame.
The 22-year-old MLB pitcher, who made his point widely with the Phillies, Diamondbacks and Red Sox, got just 71.1% of the vote needed for Cooperstown consecration – just 16 votes less than the minimum required. He got 70% of the vote in 2020.
This was probably Schilling’s best remaining chance to make it into the Hall of Fame, given that they were an overall weak class aside from Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens – players whose careers have been marred by ‘PED claims (they had 61.8 and 61.6 percent of the ballots needed for consecration, respectively). Schilling has always been excellent throughout his playing career, winning six All-Star nods and three World Series rings, including 2001 MVP honors with Arizona. He never won a Cy Young Award, although that wouldn’t have been enough to keep him from sanctioning.
Either way, Schilling – whose post-career controversies are the reason he hasn’t already been inducted into the Hall of Fame – has asked not to be put on the ballot in 2022, his last year of eligibility. He will leave his Hall of Fame fate in the hands of the “Veterans Committee,” the unofficial name for the committees responsible for selecting players whose first 10 years of eligibility have ended.
MORE: Schilling Hall of Fame case: post-retirement controversies meet special career
Following the announcement on Tuesday that no players will be registered in 2021, Schilling has released a 1,136-word letter he wrote to Hall of Fame members. He wrote to members ahead of Tuesday’s announcement assuming he would not meet the minimum 75% requirement to be listed.
“I wanted to reiterate that last point,” wrote Schilling (via his Facebook page). “I will not participate in the last year of voting. I am asking to be removed from the ballot. I will defer to the veterans committee and the men whose opinions really matter and who are able to judge a player. not that I’m a Hall of Fame member like I’ve said many times, but if former players think I am, I will accept that with honor. “
In his letter, Schilling asked members of the media to report and share what he described as centerpieces of his integrity, which he says is the number one reason he missed the Hall of Fame. until now. The Baseball Writers’ Association of America votes to determine who makes the Hall of Fame among the players in their first 10 years of eligibility.
“That said, the media created a Curt Schilling that doesn’t and never existed,” Schilling wrote. “It’s one of the things that got me to sleep at night. Not an ounce of that to absolve me of sin, the Lord knows I have done my part and I will do it again. Never malicious, never intentionally or intentionally injure another person. I was 100% responsible and still am. Even the thought of responding to claims of “Nazi” or “racist” or whatever term so watered down and made meaningless by thornless cowards who have never met me makes me sick. modern times, responding to such nonsense somehow validates this claim. “
The list of Schilling controversies is long and well documented. It was fired from ESPN in April 2016 for offensive social media posts regarding the controversial North Carolina state toilet bill; later in November, he tweeted that the lynchings of journalists are “so awesome;” and he claims Orioles outfielder Adam Jones lied about racist abuse at Fenway Park.
There’s more to his controversial story than that, but the potential knockout could be offering apparent support to insurgents who stormed Capitol Hill on January 6 – after the Baseball Hall of Fame vote ended – amid unfounded allegations of voter fraud.
Whether Schilling will make the Hall of Fame remains to be seen, but that last item likely guarantees he won’t enter because of the BBWAA.
[ad_2]
