As it was announced Tuesday night, the National Baseball Hall of Fame announced it’s 2019 class, with Yankees legend, Mariano Rivera headlining the class as the first-ever unanimous selection. There were four selections this year, none of which go by the name, Curt Schilling.
Do you remember Curt Schilling? Don’t you? The man who won co-WS MVP with Randy Johnson back in 2001 with Arizona, the man who pitched with a torn tendon in his ankle with Boston during the postseason and the man who has won three World Series championships in his 20-year career? Schilling only received 60.9 percent of the vote in his 7th year of eligibility, meaning he only has three years left on the ballot.
Given the induction of Mike Mussina in this year’s hall of fame class, one may ask themselves, “Why, then, not Curt Schilling?” The three-time world champion only won 216 games in his big league career, however, was unstoppable in the month of October, with a 2.23 ERA in 19 starts, including a 147-pitch shutout in 1993 with the Phillies, and a seven-inning gem with a torn tendon in Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees.
Despite the bloody sock, the three World Series championships, multiple all-star game appearances, and even a shutout in which he threw nearly 150 pitches, Curt Schilling is getting snubbed by writers due to his support of our current President, Mr. Donald J. Trump.
As former WWE Superstar, Big Cass would say, “There’s only one word to describe you, and I’m gonna spell it out for ya. S-A-W-F-T, SAWFT!” The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) should be focused on two things when it comes to hall of fame voting. Does Curt Schilling have the on-field numbers/statistics worthy enough of induction, and did Curt Schilling have the right character as a teammate/player as the character clause also looms large in voting.
At no point, should writers be influenced by Schilling’s off-field opinions and takes regarding the current state of our democracy. Curt Schilling has the numbers, the rings, the postseason stats, among other things, that would get most pitchers in the hall of fame within the first few years. Mike Mussina, although hall of fame worthy, did not have the postseason numbers or world series titles that Mr. Schilling possesses.
Schilling never seemed to have any issues off the field or with his teammates over the years, and should have simply been elected to the hall of fame within his first three years on the ballot. Politics should have nothing to do with sports and should stay unbiased when it comes to situations like this one. Even Donald Trump thinks Curt Schilling should be in the hall of fame, however, who knows what he’d think if Schilling was a liberal.
In defense of Curt Schilling, the BBWAA is being a way to “sawft” in keeping the right-hander out of Cooperstown. Regardless of his beliefs, he’s a hall of fame worthy pitcher, who played the game the right way at the highest level. However, in defense of the BBWAA, maybe Curt would have been in Cooperstown a long time ago if he just kept his opinions to himself.
