The National Baseball Hall of Fame’s class of 2019 was announced Tuesday night and featured four Major League Baseball greats. Coming up short, again, was the legendary Curt Schilling.
As most baseball experts expected, longtime closer Mariano Rivera, designated hitter Edgar Martinez, and starting pitcher Roy Halladay were selected, as was starting pitcher Mike Mussina. The latter received 76.9 percent of the vote, barely over the 75 percent threshold needed for selection into the Hall of Fame.
However, it is that last pick that is most telling in the way the voters (from the Baseball Writers Association of America) think. They gave Mussina the support he needed for a spot in the Hall of Fame while Schilling only got 60.9 percent of the vote — well under the threshold. It is apparent an immense political bias is keeping a worthy candidate away from Cooperstown.
Various liberal sportswriters will cite some so-called “character clause” for their reason to not vote for Schilling despite the Hall of Fame not being the most kosher bunch. It includes racists (Tom Yawkey and Cap Anson), amphetamine users (Willie Mays), tax evaders (Duke Snider), anti-Semites (Leo Durocher), drug smugglers (Orlando Cepeda), wife beaters (Bobby Cox), and more.
Schilling’s big offense? He is an outspoken conservative employed by Glenn Beck and Mark Levin’s BlazeTV, who supports President Trump (who supports him back) and has shared a few memes that have offended left-wingers.
Schilling shared one meme questioning transgender bathroom policies, another comparing the threat of radical Islam to that of Nazi Germany, and he laughed about a shirt that joked about lynching journalists (he apologized for that last one).
If someone really wants to see Schilling’s character, however, they can look at his track record. His Curt’s Pitch For ALS foundation raised more than $9 million during his playing career, and he received MLB’s Roberto Clemente Award in 2001, given to the player who “best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual’s contribution to his team.”
In 2017, his character shined again when Operation Bullpen, which he was actively involved with, delivered 1.5 million pounds worth of supplies to Puerto Rico, Florida, and Texas in hurricane relief. That same year, he also disavowed Paul Nehlen, a two-time failed congressional candidate of Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District. Originally embraced by the anti-establishment Right as a way to primary Paul Ryan, Nehlen revealed himself as anti-Semitic and a white supremacist in December 2017. When Schilling found this out, he promptly disinvited Nehlen from his Breitbart podcast.
Not to mention, Schilling also comes across as a caring father and husband in his personal life.
As for how his career numbers compare to Mussina’s, they are similar, and Schilling is superior in key categories (not pitching wins, which is the most useless stat of all).
Schilling has the lower career ERA than Mussina (3.46 vs. 3.68), more career strikeouts (3,116 vs. 2,813) and arguably the best postseason track record in MLB history: he went 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA in 19 career playoff starts and his plus-4.092 WPA (Wins Probability Added) in the postseason is higher than any starter in MLB history. Thanks to this, he won the World Series three times (2001, 2004, and 2007) and is remembered for his legendary “bloody sock” game where he pitched Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS with a dislocated tendon through extreme pain and still won.
Schilling made progress on the ballot (up from 51.6 percent last year), so it is possible he could be voted in at some point in the next three years (this was his seventh year on the ballot, players have a maximum ten years of eligibility). But if Mike Mussina got in this year, there is absolutely no reason why Schilling should not already be inducted too.
Other than convicted PED user Roger Clemens, Schilling is the only pitcher in MLB history with more than 3,000 strikeouts who is not in the Hall of Fame. If he were apolitical or some anti-Trump social justice warrior, there is no doubt he would have been voted into the Hall of Fame already.
Hopefully at some point the writers put their own politics aside and do what is right.
Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports) is a freelance writer who has been published with USA Today, the Boston Globe, Newsday, ESPN, the Detroit Free Press, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Federalist, and a number of other media outlets.
