Curt Schilling will not be entering the Baseball Hall of Fame this year, his final year of eligibility. It is not because he is undeserving. His career accomplishments show that he is worthy. And last year, he earned 71.1% of all votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America, falling just shy of the 75% threshold required for induction.
However, Schilling was more than just an amazing ballplayer. He was also an outspoken conservative Republican; he made enemies among the liberal media, who are voters for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Simply put, the BBWAA grew tired of his politics and rants. As such, Schilling wasn’t inducted because the BBWAA made a political decision, not a baseball one.
Maybe I am biased because he was the pitcher at the first baseball game I ever attended at Philadelphia’s grimy, rundown Veterans Stadium. Perhaps it is because he signed my baseball as a kid. But I firmly believe Schilling was one of the game’s most dominant pitchers in history.
Consider the evidence. Schilling had a 20-year career and was a three-time World Series champion. He was a six-time all-star. He won over 200 games and has over 3000 strikeouts in his career. He twice led the league in strikeouts in a season and exceeded 300 strikeouts in a season three times — a significant feat. His postseason performances are legendary. His performance during Game 6 of the 2004 American League Championship Series was iconic; it’s forever known in baseball lore as the “bloody sock game.”
As mentioned earlier, Schilling earned 71.1% of the votes in 2021. A year later, that total plummeted to 58.6%. This reduction can be largely attributed to Schilling’s statements between the two votes. After being denied induction to the Hall, he asked to be removed from consideration. His request was denied, but it seems some of the writers in the BBWAA took matters into their own hands. They decided to grant Schilling his wish by not voting for him this time around.
In turn, their conduct should be viewed as unbefitting of those handed the responsibility to honor the game’s greatest. Their job is to vote for induction based on the merits of a baseball player’s career, not based on their opinions of one’s politics. To lose nearly 13% support indicates the corruption of the voting process. It also reveals the toxic corrosiveness of the liberal media, even among sports journalists.
Perusing the media coverage of Schilling’s omission from the Hall of Fame, one will see such commentary as “Schilling tanked his reputation,” was too much “of a big mouth,” or other incendiary descriptions. All of these are opinions, mind you, not facts. None of it matters, or should matter, when evaluating his performance on the baseball field. However, as is often the case, the liberal, agenda-driven members of the media decide who the country should and should not like. In Schilling’s case, he was the latest persona non grata.
Schilling’s candidacy was sabotaged by a liberal, agenda-driven media. Tasked with evaluating a baseball player’s statistics and accomplishments, instead, the voters evaluated his political acumen. Such acts are par for the course for liberal journalists. They care more about their indoctrination than they do with their legitimate responsibilities. It is abundantly clear the voting system needs reform and to be overhauled. And in doing so, there should be a special wing of induction for all of those who used their liberal politics to determine Schilling’s Hall worthiness — the BBWAA Hall of Shame.
