As you may have heard after voting results were revealed Tuesday night, no one was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, with no candidate receiving 75% of votes. The last three times this happened were 2013, 1996 and 1960.
Curt Schilling came the closest, receiving 71.1% of votes and falling 16 votes shy of election. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were next at just under 62%.
Former Phillies third baseman Scott Rolen was the biggest gainer, receiving 72 more votes as his percentage jumped to 53% from 35% the year before. There has been a recent internet campaign in Rolen’s favor, a la Tim Raines and Larry Walker, and perhaps he will eventually get in. Third base is certainly an underrepresented position in the Hall.
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Two more former Phils, better described as Phillies icons, will be on next year’s ballot for the first time: Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins.
This was Schilling’s ninth year on the ballot. Players who receive between 5% and 75% of votes remain on the ballot for up to 10 years. But Schilling is so dissatisfied with sportswriters and the election system that he has asked the Hall of Fame to remove him from next year’s ballot.
Jane Forbes Clark, the chairman of the board for the Baseball Hall of Fame, said in a statement that Schilling’s request will be considered at the board’s next meeting.
By taking himself off of the ballot, Schilling would be putting things in the hands of one of the Hall of Fame’s veterans committees. The committee pertaining to Schilling’s era is next scheduled to vote in December 2022 for the Hall of Fame class of 2023.
The Baseball Writers' Association of America responded Wednesday morning with the following statement.
On Facebook, Schilling shared the letter he sent the Hall of Fame:
“I know math and I know trends and I know I will not attain the 75% threshold for induction.
MLB
“As I’ve stated often over the past years to those I’ve spoken with in my heart I am at peace. Nothing, zero, none of the claims being made by any of the writers hold merit. In my 22 years playing professional baseball in the most culturally diverse locker rooms in sports I’ve never said or acted in any capacity other than being a good teammate.
“I’ve certainly been exposed to racism and sexism and homophobia as it’s part of who human beings are. I’ve played with and talked with gay teammates. I’ve played with wife beaters, adulterers, assaulted, drug addicts and alcoholics. I’ve never hit a woman, driven drunk, done drugs, PEDs or otherwise, assaulted anyone or committed any sort of crime.
But I’m now somehow in a conversation with two men who cheated, and instead of being accountable they chose to destroy others lives to protect their lie.
“I will always have one thing they will forever chase. A legacy. Whatever mine is as a player it will be the truth, and one I earned for better or worse.
“Having said all that the media has created a Curt Schilling that does not and has never existed. It’s one of the things that has allowed me to sleep at night. Not an ounce of that is to absolve myself of sin, Lord knows I’ve committed my share and will do so again. Never malicious, never to willfully or intentionally hurt another person. I was 100% accountable and still am. Even the thought of responding to claims of “nazi” or “racist” or any other term so watered down and rendered meaningless by spineless cowards who have never met me makes me ill. In modern times responding to such drivel somehow validates the claim.
"... The game has made it clear it does not want me back and that's fine, the game owes me exactly nothing. It gave a billion more times than it took and I'll forever be deeply in debt to it."
Schilling is not a known PED user like Bonds or Clemens, but he’s made many controversial remarks over the years that led to this point. He has posted messages on social media belittling the transgender community (this got him fired from ESPN), comparing Muslims to Nazis, endorsing the lynching of journalists, and most recently, expressing support for the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
He was also sued by the state of Rhode Island and forced in 2016 to pay back $2.5 million of a $75 million bond deal toward his failed business venture, a video game company called 38 Studios.
You can read Schilling’s full statement here.
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