Is This Finally Curt Schilling's Time?

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Some might be nervous about the next Baseball Hall of Fame election--Curt Schilling just might gvt in. Based purely on numbers, this is not a problem. Schilling is a marginal Hall of Famer in my book. He won 215 games over twenty seasons, but his gaudy post-season numbers, 11-2, including three outstanding World Series performances with three different teams, has made his candidacy more appealing. The '"bloody sock" game in the 2004 Series was an iconic moment in the sport.

What may have some nervous is what Schilling will say in his speech. Over the past few years he has revealed himself to be a reactionary conservative, using social media to jokingly call for the lynching of journalists and expressing transphobic memes. A player should not be blackballed from the Hall because of their political beliefs, but Schilling has shown a repugnant side that may have kept it out. Until this year.

The Hall recently announced the 25 players on this year's ballot for consideration by the baseball writers. Of the returning men, Schilling had the highest vote total, 70 percent last year (it takes 75 percent to be enshrined). This would put him in a good position, but it's made even better by a list of new names on the ballot that does not contain one likely inductee. In fact, none of these new players may get the necessary five percent of the vote to come back the next year.

Looking over that list, I'm hard pressed to make a case for any of them. They include good but not great players: Mark Buehrle, A.J. Burnett, Michael Cuddyer, Dan Haren, LaTroy Hawkins, Tim Hudson, Torii Hunter, Aramis Ramírez, Nick Swisher, Shane Victorino, and Barry Zito. I suppose Hudson could get some support, but this lack of obvious inductees makes it more likely that players returning to the ballot will move up.

Schilling could take advantage of this. Also, it will be interesting to see if the steroid group, led by Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, move up. They are no-brainer Hall of Famers, but due to suspected use of performance enhancing drugs, have languished a bit short for several years (Manny Ramirez and Sammy Sosa are also in this group, but have never come close to election).

Other returning players who may see a bump are Omar Vizquel, who is known for his defensive prowess but also had over 2700 hits, Scott Rolen, an excellent third-baseman, Gary Sheffield, who  did have over 500 home runs, and Jeff Kent, who has some of the best offensive numbers for a second-baseman. These last two may be hurt by the number of teams they played for, an indication that they may have been clubhouse poison. Sheffield played for eight teams, Kent six.

My guess is that Schilling will get in by a whisker, but Bonds and Clemens will be kept out. Because of COVID-19, the ceremony for last year's inductees, Derek Jeter, Larry Walker, Ted Simmons, and Marvin Miller, will be combined with this year's (it doesn't appear the Hall is doing a veteran's vote this year--they usually would have announced candidates by no2). 

I also suspect that Schilling will not go off on a political rant. As others have pointed out, other Hall of Famers have had whacky views, particularly Steve Carlton, but very few knew about them back then, and he gave an uncontroversial speech. Let's hope Schilling is humbled by the experience and sticks to baseball.