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Friday, July 30, 2021

Baseball Hall of Fame denies Curt Schilling’s request to be removed from ballot for 2022 vote

The Baseball Hall of Fame on Thursday announced that Curt Schilling’s request to be removed from the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) ballot in 2022 has been denied. The Hall’s board of directors voted unanimously to keep Schilling’s name on the ballot. As such, Schilling will appear on the ballot for the 10th and final time in 2022.

In the 2021 round of balloting, Schilling came just 16 votes short of the 75 percent threshold needed for election via the BBWAA ballot. His failure to earn election in what was his ninth and penultimate year on the ballot prompted Schilling to request that his name not appear on future ballots. On social media, Schilling at the time wrote in part:

“I will not participate in the final year of voting. I am requesting to be removed from the ballot. I’ll defer to the veterans committee and men whose opinions actually matter and who are in a position to actually judge a player. I don’t think I’m a hall of famer as I’ve often stated but if former players think I am then I’ll accept that with honor.”

RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: July 30, 2021 at 09:50 AM | 51 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: curt schilling, hall of fame

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1. zenstudent Posted: July 30, 2021 at 10:34 AM (#6031558)

Does that mean Schilling disagrees with Lou Gehrig in the Hall since players didn't vote him in?

2. Hank Gillette Posted: July 30, 2021 at 01:40 PM (#6031633)

I am guessing that the actual voters will be more than willing to comply with his request.

3. Mr. Hotfoot Jackson (gef, talking mongoose) Posted: July 30, 2021 at 01:44 PM (#6031635)

####### drama queen.

4. villageidiom Posted: July 30, 2021 at 01:50 PM (#6031637)

I am guessing that the actual voters will be more than willing to comply with his request.

This. There will certainly be some voters who will vote based on who is eligible and worthy, and ignore his request. But there will be at least a few who will say "Don't want us to vote you in? Fine, I won't vote for you." Granted, most of those people were already planning not to vote for him, but at least now they can make a show of it.

5. Jose is Absurdly Correct but not Helpful Posted: July 30, 2021 at 01:54 PM (#6031640)

Someone will vote for him to spite him. And get a byline out of it.

6. jmurph Posted: July 30, 2021 at 02:11 PM (#6031641)

Well I hope he gets voted in because he's deserving based on his playing career, but also because I'm now curious how it would all unfold. Would he refuse to show up? Seems unlikely!

7. Jose is Absurdly Correct but not Helpful Posted: July 30, 2021 at 02:16 PM (#6031643)

Would he refuse to show up? Seems unlikely!

Somehow I suspect Schilling would find it within himself to make the sacrifice and avail himself of the open microphone.

8. jmurph Posted: July 30, 2021 at 02:22 PM (#6031644)

Somehow I suspect Schilling would find it within himself to make the sacrifice and avail himself of the open microphone.

Sounds about right.

9. RJ in TO Posted: July 30, 2021 at 02:27 PM (#6031646)

In a situation where he gets to talk, and people have no choice but to listen, Curt Schilling would show up twice.

10. Rally Posted: July 30, 2021 at 02:35 PM (#6031651)

I saw news about the Frick award winners last week, and thought I might have missed the inductions. I was too busy watching games. But they moved the players back, they’ll go in Wednesday September 8.

Many years ago I planned on being there for Jeter’s induction, wearing my Dad’s Jeter jersey since he can’t be there. But that day also happens to be his grandaughter’s first day of school, so I hope he can understand I won’t be going to Cooperstown.

11. snapper (history's 42nd greatest monster) Posted: July 30, 2021 at 03:20 PM (#6031673)

Many years ago I planned on being there for Jeter’s induction, wearing my Dad’s Jeter jersey since he can’t be there. But that day also happens to be his grandaughter’s first day of school, so I hope he can understand I won’t be going to Cooperstown.

Easy peasy, just let her skip the first week of school. Whenever she shows up will be her first day of school ;-)

12. The Mighty Quintana Posted: July 30, 2021 at 04:46 PM (#6031693)

It must be exhausting being this guy. Having to constantly roll over all your potential options to come up with the one you think will piss off the most people.

13. villageidiom Posted: July 30, 2021 at 04:49 PM (#6031698)

My daughter missed a day of school in first grade because mrsidiom and I were attending games 1 and 2 of the 2004 World Series, and we wouldn't be back from Boston in time to bring her to school the next morning.

Don't make your kids miss school frequently for stuff like this. Occasional absences are generally fine.

14. Jose is Absurdly Correct but not Helpful Posted: July 30, 2021 at 04:55 PM (#6031703)

It must be exhausting being this guy. Having to constantly roll over all your potential options to come up with the one you think will piss off the most people.

I don't think it's exhausting at all. The great ones just make it look so easy. Sinatra on stage, Van Gogh at an easel, Mays in center field, Schilling being a #########. The greats just get it done.

15. Captain Joe Bivens, Pointless and Wonderful Posted: July 30, 2021 at 05:31 PM (#6031733)

HANG FAUCI!!!

16. cardsfanboy

Posted: July 30, 2021 at 06:19 PM (#6031756)

I don't like Schilling as a person, but he's a clear hofer, and nothing he's done has crossed the line of making him not worthy in my mind, hating writers is not a new thing. I get why the writers don't want to vote for him, and I'm fine with that, but ultimately he's a deserving hof, and the lack of him is just ridiculous.

17. rr would lock Shaq's a$$ up Posted: July 30, 2021 at 07:37 PM (#6031793)

16

This was talked to death last time, but it is not just "hating writers" or "being a conservative" or "mean Tweets" that has landed Schilling here.

18. cardsfanboy

Posted: July 30, 2021 at 08:01 PM (#6031804)

This was talked to death last time, but it is not just "hating writers" or "being a conservative" or "mean Tweets" that has landed Schilling here.

19. ERROR---Jolly Old St. Nick

Posted: July 30, 2021 at 09:18 PM (#6031830)

I get it, but it's ultimately just words, he didn't rape a girl, he didn't force himself on someone he didn't uphold the color barrier etc... he just said stuff... He's a horrible human being. He's hof worthy. We have Puckett who actually did bad stuff in the hof, we have Anson who helped promote bad stuff to deteriorate the quality of the game for half a century. We have all types in the hof, a guy saying unacceptable stuff should not really be an issue. Especially when almost all of that was said after his career was over.

Totally agree with cfb. Schilling's a deserving HoFer, no question. All the crap he's said and done has had nothing to do with how he played the game.

OTOH if someone cut off the mic during his induction speech, that would probably improve the quality of the occasion.

20. The Yankee Clapper Posted: July 30, 2021 at 09:39 PM (#6031838)

Leo Durocher is in the Hall of Fame. A bit late to get picky about ‘standards’.

21. Brian C Posted: July 31, 2021 at 12:47 AM (#6031878)

Meanwhile, I'm the greatest ####### guy in the whole entire ####### world, and I'm not in the HoF. So I don't want to hear about character standards, either.

22. Starring Bradley Scotchman as RMc Posted: July 31, 2021 at 08:14 AM (#6031885)

it is not just "hating writers" or "being a conservative" or "mean Tweets" that has landed Schilling here

No, but they sure don't help (especially that middle one).

23. Tony S Posted: July 31, 2021 at 09:05 AM (#6031890)

Schilling will make the HOF at some point, one way or the other. There are plenty of other well-qualified players who had to wait.

But I don't recall, say, Ron Santo, acting like this. And Bobby Grich is still waiting -- maybe HE needs to start snowflaking to get attention.

Don't know why Schilling feels the need to publicly wallow in his victimhood.

24. Ron J Posted: July 31, 2021 at 12:21 PM (#6031910)

#22 You're being intentionally dishonest here. Name a player whose even seen a diminished vote share for being a conservative.

As noted many times, John Smoltz is far more conservative than Schilling and it just never came up. And it's not like Smoltz has a significantly stronger on field case than Schilling.

25. 57i66135 is a hard word for me. Posted: July 31, 2021 at 12:29 PM (#6031911)

like pete rose, joe jackson, minnie minoso, marvin miller and buck o'neil before him, schilling can get in the HOF when he's dead.

26. Brian C Posted: July 31, 2021 at 12:35 PM (#6031913)

#22 You're being intentionally dishonest here. Name a player whose even seen a diminished vote share for being a conservative.

As noted many times, John Smoltz is far more conservative than Schilling and it just never came up. And it's not like Smoltz has a significantly stronger on field case than Schilling.

It's always amusing to me that RMc can get this exact reaction every single time he posts something like this. Although I doubt it's half as amusing to me as it is to RMc.

27. Tony S Posted: July 31, 2021 at 12:53 PM (#6031916)

Bert Blyleven isn't any less qualified for the Hall than Schilling, and it also took him forever to get in -- and Blyleven was quite the obnoxious ass himself, which was probably part of the reason. (I remember when the Rik Aalbert love here would get a little too intense, Harvey would gently remind us about some of his antics.)

They both have some similarities, baseball-wise: multiple WS rings, no Cy Youngs, gappy multi-team careers. Curt is more peaky and Bert is more careery.

Bert, late in his candidacy run, mellowed out and became more conciliatory, which probably helped him get the extra 10-15 votes he needed to get over the hump. Curt just doubles down on his asshattery every time.

Schilling belongs in the Hall of Fame, but he's not helping himself.

28. rr would lock Shaq's a$$ up Posted: July 31, 2021 at 04:12 PM (#6031931)

I would probably vote for Schilling, and since the character clause as written is totally open-ended and subjective, the argument is one of sensibilities. That said, I think saying it is "just words" or referencing Durocher or Puckett is reductionist of the context of what Schilling has said and when he has said it, and is also mostly irrelevant. There is a statue of Puckett outside Target Field, and he was put in the Hall before the stuff about him came out. Durocher was inducted post-humously in 1994, so the voters knew whatever there was to know about the 1947 suspension, and about Durocher's gambling/alleged mob ties. Schilling is a very different sort of case.

29. TJ Posted: July 31, 2021 at 05:49 PM (#6031940)

Bert Blyleven isn't any less qualified for the Hall than Schilling, and it also took him forever to get in -- and Blyleven was quite the obnoxious ass himself, which was probably part of the reason.

There must be some sort of pressure felt in being a non-cinch HOF candidate. I seem to remember Jack Morris becoming more of an bitter, irascible tool as the years and HOF elections rolled by. Once he was inducted, Morris mellowed and now sounds like your cool, knowledgeable uncle who just loves baseball while calling Detroit Tigers games.

30. SoSH U at work Posted: July 31, 2021 at 06:21 PM (#6031943)

There must be some sort of pressure felt in being a non-cinch HOF candidate. I seem to remember Jack Morris becoming more of an bitter, irascible tool as the years and HOF elections rolled by.

Well, he had a bit of a headstart.

When Detroit Free Press sports writer Jennifer Frey tried to get a comment from Tigers pitcher Jack Morris in the Tigers` clubhouse earlier this summer, he said, ''I don`t talk to people when I`m naked, especially women, unless they`re on top of me or I`m on top of them.''

31. baxter Posted: July 31, 2021 at 07:59 PM (#6031955)

30 So if Morris had added, "or pegging me" would that have made him a nicer fella?

32. O Tempura, O Morays ('Spos) Posted: July 31, 2021 at 08:27 PM (#6031958)

Not many people know that the full quote is, "As a student of Senecan oratory and co-ed Greco-Roman wrestling, I don`t talk to people when I`m naked, especially women, unless they`re on top of me or I`m on top of them."

33. The Yankee Clapper Posted: July 31, 2021 at 09:53 PM (#6031970)

Durocher was inducted post-humously in 1994, so the voters knew whatever there was to know about the 1947 suspension, and about Durocher's gambling/alleged mob ties.

Let’s not forget that Durocher stole Babe Ruth’s watch! He also became persona non grata in Hollywood for stealing from Frank Sinatra. Then there is his treatment of women. Schilling is practically a choir boy compared to Durocher.

34. Brian C Posted: July 31, 2021 at 10:03 PM (#6031972)

When Detroit Free Press sports writer Jennifer Frey tried to get a comment from Tigers pitcher Jack Morris in the Tigers` clubhouse earlier this summer, he said, ''I don`t talk to people when I`m naked, especially women, unless they`re on top of me or I`m on top of them.''

In fairness, this isn't really all that terrible of a policy, generally speaking.

35. Starring Bradley Scotchman as RMc Posted: August 01, 2021 at 08:36 AM (#6031994)

As noted many times, John Smoltz is far more conservative than Schilling and it just never came up. And it's not like Smoltz has a significantly stronger on field case than Schilling.

It's more of a case of "being conservative and being noisy about it". Indeed, I didn't even know Smoltz's politics until you brought it up.

It's always amusing to me that RMc can get this exact reaction every single time he posts something like this. Although I doubt it's half as amusing to me as it is to RMc.

Naah. Fish, barrel.

Durocher was inducted post-humously in 1994

I read this as "post-humourously" and thought, "Did Leo stop being funny by 1994?"

36. Infinite Yost (Voxter)

Posted: August 01, 2021 at 09:57 AM (#6031995)

The problem is not that Schilling is conservative. It's that he's an unreconstructed #######.

37. 57i66135 is a hard word for me. Posted: August 01, 2021 at 10:04 AM (#6031997)

The problem is not that Schilling is conservative. It's that he's an unreconstructed #######.

the problem is not that schilling is a mushy yellow fruit with a noticeably phallic shape. it's that he's a banana.

38. Slivers of Maranville descends into chaos (SdeB) Posted: August 01, 2021 at 12:08 PM (#6032000)

A bit late to get picky about ‘standards’.

The voting body constantly changes, so it's not only understandable, it's inevitable that standards will change as the voters change. People bring up Anson, but he was selected not by the writers, but by an "Old-Timers Committee" consisting of exactly three people. However much you like Frick, Landis, and Harridge, it's ridiculous to expect the writers, a different body, to feel bound for all time by the idiosyncratic standards of those three men now 82 years on and counting.

39. Lassus Posted: August 01, 2021 at 12:40 PM (#6032002)

The sauce was so weak on the Durocher point Clapper had to bring him up twice, that should tell you something.

And the troll has always boasted and bragged about being a troll. It is literally why he's here.

But they moved the players back, they’ll go in Wednesday September 8.

That is goddamned weird. Has it come out why it's in the middle of the week? To cut DOWN on attendance?

40. Starring Bradley Scotchman as RMc Posted: August 01, 2021 at 07:42 PM (#6032073)

However much you like Frick, Landis, and Harridge

At the Hall of Fame, you can buy postcards of each inductee's plaque. I bought one with Will Harridge, as he's arguably the most anonymous inductee. (Of course I did.)

41. Brian C Posted: August 01, 2021 at 07:56 PM (#6032077)

It's more of a case of "being conservative and being noisy about it". Indeed, I didn't even know Smoltz's politics until you brought it up.

No, no, no - this is just bad trolling. A good troll never casually admits that he doesn't know what he's talking about as if that helps his case.

The correct answer for you here is that Smoltz is really a RINO because [stupid made-up reason] and so therefore doesn't count.

42. Adam Starblind Posted: August 01, 2021 at 10:28 PM (#6032094)

Aren’t all white athletes Republicans?

43. Never Give an Inge (Dave) Posted: August 01, 2021 at 10:33 PM (#6032097)

Bert, late in his candidacy run, mellowed out and became more conciliatory, which probably helped him get the extra 10-15 votes he needed to get over the hump. Curt just doubles down on his asshattery every time.

Blyleven also had Rich Lederer, who spent 7 or 8 years consistently making the case for Blyleven on his website. Schilling has basically spent the past few years alienating all the people who might have been his Rich Lederer. That can't have helped. Even if you support his case and aren't that bothered by his antics, do you really want to be known as the guy who spends years going to the mat for Curt Schilling?

44. Benji Gil Gamesh VII - The Opt-Out Awakens Posted: August 02, 2021 at 09:28 AM (#6032133)

I don’t think I’m a hall of famer as I’ve often stated

Sure you don't, Curt.
He clearly is. But that statement is so disingenuous that it somehow makes everything else he has said about the situation even more ridiculous.

45. Steve Parris, Je t'aime Posted: August 02, 2021 at 02:28 PM (#6032210)

I bought one with Will Harridge, as he's arguably the most anonymous inductee. (Of course I did.)

Wait, you did something contrarian?

46. Pat Rapper's Delight (as quoted on MLB Network) Posted: August 02, 2021 at 02:53 PM (#6032220)

I bought one with Will Harridge, as he's arguably the most anonymous inductee.

I'm calling it here and now: Rob Manfred, Hall of Famer.

I look forward to his plaque extolling the beauty of zombie runners, scheduled 7-inning games where a team got no hits but the opposing pitcher didn't pitch a "no-hitter," gutting Minor League Baseball, and his crowning achievement of boldly partnering with numerous gambling rackets to tap another long-overlooked revenue stream for the impoverished owners of MLB teams.

47. Dag Nabbit at ExactlyAsOld.com Posted: August 02, 2021 at 03:03 PM (#6032224)

I'm calling it here and now: Rob Manfred, Hall of Famer.

They inducted Bowie Kuhn, they'll induct any commissioner that lasts longer than a few years.

48. Tom Nawrocki Posted: August 02, 2021 at 05:57 PM (#6032272)

Morgan Bulkeley got elected on the basis of one year as National League president.

49. JJ1986 Posted: August 02, 2021 at 06:07 PM (#6032277)

Aren’t all white athletes Republicans?

There are a few pitchers who aren't. Collin McHugh. Sean Doolittle. Probably Lucas Giolito.

50. Infinite Yost (Voxter)

Posted: August 02, 2021 at 06:09 PM (#6032278)

Aren’t all white athletes Republicans?

Steve Kerr ain't. Stan Musial wasn't, though I guess that was a long time ago when the parties meant different things. Randy Johnson isn't. But I guess most of them probably are, given that they're mostly rich and lightly educated.

51. Ron J Posted: August 02, 2021 at 07:44 PM (#6032332)

#48 Seems to have been a history fail. As in, must have been important if he was the first president of the NL. Not so much of course. Hulbert of course was the important guy.

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Friday, July 30, 2021

Baseball Hall of Fame denies Curt Schilling’s request to be removed from ballot for 2022 vote

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