Curt Schilling Sends New Message After Hall Of Fame Vote

For the first time since 2013, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America failed to vote a single player into this year’s Hall of Fame.

Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling came the closest, earning 71.1 percent of the 75 required to make the cut. Barry Bonds was the next highest with 61.8 percent — closely followed by Roger Clemens at 61.6 percent.

Just 16 votes shy of the Hall of Fame honors, Schilling is clearly fed up with the system. After the final ballots were released, the six-time All Star took to Facebook to share a letter he’d sent to Hall of Fame officials.

Schilling has officially asked to be taken off the ballot for next year’s voting.

“I will not participate in the final year of voting,” Schilling wrote. “I am requesting to be removed from the ballot. I’ll defer to the veteran’s committee and men whose opinions actually matter.”

This was just a short clipping of a long-winded statement. Here’s the full letter:

The vast majority of the letter was Schilling defending his character as a man.

In a 20-year MLB career, the right-handed pitcher collected a 216-146 record through over 400 starts. His legend was solidified in 2004 when he played in the iconic “bloody sock” game — leading the Red Sox to a World Series Championship on an injured ankle.

After his playing career ended though, Schilling has become far more well known for his outspoken political views. Over the years, the player-turned-analyst has shared multiple overtly racist and homophobic posts on his social media. After posting multiple anti-Muslim memes on his Twitter page in 2015, ESPN suspended Schilling for the remainder of the season. In 2016, the former pitcher was officially fired after sharing an anti-transgender post.

Now through eight years of failing to earn Hall of Fame honors, Schilling has made it very clear that he believes the committee is keeping him out because of his openly right-wing opinions. Back in 2015 when the writers voted John Smoltz in over him, Schilling had a hypothesis on why.

“He’s a Hall of Famer,” Schilling said on Boston radio show Dennis and Callahan. “And I think the other big thing is that I think he’s a Democrat and so I know that, as a Republican, that there’s some people that really don’t like that.”

Whether it’s because of his political opinions or not, the push for Curt Schilling in the Hall of Fame appears to be over.

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