Pitcher imperfect
Curt Schilling’s Hall of Fame candidacy has merits but is complicated by post-career controversy,
Curt Schilling was one of the top starters for three World Series championship teams during a 20year career that took time to get on track but featured several impressive seasons once he reached his 30s.
Long remembered for his October exploits — an 11-2 postseason record and a 2.23 ERA, plus coMVP honors in the 2001 World Series and the bloody sock game in the 2004 American League Championship Series — Schilling made the first of his six All-Star teams at 30 in 1997.
That set in motion an eightyear surge in which he averaged a 16-9 mark with a 3.24 ERA, 228 innings pitched and 243 strikeouts for the Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks and Boston Red Sox while pitching in the heart of the steroid era.
THE CASE FOR Schilling ’s rare combination of power and command is reflected in a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4.38 that is the best since 1900. Among the 16 pitchers with at least 3,000 career strikeouts, he and steroidtainted Roger Clemens are the only ones not in the Hall.
Schilling overcame losing the better part of two seasons in the prime of his career — 1994 and ’95 — to injuries and the players strike, becoming a better pitcher and a workhorse who twice led the league in innings after that.
He won more than 20 games three times in four years and finished second in the Cy Young Award voting all three times. Only Randy Johnson and Nolan Ryan compiled more 300-strikeout seasons than Schilling’s three.
In 2004, it was Schilling — even more so than future Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez — who at 37 anchored the rotation for the Red Sox club that ended the franchise’s 86-year championship drought. His seven innings of one-run ball in Game 6 of the ALCS, a 4-2 victory that tied the series 3-3 against the New York Yankees, cemented his legend in Boston. Schilling pitched with a torn ankle tendon that bled through the sock in his right foot.
THE CASE AGAINST Schilling was overshadowed by surefire Hall of Famers Johnson and Martinez, lending credence to the notion he was less staff ace and more of an excellent No. 2.
He also comes up short on the win total with 216, remarkably low for such an accomplished pitcher over a 20-year career. It might be unfair, but an average of less than 11 victories a season does not conjure thoughts of a Hall of Famer, particularly considering his career ERA of 3.46 is on the high side.
And though Schilling finished in the top four in the Cy Young voting four times, his failure to win pitching ’s top prize takes some luster off his candidacy.
LOOK-ALIKES Baseball-reference.com doesn’t do Schilling any favors by lumping him with distinguished but not Hall-worthy pitchers such as Kevin Brown, Bob Welch, CC Sabathia and Tim Hudson in its Similarity Scores. Bill James’ Hall Monitor goes in the opposite direction, ranking Schilling, with 171 points, ahead of enshrined pitchers such as John Smoltz (162) and Juan Marichal (159). A score of 130 points is considered a near certainty for entry into Cooperstown.
Somewhere in between those two is Schilling ’s performance in Jay Jaffe’s JAWS scoring system, which assigns him 64.5 points, or 2.4 more than the average Hall of Famer at his position.
X FACTORS As a player, Schilling evoked admiration for his preparation and determination and for the kind of off-the-field contributions that led to his winning the Roberto Clemente and Branch Rickey awards.
His persona in retirement, though, has earned him legions of critics. Schilling has established a pattern of making inflammatory statements against Muslims and transgender people, typically via social media. He also expressed his hearty approval of a tweet that advocated lynching journalists.
Voters try to keep their personal feelings about a candidate — say, the way he treated the news media — separate from worthiness. But the nature of Schilling ’s comments extends beyond individual grievances and brings into question his character, one of the considerations on the Hall ballot.
CONSENSUS Schilling not only sabotaged his broadcasting career with the way he repeatedly expressed his political views but also continues to damage his chances of entering the Hall with offensive statements and a penchant for picking fights with journalists. If his voting numbers dip below 50% this year (he was at 52.3 last year), he might find it hard to reverse his candidacy’s downward momentum.