Baseball shrine takes a pass on new members,

Schilling misses cut by 16 votes after making hateful remarks

NEW YORK—The baseball Hall of Fame won’t have any new players in the class of 2021 after voters decided no one had the merits — on the field or off — for enshrinement in Cooperstown on this year’s ballot.

Curt Schilling, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were among the closest in voting by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America released Tuesday, and the trio will have one more chance at election next year. It’s the first time the BBWAA has not chosen anyone since 2013.

Schilling, who won three World Series titles, finished 16 votes short of the 75 per cent threshold necessary. He got 71.1 per cent this time after coming up 20 votes shy at 70 per cent last year.

Schilling’s on-field accomplishments face little dispute, but he has ostracized himself in retirement by directing hateful remarks toward Muslims, transgender people, journalists and others.

“It’s all right, the game doesn’t owe me anything,” Schilling said during a live video stream on his Twitter account.

He later wrote on Facebook that he has asked the Hall of Fame to remove his name from next year’s ballot. Hall of Fame board chairman Jane Forbes Clark said in a statement that the board “will consider the request at our next meeting.”

Bonds (61.8 per cent) and Clemens (61.6) joined Schilling in falling short on their ninth tries on the ballot. Both face strong PED suspicions, but Bonds has also been accused of domestic violence and Clemens of maintaining a decade-long relationship with a singer who was 15 when they met.

Omar Vizquel, an 11-time Gold Glove winner, dropped from 52.6 per cent last year to 49.1 per cent after his wife accused him of repeated domestic abuses in December. Braves star Andruw Jones, arrested in 2012 on a domestic violence charge, got 33.9 per cent in his fourth year. Rockies slugger Todd Helton, who pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and was sentenced to two days in jail last year, got 44.9 per cent in his third time on the ballot.

Some players missed out over old-fashioned baseball disagreements, too. Third baseman Scott Rolen moved from 35.3 per cent to 52.9 per cent and closer Billy Wagner from 31.7 per cent to 46.4 per cent.

With the Hall of Fame’s Era Committees postponing their scheduled elections until next off-season because of the pandemic, there won’t be a 2021 Hall class. Cooperstown won’t be without celebration this summer, though. After the 2020 ceremony in upstate New York was cancelled due to the pandemic, Yankees great Derek Jeter and five-tool star Larry Walker are scheduled to take centre stage on July 25, a year later than planned. They will be honoured alongside catcher Ted Simmons and late players’ association chief Marvin Miller.

BBWAA members are instructed to elect Hall members “based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.” And at a time when social justice movements are pushing for a broader reckoning on sexual misconduct and racial inequality, character evaluation took on an outsized role in this election cycle.