BBWAA urging HOF to keep Curt Schilling on ballot
The Baseball Writers’ Association of America released a statement Wednesday urging the Hall of Fame to keep Curt Schilling on the 2022 ballot for a 10th — and final — appearance despite the pitcher’s request to be removed.
“It is the position of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America that Mr. Schilling’s request to remove himself from the ballot is a violation of the rules set forth by the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s board of directors,” BBWAA secretary Jack O’Connell said in the statement.
“The Hall of Fame assigned the BBWAA to be the electorate in 1936. This association has abided by the rules for 85 years and shall continue to do so. The BBWAA urges the board to reject Mr. Schilling’s request.”
The statement comes in the aftermath of Schilling asking off of next year’s ballot following Tuesday night’s announcement that he fell 16 votes shy of induction. Schilling, 54, was named on 71.1% of the ballots, needing 75%.
Not long after the results were revealed, Schilling posted a lengthy letter that he sent to the Hall of Fame on his Facebook page and requested he not be listed on the ballot next year in his final season of eligibility.
“I will not participate in the final year of voting,” Schilling said. “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.”
Hall of Fame board chairwoman Jane Forbes Clark released a statement later Tuesday night saying the group would consider Schilling’s request at its next meeting, which is typically held in July.
The Hall denied a similar request made by MLB Players Association director Marvin Miller in 2008. THE HAMMER MAKES ONE LAST TRIP TO SPOT WHERE
HE HIT NO. 715 >> The Hammer made one last trip to the spot where he hit No. 715.
After a nearly three-hour funeral service Wednesday that featured two former presidents, a longtime baseball commissioner and a civil rights icon, the hearse carrying Hank Aaron’s body detoured off the road bearing his name to swing through the former site of Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
That’s where Aaron broke an iconic record on April 8, 1974, eclipsing the home run mark established by Babe Ruth.
The stadium was imploded in 1997 after the Braves moved across the street to Turner Field, replaced by a parking lot for the new ballpark. But the outer retaining wall of the old stadium remains, along with a modest display in the midst of the nondescript lot that marks the exact location where the record-breaking homer cleared the left-field fence.
A steady stream of baseball fans have been stopping by the site — comprised of a small section of fence, a wall and a baseball-shaped sign that says “Hank Aaron Home Run 715” — since “Hammerin’ Hank” died Friday at the ageof86.
The fence is covered with flowers, notes and baseball memorabilia.
Fittingly, Aaron’s funeral procession went by the display on the way to his burial at South-View Cemetery, the oldest Black burial ground in Atlanta and resting place for prominent civil rights leaders such as John Lewis and Julian Bond.
The police-escorted line of cars passed near the gold-domed Georgia state capitol, went under the tower that displayed the Olympic torch during the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games, and headed down Hank Aaron Drive.
At the bottom of a hill, the procession took a sharp right turn toward the site of the former stadium. Aaron’s flower-covered hearse and all the vehicles that followed did a loop through the circular parking lot, which covers the footprint of the cookie-cutter stadium that became home of the Braves after they moved from Milwaukee in 1966.
Bud Selig, who was commissioner of Major League Baseball for more than two decades, said one of his fondest memories was being at Milwaukee’s County Stadium as a fan for the pennant-clinching homer that sent the Braves to the 1957 World Series.
“The only ticket I could get was an obstructed-view seat in the bleachers behind a big, metal post,” the 86-year-old Selig said. “The image of the great Aaron, deliriously happy, being hoisted on the shoulders of his teammates and carried off the field is indelibly imprinted in my memory.”
PROFAR SIGNS 3-YEAR DEAL WITH PADRES >> Jurickson Profar, who played five positions for San Diego last season, signed a $21 million, three-year contract to remain with the Padres. Profar had been a free agent. He chose to return to San Diego, which improved significantly this offseason with the additions of starting pitchers Yu Darvish, Blake Snell and Joe Musgrove, and South Korea slugger Kim Ha-seong.
BRAVES LAUNCH AARON FUND TO PROMOTE DIVERSITY >> The Atlanta Braves launched a $2 million foundation to honor the late Hank Aaron’s passion for increasing diversity in baseball. The Henry Louis Aaron Fund, operated by the Atlanta Braves Foundation, received initial seeding of $1 million from the Braves and $500,000 each from Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association.
The team said the fund’s mission is to boost social and racial equality by providing greater access and opportunities in sports, business and education.
METS PROMOTE SCOTT TO ACTING GM >> The New York Mets promoted Zack Scott to acting general manager, one week after the firing of GM Jared Porter. Scott, 43, joined the team on Dec. 23 as senior vice president/assistant general manager.
Scott spent the past 17 years in the Boston Red Sox organization, the last two as an assistant GM overseeing the club’s analytics, baseball systems and advance and professional scouting departments.