Whether Or Not Curt Schilling Gets Into the Hall-of-Fame May Have Little to Do with Stats
Saturday, June 21st, 2008Curt Schilling is shutting down his baseball career for the remainder of this season and, in his words, may have “thrown my last pitch forever.” Some time ago, the Red Sox medical director advised a course of rehabilitation for Schilling who had injured his shoulder. He then went to another doctor, Craig Morgan, for a second opinion. Dr. Morgan advised Schilling to undergo surgery, but he declined and went with the rehab plan.
After making his announcement that his season is done and his career might be finished as well, a reporter asked Schilling the question, “Does this mean Dr. Morgan was right?” He paused, before saying, “I don’t know and I don’t care.”
This could very well be a telling remark. Many times in his past, Curt Schilling has been involved in verbal battles with teammates, other colleagues and media members. A very close friend of mine (who happens to be a member of the media of one of Schilling’s career stops) told me that Schilling could be a great interview for the national guys, but an arrogant ass with the “locals.” When your career has taken you from Baltimore to Houston to Philadelphia to Arizona to Boston, there’s a good chance you’ve antagonized a lot of “locals” along the way.
At the end of every great player’s career, there’s always the question of will he or won’t he be elected to the Hall-of-Fame? Schilling’s credentials are sensational (to his supporters), yet can be argued as good, but not good enough (by his detractors, i.e. those he upset along the way to a fabulous career). On the plus side, he’s as good a money player, i.e. “clutch in the post-season” as even a Reggie Jackson (and possibly as obnoxious - according to other media people I know). A vital member of three World Championship teams with a post-season record of 11-2, a World Series record of 4-1, and a 2.23 ERA all have to work in his favor. Many people, when they think of Curt Schilling’s post-season performances, will use the words “heart” and “ankle” on multiple occasions.Â
Regular season statistics are split when it come to “worthiness” of HOF voting. On the plus side is certainly the post-season performances as well as his 3,116 strikeouts, six All-Star appearances, three-300 “K” years and as many 20-win seasons. Although it’s not supposed to factor into the equation, his charity work on behalf of finding a cure for ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) will be difficult to disregard.
It’s hard to say “only 216 wins” can be held against him, but there are players who are not in the HOF with better (as far as numbers go) credentials. The biggest reason as to whether Schilling gets his ticket to Cooperstown punched will be his relationships (or lack of) with people. Why should this be such a determining factor? Because players get voted in and it’s people who vote. The “human element” always matters.
If I had a vote, Curt Schilling would get a “Yea” from me, but I don’t know him, never met him. All I’d go on is what I saw him accomplish on the field and to me, that should be the overriding ingredient for membership into any Hall-of-Fame.  Which is why I think it’s absurd there even exists such a place without Pete Rose in it.
Maybe it ultimately comes down to:
“You reap what you sow.”Â