Curt Schilling Lashes Out After Hall Of Fame Snub, Take Me Off Next Year's Ballot
Curt Schilling Lashes Out After HOF Snub ... Take Me Off Next Year's Ballot
Curt Schilling says he's so "mentally done" after being snubbed by Baseball's Hall of Fame again this year ... he's now asking to be removed from next year's voting process altogether.
The legendary MLB pitcher has been HOF-eligible since 2012 ... but all nine times his name has appeared on the ballot -- baseball's most prestigious writers have shunned him.
The reason? He's made several controversial comments since his retirement ... including a 2016, since-deleted tweet in which he appeared to advocate for the killing of journalists.
Schilling was also suspended from his role as an ESPN analyst for posting an anti-Muslim photo in 2015. He was eventually fired from the gig after sharing imagery that was very offensive to the transgender community.
Writers have been reluctant to put him on their ballot because of it all ... snubbing him for the 9th-straight year on Tuesday.
But, Schilling did see his odds of getting in climb in 2021 ... the number of votes he got this year was only 16 shy of hitting the required amount -- and many believe he'd likely get in next year in his final year of eligibility.
Schilling, though, is asking the Hall to remove him from the process ... saying he'd rather take his chances with the veteran's committee than go through another round of writers' voting.
"Nothing, zero, none of the claims being made by any of the writers hold merit," Schilling wrote in a lengthy letter to Hall of Fame officials that he shared on his Facebook page.
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"In my 22 years playing professional baseball in the most culturally diverse locker rooms in sports, I’ve never said or acted in any capacity other than being a good teammate."
Schilling continued, "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."
Schilling added he was sick over being lumped in with guys like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, who writers snubbed again this year because of their alleged ties to steroids.
"I’m now somehow in a conversation with two men who cheated," Schilling said, "and instead of being accountable they chose to destroy others lives to protect their lie."
Schilling likely did enough to eventually earn a bust in Cooperstown someday -- he was a 6-time All-Star with 3,116 strikeouts and 216 career wins.
By the way, in case you were wondering, NO player was selected to the Hall of Fame this year -- marking the first time voters haven't allowed anybody in since the 1950s.
