Curt Schilling won’t get his Hall of Fame wish.
The outspoken MLB pitching great’s request to be taken off the Coopertown ballot — ahead of his 10th and final shot at entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame — was denied in a unanimous vote, the Hall’s board of directors announced Thursday.
After coming up short in his ninth time on the ballot in January, Schilling wrote a scathing message on Facebook that took aim at the Baseball Writers’ Association, which votes for induction.
“I will not participate in the final year of voting,” he wrote. “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.”
No players were elected in the 2020 process, with Schilling, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens missing the 75-percent threshold for entry. Schilling, a two-time World Series winner with the Diamondbacks and Red Sox, came closest at 71.1 percent.
“I don’t think I’m a hall of famer as I’ve often stated,” his message continued, “but if former players think I am then I’ll accept that with honor.”
The 54-year-old has had his fair share of controversies since his playing days ended after the 2007 season. He was suspended from an ESPN gig at the Little League World Series after he compared Muslim extremists to Nazi-era Germans in a tweet. He later claimed that transgender people caused his firing from the network. Schilling has also railed against the media, which he has accused of creating “a Curt Schilling that does not and has never existed.”
