Curt Schilling is tired.
On Tuesday, the MLB player, who said it, shared a letter he wrote at the Baseball Hall of Fame, after voting for a ninth consecutive year.
“I will not participate in the last year of voting,” he wrote in the message sent to Facebook. “I ask to withdraw from the ballot. I will refer to the veterans’ committee and the men whose opinions actually matter and who are able to effectively judge a player. ”
The Hall of Fame Council has said it will consider Schilling’s request.
Schilling, along with Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds, were the top three winners in 2021, with none reaching 75% of the BBWAA vote. Schilling was the closest, with 71.1%.
“I don’t think I’m a hall of fame, as I’ve said many times,” he continued, “but if former players think they are, then I will accept that with honor.”
The 54-year-old, who has played for five teams over his 20-year MLB career – won the World Series titles with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001 and the Boston Red Sox in 2004 and 2007 – won 216 games with an ERA of 3.46 in career, up 3,116 encumbrances, good for the 15th of all time. Where he stood out was in the postseason, where he compiled an 11-2 record in 19 starts, including a 4-1 score and 2.06 ERA in seven World Series starts.
Schilling’s post-baseball life has been controversial. He was suspended from an ESPN concert at the Little League World Series after comparing Muslim extremists to Nazi-era Germans in a tweet. His subsequent posting on Facebook about transgender people caused him to be fired from the network.
The day after the attack on the US Capitol, he wrote on Twitter: “You cowards, you stood in your hands, you did nothing while the liberal garbage robbed and burned Jordan and the big screens for air, sit down … and look at the people, a confrontation for (expletive) matters, such as rights, democracy and the end of government corruption ”.
The ballots were already in place by the time of the attack.
In recent years, he has spoken out against the media, which he believes he has painted unfairly.
“The media has created a Schilling Court that does not exist and has never existed,” he wrote. “It’s one of the things that allowed me to sleep at night. None of this ounces is to absolve myself of sin, the Lord knows I have committed my part and I will do it again. Never maliciously, never intentionally or intentionally hurt another person. I was 100% responsible and I still am. Even the thought of responding to claims of “Nazi” or “racist” or any other term so insane and meaningless by thornless cowards who have never met me makes me sick. In the modern age, the answer to such simplicity somehow validates the statement.