Hall of Fame Poll: Curt Schilling

I'm going to skip Freddy Sanchez, mostly because I'm not sure who he is, which seems to suggest he shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame.

Sanchez played 10 seasons in the MLB, playing in more than 100 games 6 times. His career batting line was .297/.335/.413 with 48 home runs. Career bWAR of 15.8. He played for the Red  Sox  (2 years),  Pirates (6 years) and  Giants (3 year). 2006 was his best season, hitting .344/.378/.473 and leading the league in doubles with 53. That season got him more than 1/4 of his career WAR, a 4.4. I really don't see why he's on the ballot.

This is Curt Schillings' 5th time on the ballot, last year he hit a high mark of 52.3%.

Schilling had a 216-146 record but things seem to click for him at age 30. After he turned 30 he won 162 games, winning over 20 haves 3 times, finishing 2nd in Cy Young voting 3 times and making 6 All-Star teams.

He has 3 World Series rings (we beat out his Phillies in 1993 or he would have 4). He was co-MVP for the 2001 World series. And you likely remember the 'bloody sock' from 2004. In 19 playoff starts, he is 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA. A good part of case for the Hall is his performance in the playoffs.

Course there is some post career stuff. He's very right wing. He was fired from ESPN for some rather extreme views. He rode his video game company into the ground, costing himself a fortune. He hasn't gone out of his way to make friends  with the writers that have the vote. This tweet cost him at least one vote:

thanks curt pic.twitter.com/rUEQOrOcAB

— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) November 8, 2016

On the plus side he is a fan of OOTP Baseball: "The only baseball sim I've ever gotten addicted to" was OOTP.

Normally I would say that his views shouldn't cost him in the vote, he should be judged on his pitching, but sometimes it's hard to get past things. I would have a hard time voting for Roger Clemens. And, if I was a reporter, I'd have a hard time voting for a guy that thinks it's funny to joke about hanging journalists.

His career stats are here.

Matt's graph:

A lot of debate about the Hall of Fame relates to comparing a candidate against others elected and excluded. The chart below shows pitchers who played the majority of their career after 1945 (excluding active players, and those on the ballot or yet to hit the ballot) according to how long they played (innings pitched) and how productive they were (adjusted ERA). This is not meant to be definitive, but a high level starting point showing how players with similarly productive and lasting careers have fared.

Similar Players: Juan Marichal (elected by BBWAA), John Smoltz (BBWAA), Hal Newhouser (elected by Veteran's Committee), Kevin Brown, Mike Mussina (ballot). ERA- shortchanges Schilling because he allowed so few unearned runs, adjusting for that (run prevention of about 76 rather than 80) Whitey Ford (BBWAA) is an excellent comparison.