Curt Schilling Left Out of the Hall of Fame

Schilling was only able to collect seven of the 12 votes necessary from the Contemporary Era Committee to be enshrined.

Former Diamondback Curt Schilling will not be enshrined in the Hall of Fame, as he failed to reach the voting threshold necessary from the Contemporary Era Committee. Schilling received only seven of the 12 votes necessary from the committee.

The purpose of the Contemporary Era Committee, known more by its Veterans Committee nickname, is to decide on players who failed to receive enough votes to be enshrined in baseball's Hall of Fame by the writers. This year the list includes Fred McGriff, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Rafael Palmeiro, Albert Belle, Don Mattingly, and Dale Murphy. McGriff was the only player to receive the 12 votes necessary to be enshrined, garnering unanimous honors from the 16-person committee.

Here's how the committee was set up

• Hall of Famers: Greg Maddux, Jack Morris, Ryne Sandberg, Lee Smith, Frank Thomas, Alan Trammel
• Executives: Paul Beeston, Theo Epstein, Arte Moreno, Kim Ng, Dave St. Peter, Ken Williams, Derrick Hall
• Media/Historians: Steve Hirdt, LaVelle Neal, Susan Slusser

One thing to note is Chipper Jones was originally set up to be on the committee, but was too sick to attend so Hall replaced him. Jay Jaffe of Fangraphs examined the initial panel, which included Jones, and concluded that it was very favorable for McGriff.

As for those candidates, at first glance, this panel appears to be tilted towards Fred McGriff, who to these eyes already appeared to be the most likely honoree. During his 1993-97 run with the Braves, the Crime Dog was not only teammates with both Jones and Maddux, but helped them win a championship in ’95. Even before that, he broke in with the Blue Jays, for whom Beeston was the executive vice president and then president/chief operating officer during his 1986-90 tenure in Toronto. McGriff was also briefly teammates with Williams, who’s surely a better executive than he was a baserunner, at least with the Blue Jays.

Schilling, 56, was instrumental to the Diamondbacks first and only World Series title in 2001. The D-backs traded for him the previous summer, hoping to add a second ace to their rotation to reach that goal. In 107 starts in Arizona, Schilling went 58-27 with a 3.14 ERA (148 ERA+), 18 complete games, 5 shutouts, and a 885/117 strikeout to walk ratio in 781.2 innings. His best two seasons came in 2001 and 2002, where he and Randy Johnson teamed up to terrorize National League hitters. Johnson won the Cy Young in both years, with Schilling finishing second. 

His best contributions to the Diamondbacks came in the 2001 postseason. He won his first three starts, throwing complete games in each of them, while allowing just two runs. Twice he faced the Cardinals' Matt Morris in the Division Series, outdueling him in both Games 1 and 5. In the Championship Series, he struck out 12 Braves in his only start in a five-game series win. 

In the World Series, Schilling started Games 1, 4, and 7, with the latter two coming on just three days rest. The D-backs workhorse starter answered the call, limiting the Yankees to just four runs in 21.2 innings and going at least seven innings in all three starts. Schilling and Johnson would receive co-MVP honors, as the D-backs rallied to win the World Series in seven games.

Jack Sommers examined his HOF credentials in a recent article. He determined Schilling was one of the top 25 pitchers all time, and based on baseball credentials alone should have been enshrined.