Does Former Philadelphia Phillies Ace Deserve to be in Hall of Fame?

Curt Schilling was money in the postseason, and at least one person believes his absence from the Hall is an oversight.

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

You have a magic wand. You can get one player that isn’t already in the Baseball Hall of Fame into the Hall. No questions asked. Who would it be.

For one commentator on MLB Network, it would be a former Philadelphia Phillies ace.

“There are a number of people that should be in who aren’t, and I swear this is not a cable news provocative talking point because he’s said some odious things the last couple of days, but I do thing Curt Schilling should be,” Jonathan Lemire said on MLB Network. “I thought he should have been in before any of this stuff happened. The postseason record speaks for itself.”

Schilling played 20 years and boasts an impressive list of credentials. He went 216-146 for his career, winning 20 or more games three times. He broke in with Baltimore in 1988 and ended up with the Phillies in 1992 after they acquired him from Houston.

Schilling blossomed with the Phillies, playing nine seasons and going 101-78. He made three All-Star teams with Philly and helped them reach the 1993 World Series, where they lost to the Toronto Blue Jays.

He was dealt to the Arizona Diamondbacks during the 2000 season, after which he teamed up with Randy Johnson to win the 2001 World Series over the New York Yankees. He also won World Series rings with the Boston Red Sox in 2004 and 2007.

For his career he made six All-Star teams and finished second in Cy Young voting three times.

And that postseason record? Schilling went 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA. He was named the MVP of the 1993 National League Championship Series with the Phillies and the MVP of the 2001 World Series with the Diamondbacks.

Schilling came close to getting in the Hall of Fame, most notably in 2020 and 2021 when he received 70.0 percent of the vote and 71.1 percent of the vote, respectively. In his final year of eligibility in 2022 he received 58.6 percent.

Schilling has been controversial off the field, with the most recent being a comment made on Fox News, saying “somebody is going to have to pull a trigger” in talking about the U.S. Justice Department’s case against former president Donald Trump.

Setting that aside, his Hall of Fame candidacy is less controversial once you look at the numbers. 

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