After the Hall of Fame committee declined to elect any of the nominees to join the Hall, former pitcher and conservative gadfly Curt Schilling has told the nominating committee to take him off next year’s ballot, his last available nomination from the baseball writers’ association, ESPN reports.
Schilling, a pitcher with the Diamondbacks, Phillies, Orioles and Red Sox, could still be elected to the Hall by the veterans committee.
“I will not participate in the final year of voting. 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,” Schilling wrote in a Facebook post. “I don’t think I’m a hall of famer as I’ve often stated but if former players think I am then I’ll accept that with honor.”
While Schilling’s percentage of the vote has steadily been rising in his years of eligibility to 71% this year, nearing the 75% required vote, Schilling stated, “I can say at this point I am mentally done. I know math and I know trends and I know I will not attain the 75% threshold for induction. As I’ve stated often over the past years to those I’ve spoken with in my heart I am at peace. Nothing, zero, none of the claims being made by any of the writers hold merit.”
Schilling’s critics have pointed to his demeanor and post-career activism as reasons he has not been elected to the Hall. Schilling has demeaned transgender people in a tweet when he worked at ESPN as an analyst. Prior to that, he often posted derogatory remarks about Muslims. Recently, after the board voted, Schilling took to social media to support the domestic terrorist attack at the Capitol on January 6th.
Schilling has also met with other public relations debacles, including taking tens of millions of dollars in tax benefits from the state of Rhode Island to develop a software company that declared bankruptcy, leaving taxpayers holding the bag. That left Schilling in bankruptcy and forced to sell many of his possessions, including his house and his memorabilia to pay back portions of the debt.