OBF: Curt Schilling Hall-haters need to look in the mirror
If Tom Yawkey was a sportswriter, he would have been J. G. Taylor Spink.
Spink’s was the most influential byline among baseball writers for decades until his death in 1962. The long-time publisher of The Sporting News was an unapologetic segregationist and/or racist, depending on your interpretation of his words opposing baseball’s integration.
Suffice to say, Spink was not a fan of Black ballplayers in the majors.
Spink’s track record in “The Bible of Baseball” was bare for anyone who had internet access. That never stopped the Baseball Writers Association of America from naming what has become their BBWAA Career Excellence Award in Spink’s honor from 1962-2020. It’s awarded “for meritorious contributions to baseball writing.”
The award no longer bears Spink’s name after the BBWAA voted earlier this year to remove it.
Character arrives better late than never, I guess.
BBWAA members are the so-called historians of the game. Yet few knew of or cared about Spink’s views when accepting an honor bearing his name. The writers have been given the honor and power to determine who is enshrined in Cooperstown and who isn’t. This was bestowed upon them by the Hall of Fame when it was founded in 1936. Writers were the only people who saw players from all teams. There was no TV, social media, or online streaming. This system pre-dates the polio vaccine, victory in World War II, and Alaskan and Hawaiian statehood.
The voting pool for newly eligible Hall of Fame players must be expanded to include former players, editors, broadcasters, baseball executives, managers, coaches, umpires, veteran scouts, statisticians and — dramatic pause — a fan component.
Keep all this in mind as the conversation about whether or not Curt Schilling belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame returns during the “holloway” (Joe Biden’s word, not mine) season. Schilling is on the ballot for the 10th and final time this year. Last time, he received 71.1% of the 75% necessary for enshrinement.
Schilling’s numbers are Hall worthy but do not make him a lock. He had 3,116 strikeouts against just 711 walks. His career WAR (wins above replacement) is 80.5, that’s just behind Bob Gibson (81.7) but ahead of Tom Glavine, Carl Hubbell and Jim Palmer. Schilling went 11-2 in the postseason with a 2.23 ERA and won three World Series rings. He had more than 3,000 career strikeouts. And Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS was not a hoax.
Schilling is one of nine former members of the Red Sox on the 2022 ballot. Among the others are Roger Clemens, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz. The results will be announced on Jan. 25.
Schilling’s final appearance on the Hall ballot was something he did not want. He posted a 1,200 word statement on social media asking to be removed. He was not. Schilling mentioned only one BBWAA member by name, longtime antagonist and Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy.
Schilling won the Branch Rickey, Hutch and Lou Gehrig Memorial awards. They honor “exceptional community service,” “competitive spirit,” and the “character and integrity” of the Iron Horse on and off the field.
“Do those awards and 22 years absent of a single validating event to support their claims define me? Or does a ‘what he meant to say’ tweet? Based on the vote and the pike of dung authored by morally decrepit men like Dan Shaughnessy it’s the latter,” Schilling wrote.
In response, Shaughnessy recounted several of Schilling’s alleged war crimes over recent years including the support of a “racist mob that stormed the Capitol,” not believing Adam Jones’ claims that he heard a racial slur at Fenway Park, “advocating the lynching of journalists,” “bilking Rhode Island out of $75 million, collecting Nazi memorabilia and posting “anti-transgender” material.
True or false, repulsive or otherwise — none have anything to do with baseball.
Long-time BBWAA member Bob Klapisch of the Newark Star-Ledger noted in January that the “Baseball Writers Association of America, needs to address its own hypocrisy before passing judgment on anyone, let alone Schilling.”
The 2011 J. G. Spink Award winner Bill Conlin went to his grave with the accusation that he was a child molester. The kids Colin allegedly molested were between 7-12. Conlin quit his job as a columnist with the Philadelphia Daily News when the charges became public. Conlin denied the accusations until his death in 2014. We made a similar case concerning Conlin here five years ago.
The Hall’s “character” clause has been used to bar Schilling from Cooperstown. Last supplemented in 1945, it “applies to how the game was played on the field, more so than character off it.” It is there to make sure in-game cheaters (see gamblers, trash-can bangers and Apple Watch wearers) did not get into the Hall.
Schilling’s views have been deemed Hall of Fame disqualifying by someone who gleefully accepted an award named for a racist and shared by a man accused of child molestation.
“Character” indeed.
Bill Speros (@RealOBF) can be reached at bsperos1@gmail.com
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3xvQDNT
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