Curt Schilling’s hall of fame status clouded by controversy

This year’s voting for the baseball hall of fame will be announced Tuesday and former Diamondback star Curt Schilling is on the ballot for the 9th time. Schilling has yet to make the hall because of his controversial statements and actions off the field, including most recently his defense of the pro-trump mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol. Mark Faller, Sports Editor of the Arizona Republic, is among those who voted against Schilling making the hall of fame.

When asked if Schilling should be inducted, Faller said, “I don’t think so because I haven’t voted for him since 2016. I think he has disqualified himself because of his, and I’ll call it for what it is, hate speech against many groups across the spectrum over and over and over again.”

“In fact, the most recent one was he came out in support of the insurrection at the Capitol a couple weeks ago.”

He continued to qualify that statement by saying, “There is no specific clause in the hall of fame instructions on what the voters should or shouldn’t do. I do believe that they would like you only to focus on the player’s career in baseball, but in 2020 and 2021 I don’t believe that we can do that anymore. I think people have to be held accountable for what they say and what they do, your actions and your speech ,and that’s why I didn’t vote for him.”

Schilling played for five different teams over his MLB career. His stint with the Diamondbacks lasted from 2000-2003 and he is widely regarded as one of the best pitchers of his time. In order to be inducted into the baseball hall of fame, a player needs to receive at least 75 percent of the vote from media members like Faller, one of the only tasks Schilling has never been able to accomplish.