Holding Nose, Voting for 2020 Baseball Hall of Fame Candidates

I find no joy in it. Hell, I may actually hate it. Let’s get that out of the way. I held my nose – figuratively, of course – as I put a check mark by Curt Schilling’s name on the 2020 National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot.

The controversial Schilling is on the ballot for the eighth consecutive year out of the 10 maximum on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot. I’ve finally voted for him because the ballot is no longer clogged.

This is my 14th ballot since I was given the right after 10 consecutive years as a member of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. I’ve traditionally used all 10 spots allotted. This year is no exception even though many veteran BBWAA writers I respect have voted for fewer players. There are not 10 candidates more worthy than Schilling on the 2020 ballot.

Schilling was never a first-ballot Hall of Famer, nor even a fourth-ballot Hall of Famer. But if the previous ballots hadn’t been crowded with all-time greats who were denied votes because of links to performance-enhancing drugs, Schilling should have gotten in earlier.

There’s only one first-ballot Hall of Famer on this year’s ballot. That’s Yankees legend Derek Jeter, who will cruise to induction. He got my vote.

Schilling’s stats stack up

I could ignore Schilling the previous seven years in part because I always had more than 12 candidates I deemed worthy, yet only 10 votes to give.

When Hall of Famer Joe Morgan sent a letter imploring voters to consider character two elections ago, I decided against voting for Chipper Jones. It was easy to deny Jones a vote because I knew he would clear the 75 percent necessary anyway in his first year of eligibility.

That year I could take a stance against Jones’ past tweets claiming the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax and his tweet wondering if putting gators in the Rio Grande would stop illegal immigration. In that election for the 2018 class I knew I wouldn’t hurt Jones’ chances.

Many have pointed out that there have been racists and cheats inducted into the Hall of Fame already. The iconic Ty Cobb is reputed to have been quite the despicable racist in his time.

“You OK, dad,” my eldest daughter asked as I sighed heavily after voting for Schilling on the 2020 Hall of Fame ballot.

If you’ve been to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y., you can appreciate the weight of the Hall of Fame ballot.

Short on character

As you walk into the Hall, the first three statues you see are the Character and Courage statues of Jackie Robinson, Lou Gehrig and Roberto Clemente. Despite his Twitter handle, Schilling deserves no place next to those giants in terms of character, courage, decency or humanity.

Voting for Schilling isn’t so unappealing because of his politics, though. You’d be surprised how many folks, including a few on this year’s ballot, share Schilling’s politics. I know because I’ve had those conversations with them in the past. I’ve had civil discussions with these men about politics. We all have a right to believe what we want.

Schilling is on another level, though. He’s a troll. He infamously tweeted: “OK, so much awesome here …” with a picture making light of lynching media. That’s just one of his series of despicable thoughts. Whatever the case, he was one of the best pitchers of his era, especially in the playoffs.

He posted a 79.5 WAR, which is only 4.0 lower than first-ballot Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez and 10.5 higher than first-ballot Hall of Famer John Smoltz.

Here are the nine other players on my ballot this year:

Derek Jeter

You don’t need to look up Jeter’s stats to realize he belongs in the Hall. He’ll easily surpass the 75 percent of the ballots necessary for induction.

Sammy Sosa

Slammin’ Sammy is another player I’m voting for this year for the first time even though this is his eighth year on the ballot. He’s ninth on the all-time home run list with 609. He helped save baseball with his 1998 home run duel against Mark McGwire.

His candidacy has been hurt by steroid speculation. Nonetheless, the Dominican Republic legend has paid his penance. It’s time to forgive and let him into the Hall. He got my vote this year, and I’ll continue to vote for him until he is elected or falls off the ballot after the 2022 ballot.

The 11-time Gold Glove winner and three-time All-Star made magic with his glove on a daily basis for 24 years. He was arguably the best defensive shortstop of his era.

He was on 42.8 percent of the ballots last year in his second year, so he’s on good pace to eventually join Luis Aparicio as the second Venezuelan in the Hall of Fame.

Barry Bonds

I’ve voted for baseball’s all-time home run king every year except one. He’s the greatest slugger in baseball history and the most feared batter of his lifetime.

The Hall of Fame is not complete without him. He has languished on the ballot for eight years because of his ties to the BALCO scandal. He juiced, but let’s not be naive enough to believe that no juicers have been inducted into the Hall already.

Roger Clemens

He’s the greatest pitcher of his era. I’ve voted for him all eight years on the ballot, and I’ll continue to vote for him until he’s inducted or he falls off the ballot after two more years.

The Hall of Fame isn’t complete without Clemens, who won 354 games and seven Cy Young Awards. He’s still the greatest player I’ve ever covered as a beat writer, and that group includes Hall of Famers Mike Piazza, Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell and Wade Boggs.

Jeff Kent

The former National League MVP is the greatest slugging second baseman of all-time. He finished his career with 377 home runs.

He could be rough with the media, but I found him to be a charming, thoughtful grump who was always willing to answer the tough questions when others wouldn’t. He is in his seventh year on the ballot. It may take 1
0 years, but he deserves a place in Cooperstown.

Billy Wagner

Wagner still had a few good years in him when he walked away from baseball with 422 career saves. He was one of the most dominant closers of his era.

If he had played longer to accumulate stats, his Hall of Fame candidacy would be stronger. He still has five more years to build toward Cooperstown after this year’s ballot.

Scott Rolen

Rolen was one of the best third baseman of his era. The seven-time All-Star and eight-time Gold Glove winner posted a 70.2 WAR over seven years. He’s on his third year on the ballot, so he has time to climb up after getting 17.2 percent last year.

Larry Walker

One year after Edgar Martinez earned induction on his 10th year on the ballot, Larry Walker deserves to finally get in on his 10th and final year of eligibility.

If not for the crowded ballots the last eight years, Walker surely would have been voted in by now. He posted a 72.7 WAR over 17 years while hitting 383 home runs. It’s time for him to earn his place among the immortals.

Maybe next year:

It was difficult to keep Andruw Jones and Bobby Abreu off my ballot this year. If they receive the required five percent to remain on the ballot, Jones may be on my 2021 ballot.
Manny Ramirez will also get serious consideration next year in his fifth year on the ballot.