As far as I'm concerned, Schilling's post season numbers alone should get him in. I don't see how any pitcher can be that much of a force in the games that really count, and not be in it. When a guy comes through that well in the crunches, he deserves it. And I'm not saying that just because the Jays won in spite of him (or the fact that he's a Republican).


>>I would have no problem with Schilling making the HOF. I honestly don't know anything about his personal life, but if he was such a jerk, how did he win both a Sportsman of the year and a Roberto Clemente award?
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>Schilling never got in any legal trouble during his career or anything like that. He was generally known as a devoted family man. But sometimes his emotions got the best of him and he made some pretty bold statements (though some were true). He all but called Phillies GM Ed Wade incompetent in 1999 (which was partly true).
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>(He got in huge financial trouble in Rhode Island in the last few years with his software game company, and it was quite a debacle. How much that might have affected the vote, I have no idea)
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>As a Phillies fan, Schilling provided many memories. In the 1993 post-season, he blew away the Braves in Games 1 and 5 with 98mph fastballs. He struck out 17 Yankees on Labor day in 1997 (and the Yanks were the defending champions at the time).
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>But there's one memory even bigger. In 1999 the Phils were unexpected Wild Card contenders until August when injuries wiped them out. In early May, they had a home Sunday game against the Dodgers. In the top of the 6th, with the Phils holding a 3-2 lead, the Dodgers loaded the bases with no outs, and then Schilling fell behind Todd Hundley, 3-0. It looked like Schilling was going to become unglued. He took a few steps back from the mound, collected himself, pounded his fist into his glove, then came back and fired three rockets that Hundley couldn't touch....then struck the next hitter out as well, and then got Beltre to ground out. The crowd at the Vet (about 34,000) all gave Schilling a huge standing ovation for getting out of the inning with no damage. The Phils scored 9 runs over the next three innings and won easily. That was the great thing about Schilling - definitely a thinking man's pitcher, but he had a howitzer for an arm and literally could turn a ball game around.
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>So yes, I'm biased, because I loved Schilling as a player - but he got screwed by the HOF voters. An 11-2 post-season mark and a major pitcher for 3 World Series titles!!!!