At first glance, Curt Schilling is not a Hall of Famer. His 216 career wins are insufficient and his 3.46 ERA is a tad high. If he had been more mature at a younger age — and had not needed to be traded three times to get his act together — his victory total would be closer to the 300-win milestone, if not beyond.
Schilling, though, is a special case. His postseason performance for three memorable World Series champions — the 2001 Diamondbacks and the 2004 and 2007 Red Sox — could persuade voters that he is a deserving candidate.
I lean toward voting yes, though I will not make a final decision until Schilling becomes eligible five years after he officially retires (an announcement on your blog doesn't count).
Few things in the game are valued more than clutch performance, and Schilling was 11-2 in the postseason with a 2.23 ERA. During a 20-year career, he pitched in 12 playoff series ... and his team would end up winning 10 of them. Schilling had a big mouth, and some writers flat out despise him. But no one can deny what he accomplished in October, or that he was one of the premier power pitchers in the game for more than a decade.
Unless someone establishes that the bloody sock was a fraud — and in this day and age, we've learned not to trust all that we see — Schilling will mount a convincing case for Cooperstown.
Just ask him. The man was never shy.
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