Curt Schilling’s absence from Cooperstown stuns baseball fans

Curt Schilling was one of the greatest MLB pitchers of his generation; however, his pursuit of the Baseball Hall of Fame eluded him again on Sunday.

Fred McGriff was elected to Cooperstown through the contemporary baseball era committee. He received unanimous support from the 16 members of the committee – comprised of Hall members, executives and baseball writers. Schilling, along with Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds, failed to get eight of the 12 votes required to make it to Cooperstown through the committee.

Baseball fans hoping Schilling got into the Hall of Fame believed that comments made about Muslims, transgender people and others penalized him and overlooked what he has done in his career. On the field, his resume checked all the boxes.

He was a six-time All-Star, three-time World Series champion, World Series MVP and National League Championship Series MVP. He finished runner-up for the Cy Young Award three times. He led the National League and American League in wins one-time each.

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He played 20 years in the majors and finished with a 3.46 ERA and 3,116 strikeouts. He is one of 19 pitchers to record 3,000 or more strikeouts. The only retired pitchers in the club who are not in the Hall of Fame are Schilling, Clemens and CC Sabathia. Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer are still playing.

After the announcement was made, fans came to the defense of Schilling for his performances during his playing career.

Schilling congratulated McGriff for getting into the Hall of Fame.

“Congratulations to the CRIME DOG! A well-earned honor my friend! God Bless!” the former pitcher wrote.

Known as the “Crime Dog,” McGriff hit .284 in his 19-year career that ended with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He hit 493 home runs and had a 52.6 bWAR. He won a World Series with the Atlanta Braves in 1995.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.