The corporate press has moved wildly to the left.
That most certainly applies to “woke” sports writers.
Now a baseball legend who supported Donald Trump got disrespected in one infuriating way.
Former MLB ace pitcher Curt Schilling lost his final bid to be inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame.
Schilling’s chances were almost certainly torpedoed by the fact he is an outspoken conservative and supporter of Donald Trump.
Schilling was fired from ESPN after criticizing the radical transgender movement on his personal Facebook page.
Schilling’s politics do not jibe with sports writers, who are arguably more left-wing than political reporters.
In 2016, only 4% of sports writers voted for Donald Trump, which was a lower percentage than other media writers.
In order to get inducted into Cooperstown, Schilling needed 75% of the vote from sports writers, but he only garnered 58.6%.
Last year, Schilling’s second-to-last year of eligibility, he crept up to 71.1%, but based on trends, he knew it was highly unlikely he would receive the final 3.9%.
That’s why Schilling asked to have his name taken off the ballot.
He wrote:
“I can say at this point I am mentally done…I know math and I know trends and I know I will not attain the 75% threshold for induction…I will not participate in the final year of voting…I am requesting to be removed from the ballot. I’ll defer to the veterans committee and men whose opinions actually matter and who are in a position to actually judge a player.”
For anyone still on the fence of whether or not Schilling’s politics played a role, Barry Bloom of Forbes, one of the voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA)—the body that votes on players—openly admitted that Schilling’s politics factored into his decision-making.
Bloom confessed:
“To be sure, because of his politics I’ve had a visceral and adverse reaction to Schilling…I’m not alone as a voter in that regard. It’s not that he’s a conservative and I’m a liberal. It’s not he’s a Republican, and I’m a Democrat. Schilling is a right-wing reactionary and a demagogue.”
This was the uphill battle that Schilling was facing.
The BBWAA is notoriously picky about who gets inducted.
For example, no player has ever received a unanimous vote.
The highest percentage ever was Ken Griffey Jr. with 99.32%.
Babe Ruth could only muster 95.13%.
Schilling was doomed as soon as he started talking about politics.
Based on performance, Schilling should have definitely been inducted.
He didn’t reach the magical 300-win mantle, but he earned 216 wins in an era of juiced baseballs.
His postseason résumé was also stellar.
According to MLB.com:
“Still on the fence about Schilling? Consider that the three-time World Series champion is one of the best postseason performers in baseball history. In 19 career postseason starts, he went 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA, including a 2.06 ERA over seven Fall Classic outings.”
Schilling should be in the Hall, but petty liberals decided to keep him out of the club.