Phillies: Making a Case for Future Hall of Fame Candidates

Curt Schilling

Recent controversy has clouded Curt Schilling’s image, but when looking strictly what he did as a baseball player, there is no question that Schilling belongs in the Hall of Fame.

When you take away the name and simply look at the stats, Curt Schilling undoubtedly belongs in the Hall of Fame. The 50 year-old from Phoenix, Arizona pitched for 20 years in the bigs and has better numbers than players already in, but is on the ballot for the fifth time. He has both the career regular season stats, and the postseason heroics to have a plaque for himself in Cooperstown.

Schilling has three more career wins than John Smoltz and just three less career wins than Pedro Martinez, both of whom were first-ballot inductees. Schilling’s career ERA is also higher than another pitcher who was recently inducted on his first time on the ballot, Tom Glavine. He is also a five-time All-Star that finished runner-up in the Cy Young voting three times, twice to teammate Randy Johnson and once to Roger Clemens, arguably the two best pitchers of their generation.

Schilling also has the postseason stats to put him in the hall. Everyone remembers the bloody sock from Game 6 of the ’04 ALCS, but his overall postseason numbers are staggering. He went 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA in 19 postseason starts. His numbers also got better when the spotlight was bigger. Having pitched in four World Series (winning two), Schilling went 4-1 with a 2.06 ERA in seven Fall Classic starts.