Curt Schilling: Hall of Fame or not?

By Jim Ingram
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff
Curt Schilling was a very good major league pitcher. He was even better in the post season, as you can see from his numbers: 11-2, 2.23 ERA and 4 complete games. Tremendous, amazing and big game pitcher are all ways to describe Curt Schilling's playoff career. If there was a Hall of Fame for the playoffs, then Curt Schilling would be a unanimous, first ballot Hall of Famer. There is just one problem. There is no playoff hall of fame. You need to take into account a player's entire career, including regular and post season.


Schilling's career numbers are very good. His 216-146 record, 3.46 ERA, 3,116 strikeouts are all impressive. If you take a closer look at his 162 game average, a 14-9 record, 3.46 ERA and 210 strikeouts don't exactly shout Hall of Famer. Yes, his 3,116 strikeouts put him 20th overall, but how many of those came against an opposing pitcher. I'm a huge National League fan, so I am not trying to bag on the NL, but some concessions need to be made when someone plays 13 1/2 years in the NL.

www.baseball-reference.com is one of my favorite websites. I often go there for stats that aren't burned into my brain. If you look at Curt's page, which the link above will take you directly to, there is a list of comparable pitchers. That list is below.

1. Kevin Brown
2. Bob Welch
3. Orel Hershiser
4. Freddie Fitzsimmons
5. Milt Pappas
   
6. Don Drysdale
   
7. Dazzy Vance
   
8. Jim Perry
9. Catfish Hunter
   

Only three of that list are hall of famers (Don Drysdale, Catfish Hunter, Dazzy Vance). While John Smoltz will be a hall of famer, he's also a far superior pitcher in my estimation. The rest really shouldn't even be in the discussion.

I appreciate all he's done in the game considering the era he's played in. He's had to go up against the likes of Barry Bonds, Mark Maguire, Sammy Sosa, etc. That is not an easy thing to do. Is he one of the best playoff competitors of all time? Yes, but Reggie Jackson also had a great regular season career. Kirk Gibson didn't make the Hall of Fame for his World Series home run, and neither did Joe Carter.

Living in the Boston area, many people may say that I am just writing this to make a splash. While I might not be a Red Sox fan, I am also not a Red Sox Hater or Yankees fan. To be perfectly honest, I like Curt Schilling. I may not agree with some of his personal views, but enjoy listening to him speak on the radio. I just happen to be very conservative when it comes to the Baseball Hall of Fame. I am the person who thinks Cal Ripken shouldn't be in there either, but that is a discussion for another time.