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Here it is
So... a couple of things...
All 7 of these I've voted for before
Bonds, Clemens, Sheffield, Ramirez have PED stains. I realize that. I do not know who did and who did not use. There is that. That's part of it. I do know what happened on the field, I do know what counts in the record book
I also understand Ramirez tested positive TWICE. I also know that he served those sentences. I know that all of them are on the ballots. They are not serving lifetime bans.
I've noted that of those who are serving lifetime bans, if they were put on the ballot, some of those, if they'd served their time, I'd vote for them (Rose, Pete)
So, why not Sosa? Sosa's peak is incredible. And man, 609 home runs. I went in with every intention of voting for him this year. I really did.
I've got back to my notes, to my arguments. Only once in his career did he finish in the top 10 in either batting average or on-base. He's a career 128 OPS+, an impressive number, but not quite there for me (and same as Abreu)
From in his great 5 years run he hit .306/.397/.649. In the parts of 12 other seasons, he hit .256/.316/.474.
He's really borderline for me. I really could change my mind. I believe this. Same with Abreu
Hell, I spent much of Tuesday making the argument for Abreu. The fact that he was a career .395 OBP with 400 stolen bases is pretty great. Honestly, I think Abreu/Sosa are around the line for me for OFs, I'm not sure if it's above or below...
It's so, so close. I may or may not be wrong on this one... as with all of these. I don't pretend my choices are right or wrong, they're just mine
I see Wagner as very similar to Trevor Hoffman. Heck, I thought I almost talked someone into voting for Wagner on Tuesday. But again, I just wasn't quite there yet. I didn't vote for Hoffman, but that was because he was on loaded ballots. I thought it was great when he got in
Heck, I didn't vote for Hoffman, Smoltz or Biggio either, but that's part of the ballots of the mid-2010s -- they were that stacked. And if you voted for Bonds/Clemens and the steroid guys, man, you were leaving off some great players
I'm a big Hall guy, so, maybe I should've voted for Wagner/Abreu/Sosa... I'm not so sure. I stunned myself not voting for 10 this year
Pretty much everything was overshadowed by the one decision... one decision that I still don't feel good about and wouldn't have felt good about either way — and the decision I'll get to in a bit... stay tuned if you care.
and then there's Schilling
I've always voted for Schilling. I think he was an incredible pitcher. So many years I heard people talk about Jack Morris as this great postseason pitcher. I think Curt Schilling WAS the postseason pitcher those people thought Morris was
I did the hold my nose and vote for him thing, just as I have done for others. Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez and Andruw Jones have either been accused or charged with domestic violence. There's Clemens and Mindy McCready
Listen, it's not about who Schilling supports politically. I think I saw something on here about that it's because he's a Republican. That's kind of laughable...
If I didn't vote for Republicans, I'm not sure I'd ever vote for anyone for the Hall of Fame. These are baseball players, for the most part. This is the first time I've ever not voted for 10 players
In fact, after Schilling, I'd say the second-most vocal supporter of Donald Trump among baseball players is Mariano Rivera, you know, the only player to ever get 100 percent of the vote
No, this one, it's not political. It's beyond that. It's about the hate speech. It's a weird, arbitrary line to draw, I realize. Of course, it's no more weird than the line between Gary Sheffield and Bobby Abreu, honestly
Leaving him off my ballot didn't feel right. Checking his name didn't feel right. I've always strived for consistency. But in the end, what's more important to me than consistency is something that can't be consistent -- humanity. It's imperfect and at time illogical
I didn't know what was the right thing. The easiest thing would be not to vote and I considered that. But I've always enjoyed voting and always put a lot of work into it. Until yesterday afternoon, I really didn't think I would. I ultimately did. Maybe that was wrong.
This is a year where the BBWAA took Landis' name off the MVP Award. This is a year where we're considering the actions of so many other things, what words mean, what they can mean.
This year, well, this year is different. It's been different for so many reasons. I did it differently his year. I don't know if I did it correctly, but I did it in the way that would allow me to sleep at night, to feel OK with myself
Sometimes I'm not sure whether we should vote. These awards mean a lot to the people who earn them. They can mean a lot financially. I felt weird rewarding someone who put out so much hate this year, who spread so much fear when there was already so much
Listen, I did this for me. In the end, trolls win either way. This troll, and online, Schilling is a troll, was going to claim victory either way. He gets in, he's a Hall of Famer. He gets left out, he's a martyr. Either way, he claims victory.
The only thing I can do is be true to myself. Rope. Tree. Journalist. I voted for him after that. I had a friend who worked in Annapolis. Not a close friend mind you, but close enough in this business to feel one step away....
I have other friends in this business all over the world, sticking their necks out, doing what I think is important work. Much more important than stupid sports stuff and Hall of Fame voting. Risking their lives to tell the truth.
And it comes back to someone thinking Rope. Tree. Journalist. That's so much awesome? It's not. I looked the other way because I thought I was above it and I was taking the high road. It was a rationalization. We all rationalize things different ways.
I could no longer rationalize it. I just couldn't. So, yeah. I didn't vote for Curt Schilling. I can live with myself helping him claim to be a martyr. I'm not sure I could live with myself giving him a bigger stage.
Was it the right decision? I don't know? It was a decision. I made it. And there it is.
