Curt Schilling, the former Red Sox pitcher who endorsed George Bush over John Kerry for president in 2004, said during an interview on Boston radio that it was just these conservative views that cost him lost votes with Hall of Fame deciders.
He made the remarks on the Dennis and Callahan show, while discussing the differences in the numbers of votes he and Altanta pitcher John Smoltz received. Mr. Smoltz earned 82.9 percent of the first-round vote; Mr. Schilling, meanwhile, only received 39.2 percent on the third ballot, Yahoo Sports reported.
But by a common method of tabulating sports statistics — the JAWS Hall of Fame evaluation program — Mr. Schilling should have received 64.5 and Mr. Smolz, 54.2, the news outlet said.
Mr. Schilling said it’s his conservative principles that drove down his score.
“The fact that [the Braves] won 14 straight pennants” drove the votes for Mr. Smoltz, Mr. Schilling said, Yahoo Sports reported. “I think his Swiss Army knife versatility. … I think he got a lot of recognition for that. He’s a Hall of Famer. The other big thing is I think he’s a Democrat. I know that as a Republican that there’s some people that really don’t like that.”
The radio hosts then asked him to clarify and confirm whether he truly believed that he would have received more votes if he weren’t an “outspoken Republican,” Yahoo Sports reported. And his response? Yes.
“Absolutely,” Mr. Schilling said. “When human beings do something, anything, there’s bias and prejudice. … I don’t think that it kept me out or anything like that but I do know there are guys who probably will never vote for me because of the things I said or did. That’s the way it works.”
At the same time, USA Today reported that Mr. Smoltz has donated a total of $9,800 to Republican campaigns.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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