At the request of Matt Berman, a true sport fan (who happens to hate the Red Sox)
Curt Schilling on Baseball-Reference
Recently, I wrote that Curt Schilling “probably will be” a Hall of Famer. I was challenged in that statement so I decided to do a little research. With over 200 wins and 3000 strikeouts, Schilling has probably done enough to impress the voters, but really, he’s done enough to impress anyone who looks into the matter.
While the bloody sock gets the press, Curt’s most impressive moment might have been Game 5 of the 1993 World Series. Coming off a wild loss to Toronto in Game 4, the Phillies turned to Schilling, keeping their hopes alive until a certain Joe Carter home run you might remember. He did not disappoint, earning a 2-0 victory. The Postseason is a small sample size, but Schilling has had all kinds of success in October: LCS MVP, World Series MVP, Savior of a Nation, and so forth.
In the regular season, Schilling proved slightly more human. The writers love 20-win season, and Schilling had three of them, but his best season was probably 1997, when struck out 319 batters, but only won 17 games. He has served as a young gun (1992-93), a workhorse (1997-98) and an ace (2001-02), and even managed to be the 4th youngest player in the league (21 in 1988) and the 10th oldest (39 in 2006 and moving up). Schilling has the second best strikeout to walk ratio in Major League history.
Schilling comparable list includes Kevin Brown, Bob Welch, David Cone, John Smoltz, and Mike Mussina. I guess that’s better than six years ago when Scott Sanderson topped the list, but that definitely doesn’t make Curt a shoo-in. But Schilling has pitched for a long time at a high level. Even last year, he managed 15 wins and 183 strikeouts. If he finishes with around 240 wins, that should be enough to get him in. And I can’t wait to hear his acceptance speech.
January 30, 2007 at 11:55 am |
From:MBeauparlant@Herc.com
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To:mattbermanrocks@comcast.net (Matt Berman)
Subject:Re: barbaro
Date:Monday, January 29, 2007 1:41:43 PM
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I agree with you…Schilling gets the Lynn Swann and Claude Lemieux vote. Even though Swanny had great postseason games, he didn’t have the regular season stats. Same as Lemieux. He had tremendous Post-seasons but he wasn’t dominant all the time.
Schilling has posted great regular seasons. However, he hasn’t won a Cy Young or MVP. He had a great postseason in 1993, 2001, and 2004. He has the National League Season Strikeout Record for a Right-Handed Pitcher. He has had some memorable games. 16 strikeouts against the Yankees (Hideki Irabu) during Interleague play when he was with the Phillies in 1997. He struck out Jeter 4 times, Tino and Paul O’Neill 3 times a piece. The Sock game. Schilling is not even considered the greatest right-handed pitcher in Philadelphia History. Robin Roberts had incredible numbers than Schilling. He won 20 or more games 6 six seasons in a row and in 1950, he had to pitch every other game in order for the Phillies to win the NL pennant because one of their pitchers was called up to active duty. Greatest Left-hander was Steve Carlton but he’s on the Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver, Sandy Koufax level. Grover Alexander pitched for the Phillies in the so called dead ball era so his numbers are misleading. Here are Schills numbers.
3 20win seasons
9 seasons of 200 innings pitched
he has surpassed 3000 strikeouts
3 time runner-up in Cy Young Race
3 season of more than 300ks
.600 winning pct.
It’s borderline at best. Bert Blyleven and Jack Morris have had just as good and better careers than Schilling. I believe those 2 should get in before Schilling. Once again, think Lynn Swann, Claude Lemieux, Curt Schilling in same category.
Post season Hall of Famers (First Ballot). If you have to debate a Hall of Fame selection, he’s probably not a Hall of Famer.
For Instance: When you say Hank Aaron, you immediate say Hall of Famer, Same goes with Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken, Mike Schmidt, Ernie Banks, Steve Carlton, George Brett, Dave Winfield, Willie Stargell, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle,Roger Clemens (If he ever retires), Hank Greenberg, and Pat Burrell.
Just kidding about Burrell.
Marc Beauparlant email to Matt Berman in regards to Dave Lipman’s position.
January 30, 2007 at 12:21 pm |
Jack Morris had a 3.90 career ERA, pitching in an era when the league ERA was 4.08. Curt Schilling had a 3.44 ERA, pitching in an era when the league ERA was 4.36. In which categories is Jack Morris better than Schilling? Even if you use wins (which are a terrible judge here), Morris did have more but 1. all players had more wins in that era and 2. he had a worse percentage. Schilling struck out 500 more batters than Morris in 700 fewer innings, and had a far superior K/BB rate. Schilling was better than Morris, by a country mile.
What’s the point that Schilling wasn’t as good as Roberts? Lou Gehrig wasn’t as good as Babe Ruth. Neither were Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, or Yogi Berra.
And there is no Tom Seaver / Roger Clemens level. Those two are NOT on the same level.