Curt Schilling's Latest Money-Maker

A few months ago, I was asked to take part in the Out of the Park Laundry League.  The game is incredibly fun and my team made the postseason.  Hooray!

But, it seems, the game also has its claws in those who played baseball for real as well.  And, no, I'm not just talking about the former big leaguers that took part in the inaugural Seamheads Laundry League.

I'm talking about Curt Schilling.

Turns out the one-time hurler-turned-failed businessman can be found posting almost daily updates on his fictitious "Chicago Iron Pigs" over at the Out of the Park Forums. And, yes, that really is him posting as Gehrig38.

Hall contributor E takes a look at another example of where Schilling's on field world and online obsessions collide.

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I think every Hall of Very Good visitor is familiar with Curt Schilling, as his career and stats perfectly meet the criteria for enshrinement as a "Very Good" player. And, based upon his 38% showing in the voting for that other “Hall" a few weeks ago, the HOVG may be the only Hall that will have him.

While you're all well aware of Schilling’s on-the-field career, some of you might not be as familiar with his off-the-field one. And, based upon recent events, the two appear to be coming together in a most unpleasant way. Let’s travel back in time a couple of years and catch up on how Schilling decided to spend his retirement.

One of the things that Schilling was known for throughout his career was his love of MMORGing. (I don’t actually believe anyone knew that, but sometimes hyperbole or outright lies make for the best segues.) And, much as anyone else would do when he has a lot of money and suddenly nothing to do, he decided the best way to spend his retirement and career savings was to develop and release an MMORG that had nothing to do with baseball, and founded 38 Studios (get it? after his uniform number?) to do so.

Because developing a video game is a massive monetary undertaking, 38 Studios took out a $75 million loan from the State of Rhode Island, with the promise of bringing new jobs to the state. This enabled 38 Studios to produce and release its debut/final game, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning last year.

And, this being a non-sports endeavor by a former player, it turned out to be a smashing success, right? Of course it wasn’t.

The game was a critical and financial flop, selling an estimated 400,000-plus copies in the United States. By comparison, COD: Black Ops 2 has sold nearly 10 million copies in the U.S. That’s not a flop. This contributed to 38 Studios defaulting on its loan and led the company to file for bankruptcy, hanging a $75 million IOU around Curt Schilling’s neck.

Late last year, Rhode Island filed suit against Schilling and 38 Studios, seeking to collect on that IOU.  And this is where the Curt’s two worlds collide.

The defining moment of Schilling’s baseball career was leading the Boston Red Sox to victory in the 2004 World Series.  You'll recall, the pitcher played with a bum ankle that wept blood into his socks. The "bloody sock" was talked about more than the broken "Curse of the Bambino". 

The sock was such a memorable representation of the Series that it was promptly enshrined in the Hall of Fame. At least it was until Curt needed money.

He has removed the sock from the HOF and is putting his sock from Game Two of the World Series up for sale in order to pay down some of the incredible debt that his disastrous foray into computer gaming has incurred.

And it’s not just a sale to a private buyer; it’s a public auction that anyone who wants to own a filthy tube sock can bid on (you can check out Heritage Auctions’ listing HERE). Heritage's press releases claim they expect to fetch at least $100,000 for the sock, and, considering they sold the infamous Bill Buckner ball for over $400,000, this particular piece of Red Sox memorabilia may achieve a decent price.

Not that it will matter. Even if some sock fetishist pays $1 million for this particular piece of biohazard, that’s still $74 million Schilling will have to come up with. That’s a lot of socks.

At least Schilling won't have to be bummed out anymore that his blood, sweat and athlete’s foot spent more time in the Hall of Fame than he ever will.

Cooperstown 2013: Curt Schilling

CURT SCHILLING
First Year on Ballot

PLAYING CAREER:
Baltimore Orioles (1988-1990), Houston Astros (1991), Philadelphia Phillies (1992-2000), Arizona Diamondbacks (2000-2003) and Boston Red Sox (2004-2007)

ACHIEVEMENTS:
Career record of 216-146 (.597 winning percentage) with an ERA of 3.46 and 3116 strikeouts. Three 20-win seasons, nine seasons with 200-plus innings pitched, five seasons with 200 or more strikeouts...three times with more than 300. Three-time World Series champion (2001, 2004 and 2007) and six-time All-Star selection (1997-1999, 2001-2002 and 2004). Owns a postseason record of 11-2...good for a .846 winning percentage.

CASE FOR/AGAINST:
In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, few pitchers were as consistent as Curt Schilling. He led his league in strikeouts twice (1997 an 1998) and in wins (2001 and 2004). He was efficient, leading his league in K/BB ratio five times in six years (2001-2004 and 2006). Plus, he was very durable, leading the league in starts three times (1997, 1998 and 2001) and in complete games four times (1996, 1998, 2000 and 2001).

Schilling also had good numbers in modern statistics, having the second best WAR for pitchers twice, and the third best WAR for pitchers one other time. He was runner up for the Cy Young Award three times, an All-Star six times and Co-World Series MVP for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001. In fact, he appeared in the World Series four times, winning three rings.

While he was consistent, he never quite went to a full elite status. Other than leading the league in wins a couple of times, his only other “major” time leading a season in a stat was strikeouts once. Even with the Diamondbacks, he was second fiddle to Randy Johnson, runner-upping to him as Cy Young and sharing a World Series MVP award. Outside of the stats, Schilling was never a popular player. He routinely criticized fellow players, once attacked a QuesTec camera with a bat and often fought with the media. While these incidents would rarely affect voting, this year the character clause is in sharp focus under the steroid cloud, with Schilling himself saying alleged steroid users shouldn’t be in the Hall. To that end, Schilling himself doesn’t consider himself Hall-worthy.

Now, the “Intangibles”. Three words…The Bloody Sock. It’ll be hard to not think of Schilling from the injured ankle and the very visible evidence in the 2004 ALCS. The very literal Red Sock is the most memorable part of the Boston Red Sox finally winning a World Series. It was most definitely a Hall of Fame moment and the sock itself is already there. It’s likely the man himself will be there eventually as well.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kevin J. Cunningham is the writer for the webcomic Lunatic Fringe about the San Francisco Giants and their fans, which is drawn by Rog Hernandez. He's also a novelist whose first novel that has nothing to do with baseball, To Hell With Fate, is currently available at all major ebook stores. The comic can be found at www.sflunaticfringe.com, and can be found at Facebook at www.facebook.com/sflunaticfringe, followed at Twitter at @sflunaticfringe, and can even be found on Google+.

Countdown to Cooperstown: Class of 2013

Back in January, I was less than shocked that Barry Larkin made the leap from 62.1% to Hall of Famer, but as we all know...this weekend's induction is just the calm before the storm.

So far, the BBWAA has taken a pretty harsh stance against those that have used or been suspected of using steroids.  And with all due respect to Mark McGwire (who can't get more than 23.7% of the vote) and Rafael Palmeiro (12.6% this past voting cycle), this coming January is when we'll see where the line in the sand is drawn.

You see, in 2013, it is possible that three of the game's greats might be left out in that Cooperstown cold. But here’s the rub…as of now, none of them have been found guilty of using any banned substances.

Here are the players that will be appearing on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time in 2013.

NOPE (regardless of what they did “before they started using steroids”).

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa.

IN.

Craig Biggio.
To the casual fan…the words “Craig Biggio” are synonymous with “consistency”. And it’s true, the dude was…to the tune of 3060 hits, 668 doubles (good for fifth all-time) and a career .281 batting average. His seven All-Star appearances, five Silver Slugger Awards and four Gold Gloves pale in comparison to one of his greatest/oddest achievements…the 285 times (two shy of the record) he was hit by a pitch.

Mike Piazza.
A number of years ago, rumors started swirling that the 1993 National League Rookie of the Year was a user of PEDs. Fortunately for the 12 time All-Star, the idiom “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” has (seemingly) not been fully investigated, but it's probably safe to say Piazza is going to suffer the same "but he might've done steroids" fate as Jeff Bagwell. As it is, the catcher finished his career with a bloated .308 career batting average, nine straight seasons with an average of .300 of higher, 427 home runs, including eight straight seasons with 30 or more and 1335 RBI. Not bad for a guy who was taken as a favor in the 62nd round of the draft.

OUT (in random order).

David Wells.
“Boomer” finished his career with a 239-157 record and 13 seasons with ten or more wins. Add to that his perfect game, two World Series rings and three All-Star appearances and you have a very, very good pitcher…but not a Hall of Famer.
Roberto Hernandez and Jose Mesa.
Easily confused as the same dude, Hernandez had 326 saves (12th all-time) and Mesa notched 321 (13th all-time). Hernandez is 12th all-time in games played with 1010, while Mesa is tied with Lee Smith with 1022…ninth all-time.

Mike Stanton.
After Jesse Orosco, Stanton is second on the all-time games pitched list with 1178.

Steve Finley, Shawn Green, Jeff Cirillo, Jose Valentin, Reggie Sanders, Jeff Conine, Royce Clayton, Bob Wickman, Ryan Klesko, Aaron Sele, Woody Williams, Rondell White, Mike Lieberthal, Tony Batista, Sandy Alomar Jr., Damian Miller and Todd Walker.

 ON THE BUBBLE.

Curt Schilling.
When he finally hung up his bloody sock and called it quits, plenty of people were already willing to hang up Schilling’s plaque and his recent business failure aside...they still are. Sure, his post-season performances are legendary, but his overall body of work was just very, very good. Sure, he won close to 60 percent of his decisions and won 216 games. Sure, he topped 3000 strikeouts with 3116, but did you know that he finished his career second all-time with a 4.38 strikeout to walk ratio? Yeah…me neither.

Kenny Lofton.
Ask anyone if Lofton is a Hall of Famer and they would say (without hesitation) “no”. And they’d probably be right. However, if you compare his stats to “could be HOFer” Tim Raines, they stack up. Raines has 2605 hits, carries a .294 career average and scored 1571 runs. Lofton finished his career with 2428 hits, a .299 average and 1528 runs. Throw in six straight All-Star appearances and four straight Gold Gloves and the case for Lofton looks halfway decent.

Julio Franco.
I always take a lot of flack for saying Franco is "on the bubble" but this is how I would vote...not the BBWAA and not the SABR community. I put him here for the simple reason that he was his generation’s Satchel Paige. If you believe what he told you…he played until he was 48. Some folks suggest that Franco was older. Dude holds the distinction of being the oldest player ever to hit a grand slam, pinch-hit home run, two home runs in one game and to steal two bases in a game. And goofy stuff like that means something to me.  Also, throughout his career, he has more than 4200 hits joining Ty Cobb and Pete Rose as the only three to surpass 4000. The breakdown: Major League Baseball-2586, Minor Leagues-618, Mexican League-316, Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball-286, Dominican Winter League-267 and South Korea's Korean Baseball Organization-156. Not too shabby!

Friday, we'll take a fresh look at the first time guys on the 2017 ballot. Until then...you can enjoy a week of re-hashes.

Looking Ahead to the Class of 2013

I've made the joke for a while now that when the Class of 2013 gets enshrined, The Baseball Hall of Fame might just explode.

A year from now...we'll know for sure.

The BBWAA has taken a pretty harsh stance against those that have used or been suspected of using steroids.  And with all due respect to Mark McGwire (who can't seem to get more than 23.7% of the vote) and Rafael Palmeiro (12.6% this past voting cycle), 2013 is when we'll see where the line in the sand is drawn.

You see, in 2013, it is possible that three of the best players to ever suit up in the modern era and take the field might be left out in that Cooperstown cold. But here’s the rub…as of now, none of them have been found guilty of using any banned substances.

NOPE (regardless of what they did “before they started using steroids”).

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa.

IN.

Craig Biggio.
To the casual fan…the words “Craig Biggio” are synonymous with “consistency”. And it’s true, the dude was…to the tune of 3060 hits, 668 doubles (good for fifth all-time) and a career .281 batting average. His seven All-Star appearances, five Silver Slugger Awards and four Gold Gloves pale in comparison to one of his greatest/oddest achievements…the 285 times (two shy of the record) he was hit by a pitch.

Mike Piazza.
A little while back, rumors started swirling that the 1993 National League Rookie of the Year was a user of PEDs. Fortunately for the 12 time All-Star, the idiom “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” has (seemingly) not been fully investigated. As it is, Piazza finished his career with a bloated .308 career batting average, nine straight seasons with an average of .300 of higher, 427 home runs, including eight straight seasons with 30 or more and 1335 RBI. Not bad for a guy who was taken as a favor in the 62nd round of the draft.

OUT (in random order).

David Wells.
“Boomer” finished his career with a 239-157 record and 13 seasons with ten or more wins. Add to that his perfect game, two World Series rings and three All-Star appearances and you have a very, very good pitcher…but not a Hall of Famer.


Roberto Hernandez and Jose Mesa.
Easily confused as the same dude, Hernandez had 326 saves (12th all-time) and Mesa notched 321 (13th all-time). Hernandez is 12th all-time in games played with 1010, while Mesa is tied with Lee Smith with 1022…ninth all-time.

Mike Stanton.
After Jesse Orosco, Stanton is second on the all-time games pitched list with 1178.  Gotta mean something to someone though, right?  Maybe?!?

Steve Finley, Shawn Green, Jeff Cirillo, Jose Valentin, Reggie Sanders, Jeff Conine, Royce Clayton, Bob Wickman, Ryan Klesko, Aaron Sele, Woody Williams, Rondell White, Mike Lieberthal, Tony Batista, Sandy Alomar Jr., Damian Miller and Todd Walker.

ON THE BUBBLE.

Curt Schilling.
When he finally hung up his bloody sock and called it quits, plenty of people were already willing to hang up Schilling’s plaque. Sure, his post-season performances are legendary, but his overall body of work was just very, very good. Sure, he won close to 60 percent of his decisions and won 216 games. Sure, he topped 3000 strikeouts with 3116, but did you know that he finished his career second all-time with a 4.38 strikeout to walk ratio? Yeah…me neither.

Kenny Lofton.
Ask anyone if Lofton is a Hall of Famer and they would say (without hesitation) “no”. And they’d probably be right. However, if you compare his stats to “could be HOFer” Tim Raines, they stack up. Raines has 2605 hits, carries a .294 career average and scored 1571 runs. Lofton finished his career with 2428 hits, a .299 average and 1528 runs. Throw in six straight All-Star appearances and four straight Gold Gloves and the case for Lofton looks halfway decent.

Julio Franco.
I've taken a lot of flack for saying Franco is "on the bubble" but this is how I would vote...not the BBWAA and not the SABR community. I put him here for the simple reason that he was his generation’s Satchel Paige. If you believe what he told you…he played until he was 48. Some folks suggest that Franco was older. Dude holds the distinction of being the oldest player ever to hit a grand slam, pinch-hit home run, two home runs in one game and to steal two bases in a game. And goofy stuff like that means something to me.  Also, throughout his career, he has more than 4200 hits joining Ty Cobb and Pete Rose as the only three to surpass 4000. The breakdown: Major League Baseball-2586, Minor Leagues-618, Mexican League-316, Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball-286, Dominican Winter League-267 and South Korea's Korean Baseball Organization-156. Not too shabby!

It's going to be a fun 12 months, gang!

Countdown to Cooperstown: Class of 2013

I've made the joke for a while now that when the Class of 2013 gets enshrined, The Baseball Hall of Fame might just explode.

Soon we'll know for sure.

The BBWAA has taken a pretty harsh stance against those that have used or been suspected of using steroids.  And with all due respect to Mark McGwire (who can't get more than 23.7% of the vote) and Rafael Palmeiro (11% this past voting cycle), 2013 is when we'll see where the line in the sand is drawn.

You see, in 2013, it is possible that three of the best players to ever suit up and take the field might be left out in that Cooperstown cold. But here’s the rub…as of now, none of them have been found guilty of using any banned substances.

NOPE (regardless of what they did “before they started using steroids”).

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa.

IN.

Craig Biggio.
To the casual fan…the words “Craig Biggio” are synonymous with “consistency”. And it’s true, the dude was…to the tune of 3060 hits, 668 doubles (good for fifth all-time) and a career .281 batting average. His seven All-Star appearances, five Silver Slugger Awards and four Gold Gloves pale in comparison to one of his greatest/oddest achievements…the 285 times (two shy of the record) he was hit by a pitch.

Mike Piazza.
A little while back, rumors started swirling that the 1993 National League Rookie of the Year was a user of PEDs. Fortunately for the 12 time All-Star, the idiom “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” has (seemingly) not been fully investigated. As it is, Piazza finished his career with a bloated .308 career batting average, nine straight seasons with an average of .300 of higher, 427 home runs, including eight straight seasons with 30 or more and 1335 RBI. Not bad for a guy who was taken as a favor in the 62nd round of the draft.

OUT (in random order).

David Wells.
“Boomer” finished his career with a 239-157 record and 13 seasons with ten or more wins. Add to that his perfect game, two World Series rings and three All-Star appearances and you have a very, very good pitcher…but not a Hall of Famer.


Roberto Hernandez and Jose Mesa.
Easily confused as the same dude, Hernandez had 326 saves (12th all-time) and Mesa notched 321 (13th all-time). Hernandez is 12th all-time in games played with 1010, while Mesa is tied with Lee Smith with 1022…ninth all-time.

Mike Stanton.
After Jesse Orosco, Stanton is second on the all-time games pitched list with 1178.

Steve Finley, Shawn Green, Jeff Cirillo, Jose Valentin, Reggie Sanders, Jeff Conine, Royce Clayton, Bob Wickman, Ryan Klesko, Aaron Sele, Woody Williams, Rondell White, Mike Lieberthal, Tony Batista, Sandy Alomar Jr., Damian Miller and Todd Walker.

ON THE BUBBLE.

Curt Schilling.
When he finally hung up his bloody sock and called it quits, plenty of people were already willing to hang up Schilling’s plaque. Sure, his post-season performances are legendary, but his overall body of work was just very, very good. Sure, he won close to 60 percent of his decisions and won 216 games. Sure, he topped 3000 strikeouts with 3116, but did you know that he finished his career second all-time with a 4.38 strikeout to walk ratio? Yeah…me neither.

Kenny Lofton.
Ask anyone if Lofton is a Hall of Famer and they would say (without hesitation) “no”. And they’d probably be right. However, if you compare his stats to “could be HOFer” Tim Raines, they stack up. Raines has 2605 hits, carries a .294 career average and scored 1571 runs. Lofton finished his career with 2428 hits, a .299 average and 1528 runs. Throw in six straight All-Star appearances and four straight Gold Gloves and the case for Lofton looks halfway decent.

Julio Franco.
I've taken a lot of flack for saying Franco is "on the bubble" but this is how I would vote...not the BBWAA and not the SABR community. I put him here for the simple reason that he was his generation’s Satchel Paige. If you believe what he told you…he played until he was 48. Some folks suggest that Franco was older. Dude holds the distinction of being the oldest player ever to hit a grand slam, pinch-hit home run, two home runs in one game and to steal two bases in a game. And goofy stuff like that means something to me.  Also, throughout his career, he has more than 4200 hits joining Ty Cobb and Pete Rose as the only three to surpass 4000. The breakdown: Major League Baseball-2586, Minor Leagues-618, Mexican League-316, Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball-286, Dominican Winter League-267 and South Korea's Korean Baseball Organization-156. Not too shabby!

Friday, we'll take a fresh look at the first time guys on the 2016 ballot. Until then...you can check out the re-hash of the 2012 first ballot nominees HERE.

The Hall of Fame Class of 2013

This past January, the BBWAA once again tried to draw a line in the sand regarding NOT voting someone in who has been linked to PEDs by rewarding Mark McGwire with less than a quarter of their vote.

In 2011, they’ll get their chance to blackball someone who was found guilty in the form of Rafael Palmeiro.

And in 2013, it is possible that three of the best players to ever suit up and take the field might be left out in that Cooperstown cold. But here’s the rub…as of now, none of them have been found guilty of using any banned substances.

NOPE (regardless of what they did “before they started using steroids”).

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa.

IN.

Craig Biggio.
To the casual fan…the words “Craig Biggio” are synonymous with “consistency”. And it’s true, the dude was…to the tune of 3060 hits, 668 doubles (good for fifth all-time) and a career .281 batting average. His seven All-Star appearances, five Silver Slugger Awards and four Gold Gloves pale in comparison to one of his greatest/oddest achievements…the 285 times (two shy of the record) he was hit by a pitch.

Mike Piazza.
A little while back, rumors started swirling that the 1993 National League Rookie of the Year was a user of PEDs. Fortunately for the 12 time All-Star, the idiom “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” has (seemingly) not been fully investigated. As it is, Piazza finished his career with a bloated .308 career batting average, nine straight seasons with an average of .300 of higher, 427 home runs, including eight straight seasons with 30 or more and 1335 RBI. Not bad for a guy who was taken as a favor in the 62nd round of the draft.

OUT (in random order).

David Wells.
“Boomer” finished his career with a 239-157 record and 13 seasons with ten or more wins. Add to that his perfect game, two World Series rings and three All-Star appearances and you have a very, very good pitcher…but not a Hall of Famer.

Roberto Hernandez and Jose Mesa.
Easily confused as the same dude, Hernandez had 326 saves (12th all-time) and Mesa notched 321 (13th all-time). Hernandez is 12th all-time in games played with 1010, while Mesa is tied with Lee Smith with 1022…ninth all-time.

Mike Stanton.
After Jesse Orosco, Stanton is second on the all-time games pitched list with 1178.

Steve Finley, Shawn Green, Jeff Cirillo, Jose Valentin, Reggie Sanders, Jeff Conine, Royce Clayton, Bob Wickman, Ryan Klesko, Aaron Sele, Woody Williams, Rondell White, Mike Lieberthal, Tony Batista, Sandy Alomar Jr., Damian Miller and Todd Walker.

ON THE BUBBLE.

Curt Schilling.
When he finally hung up his bloody sock and called it quits, plenty of people were already willing to hang up Schilling’s plaque. Sure, his post-season performances are legendary, but his overall body of work was just very, very good. Sure, he won close to 60 percent of his decisions and won 216 games. Sure, he topped 3000 strikeouts with 3116, but did you know that he finished his career second all-time with a 4.38 strikeout to walk ratio? Yeah…me neither.

Kenny Lofton.
Ask anyone if Lofton is a Hall of Famer and they would say (without hesitation) “no”. And they’d probably be right. However, if you compare his stats to “could be HOFer” Tim Raines, they stack up. Raines has 2605 hits, carries a .294 career average and scored 1571 runs. Lofton finished his career with 2428 hits, a .299 average and 1528 runs. Throw in six straight All-Star appearances and four straight Gold Gloves and the case for Lofton looks halfway decent.

Julio Franco.
Franco is on the bubble for the simple reason that he was his generation’s Satchel Paige. If you believe what he told you…he played until he was 48. Some folks suggest that Franco was older though. He holds the distinction of being the oldest player ever to hit a grand slam, pinch-hit home run, two home runs in one game and to steal two bases in a game. But this is why I like Franco and why he is “on the bubble”…combined, throughout his career, he has more than 4200 hits joining Ty Cobb and Pete Rose as the only three to surpass 4000. The breakdown: Major League Baseball-2586, Minor Leagues-618, Mexican League-316, Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball-286, Dominican Winter League-267 and South Korea's Korean Baseball Organization-156. Not too shabby!

Tomorrow marks the end of the re-hashes...but feel free to check out 2011 and 2012 while you wait. Friday, sit back and relax as a fresh 2015 hits the site.

The Hall of Fame Class of 2013

The BBWAA have tried to draw a line in the sand regarding NOT voting someone in who has been linked to PEDs by not giving Mark McGwire more than a quarter of their vote.

In 2011, they’ll get their chance to blackball someone who was found guilty in the form of Rafael Palmeiro.

In 2013, it is possible that three of the best players to ever suit up and take the field might be left out in that Cooperstown cold. But here’s the rub…as of now, none of them have been found guilty of using any banned substances.

NOPE (regardless of what they did “before they started using steroids”).

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa.

IN.

Craig Biggio.
To the casual fan…the words “Craig Biggio” are synonymous with “consistency”. And it’s true, the dude was…to the tune of 3060 hits, 668 doubles (good for fifth all-time) and a career .281 batting average. His seven All-Star appearances, five Silver Slugger Awards and four Gold Gloves pale in comparison to one of his greatest/oddest achievements…the 285 times (two shy of the record) he was hit by a pitch.

Mike Piazza.
Earlier this year, rumors started swirling that the 1993 National League Rookie of the Year was a user of PEDs. Fortunately for the 12 time All-Star, the idiom “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” has (seemingly) not been fully investigated. As it is, Piazza finished his career with a bloated .308 career batting average, nine straight seasons with an average of .300 of higher, 427 home runs, including eight straight seasons with 30 or more and 1335 RBI. Not bad for a guy who was taken as a favor in the 62nd round of the draft.

OUT (in random order).

David Wells.
“Boomer” finished his career with a 239-157 record and 13 seasons with ten or more wins. Add to that his perfect game, two World Series rings and three All-Star appearances and you have a very, very good pitcher…but not a Hall of Famer.

Roberto Hernandez and Jose Mesa.
Easily confused as the same dude, Hernandez had 326 saves (12th all-time) and Mesa notched 321 (13th all-time). Hernandez is 11th all-time in games played with 1010, while Mesa is tied with Lee Smith with 1022…ninth all-time.

Mike Stanton.
After Jesse Orosco, Stanton is second on the all-time games pitched list with 1178.

Steve Finley, Shawn Green, Jeff Cirillo, Jose Valentin, Reggie Sanders, Jeff Conine, Royce Clayton, Bob Wickman, Ryan Klesko, Aaron Sele, Woody Williams, Rondell White, Mike Lieberthal, Tony Batista, Sandy Alomar Jr., Damian Miller and Todd Walker.

ON THE BUBBLE.

Curt Schilling.
When he finally hung up his bloody sock and called it quits, plenty of people were already willing to hang up Schilling’s plaque. Sure, his post-season performances are legendary, but his overall body of work was just very, very good. Sure, he won close to 60 percent of his decisions and won 216 games. Sure, he topped 3000 strikeouts with 3116, but did you know that he finished his career second all-time with a 4.38 strikeout to walk ratio? Yeah…me neither.

Kenny Lofton.
Ask anyone if Lofton is a Hall of Famer and they would say (without hesitation) “no”. And they’d probably be right. However, if you compare his stats to “could be HOFer” Tim Raines, they stack up. Raines has 2605 hits, carries a .294 career average and scored 1571 runs. Lofton finished his career with 2428 hits, a .299 average and 1528 runs. Throw in six straight All-Star appearances and four straight Gold Gloves and the case for Lofton looks halfway decent.

Julio Franco.
Franco is on the bubble for the simple reason that he was his generation’s Satchel Paige. If you believe what he told you…he played until he was 48. Some folks suggest that Franco was older though. He holds the distinction of being the oldest player ever to hit a grand slam, pinch-hit home run, two home runs in one game and to steal two bases in a game. But this is why I like Franco and why he is “on the bubble”…combined, throughout his career, he has more than 4200 hits joining Ty Cobb and Pete Rose. The breakdown: Major League Baseball-2586, Minor Leagues-618, Mexican League-316, Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball-286, Dominican Winter League-267 and South Korea's Korean Baseball Organization-156. Not too shabby!

Tomorrow marks the end of this preview fest, but if you want to check out the look ahead to 2010, 2011 or 2012…be my guest. Also tomorrow at 12:00pm CST, watch out for a Hall-worthy Q&A with a former player who has quite the history with one of two men being inducted Saturday.

"Zero regrets"...Schilling officially done

"This party has officially ended. After being blessed to experience 23 years of playing professional baseball in front of the world's best fans in so many different places, it is with zero regrets that I am making my retirement official."

THAT is what greeted Red Sox Nation when they logged on to Curt Schilling's website this morning.

When I read last June that Schill's rehab had reached a "plateau"...I was optimistic. I mean, here's a guy who seemingly has looked career ending injuries in the face and much like how he treated the 2001 (or 2004 for that matter) Yankees, did what he always has done...he threw the ball.

Hard.

Schilling has met nearly every challenge put in front of him and I had no reason to think that this one would be any different. I wrote the following in October 2007...PRIOR to Game Two of the Red Sox-Rockies game.

Curt Schilling was scheduled to take the bump. Prior to the 2004 season, Schill was brought in to do EXACTLY what Josh Beckett was brought in to do a couple years later. HOWEVER…the media, for some reason, was pretty much writing him off. Apparently his blood soaked star had fallen.

Memo to newswriters...Schilling was Josh Beckett BEFORE Beckett was Beckett.

He was the NLCS MVP in 1993 with the Philadelphia Phillies. Almost ten years later (in 2001), he followed it up by being named the World Series Co-MVP alongside Randy Johnson. I won’t even mention the “bloody sock” (maybe) or his postseason winning percentage.

Curt is good…DAMN good.

That being said, is he Hall of Fame good?

My buddy E talks about the “smell test”. Does a player pass the Hall of Fame smell test? If so, you look deeper and see whether or not he is worthy. EXAMPLE: a guy like Tim Raines smelled like a Hall of Famer at one point…now he smells of Kenny Lofton. Since we’re talking lead off hitters (for some reason) a Rickey Henderson smells like fine wine aged to perfection.

That being said…Schilling smells like a rose.

216 victories, 3116 strikeouts, FOUR top five finishes in the Cy Young voting, six All-Star games…not too shabby for a kid out of Anchorage, Alaska. When it comes to his strikeout to walk ratio…only one pitcher was better and he last toed the rubber in 1884. He died, ironically enough, in Boston.

All that said…if you look closer, Schilling, like Raines, doesn’t smell as good as you would initially think.

True, his postseason stats are phenomenal…but you can’t induct him on that alone. Sure, they warrant mention, but induction based SOLELY on that…um, no. If so…open the doors to Bernie Williams, Cooperstown!

216 wins, while impressive, only ranks him eighth among all active pitchers. Four of the seven ahead of him on the list (Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Randy Johnson) are WAY ahead and certain Hall of Famers. The other three (Mike Mussina, David Wells and Jamie Moyer) couldn’t pass the “smell test” if they carried Pedro Martinez around in a headlock.

Add to the 216 wins that Schilling’s win percentage is .597 and you’ve got, over the span of his career, a very good pitcher…not a great one.

Strikeouts. Schilling’s four years of 290-plus Ks are crazy good. Of the 13 pitchers with MORE than Schilling’s 3116, only Bert Blyleven is not in the Hall, while Unit, Clemens and Maddux will surely go in when the time comes. Consider that 1228 of his strikeouts came in the afore mentioned four 290-plus years, and that he’s only got ONE 200 K season outside of that…the 3116 seems kinda suspect.

What I’m saying is this…give me 12 to 15 years of 200 or more strikeouts and I’d be MORE impressed than Curt’s five years of 200-plus scattered over a twenty year span.

I liken to Schilling to Sandy Koufax…kinda. Both of their legend has been based on a handful of select years. Koufax, however, did his in consecutive years at the end of his career before he fell victim to an arthritic wing.

Schilling spread his out over a couple of decades.

He was a stud in 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2004 (an 83-30 record and 1031 Ks)…but that was about it. You COULD make an argument that outside of the win/loss record (8-9), Schilling was on his way to a GREAT 2003 season before he got injured...which happened WAY too often.

Curt was, undoubtedly, MUCH better over the second half of his career compared to the first. Hell, he’d even agree to that and he doesn’t like ANY of the unfavorable press he gets!

Koufax, over his last four seasons, notched a 97-27 record and 1228 strikeouts. So, yeah, not EXACTLY the same, but Sandy had nearly 200 more innings pitched than Curt.

Watching Curt Schilling work, he carries himself like a sure-bet Hall of Famer who is winding down a great career…but so did Jack Morris. Putting him into perspective, he starts to come across like many of the pitchers that have made it into the Hall over the last 20 years…he’s a guy with some longevity, a handful of years of greatness and some postseason success. And that's not a TERRIBLE thing...just ask Don Sutton, Phil Niekro or Gaylord Perry.

Arguably, he wasn’t always the best pitcher on his staff and only a few times would he have been considered one of the most dominant pitchers in the league. He never brought home the hardware that Cooperstown LOVES to look at (a la Robin Yount’s TWO MVP awards), but he was solid. He has a respectable ERA (3.46) a couple of World Series rings and is a great character.

First ballot guy? Probably not. He’ll be competing with the likes of fellow fireballer Clemens as far as starting pitchers go. Take into account that there will be a slew of position players (Barry Bonds, Craig Biggio, Sammy Sosa and Mike Piazza) also vying for their enshrinement and it might take Schilling a while to get through the doors.

Let me know what you think…how does Schilling smell? Does he pass the test or just get tossed aside like some bloody, old sweatsock?!?