Entertainment Weekend: Writer’s Baseball Hall Of Fame Announcement Coming

The writers should not even be the voters as there is a blatant conflict of interest.

The people who vote on whether a former player belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown have multiple problems this year. It is not just about whether a player like Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens allegedly used performance enhancing drugs. It is about Curt Schilling and his highly politically charged social media posts and that could make for a very polarizing induction ceremony, something that the Hall of Fame officials and central New York State visitors bureaus may not want if Schilling gets in. Giving Schilling a Hall of Fame plaque could prompt a small but significant boycott of the induction ceremony. Central New York state needs the tourist money. Schilling doesn’t even want the honor. He wanted to be taken off this year’s ballot.

The voters are members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. a group given that authority by the people who run the Cooperstown museum. Whether baseball writers should vote for a high honor on the subject or individual they have covered in which the honoree could financially benefit is a journalistic integrity question for another day. But Hall of Fame officials don’t care about that. Integrity is supposed to be part of the consideration for a Hall of Fame vote. Schilling was fired by ESPN as a baseball analyst in 2016. ESPN said one Schilling Facebook post insulted the transgender community. Schilling was barred from ESPN’s Little League World Series coverage in 2015 because of a social media post. He also feuded with teammates, management and reporters during his baseball career. Schilling has Hall of Fame credentials, but there is Rule 5 the election criteria. Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played. Does Schilling have an integrity and character problem? It’s a voter’s decision.

Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191