I-70 Baseball Exclusives Cooperstown Choices 2013

Cooperstown Choices: Curt Schilling

Bill Ivie

With the Hall Of Fame election announcement coming on January 9, 2013, it is time to review the ballot, go over the names, and decide who belongs in the Hall Of Fame.

There are twenty four men on the ballot for the first time this year and we will take a look at each one individually prior to official announcements. You can find all of the profiles in the I-70 Baseball Exclusives: Cooperstown Choices 2013 menu at the top of the page.

In this article, we take a look at Curt Schilling

 

Curt Schilling
The epitome of the term “big game pitcher”, Curt Schilling was the pitcher that helped the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Boston Red Sox to World Championships.  His 20 year career was highlighted with six all star appearances and finished second in the Cy Young Award voting three times.  He also finished in the top 15 of the Most Valuable Player voting four times in his career.

Year Tm W L ERA G GS CG SHO IP H R ER BB SO ERA+ SO/9
1988 BAL 0 3 9.82 4 4 0 0 14.2 22 19 16 10 4 41 2.5
1989 BAL 0 1 6.23 5 1 0 0 8.2 10 6 6 3 6 63 6.2
1990 BAL 1 2 2.54 35 0 0 0 46.0 38 13 13 19 32 151 6.3
1991 HOU 3 5 3.81 56 0 0 0 75.2 79 35 32 39 71 92 8.4
1992 PHI 14 11 2.35 42 26 10 4 226.1 165 67 59 59 147 150 5.8
1993 PHI 16 7 4.02 34 34 7 2 235.1 234 114 105 57 186 99 7.1
1994 PHI 2 8 4.48 13 13 1 0 82.1 87 42 41 28 58 96 6.3
1995 PHI 7 5 3.57 17 17 1 0 116.0 96 52 46 26 114 118 8.8
1996 PHI 9 10 3.19 26 26 8 2 183.1 149 69 65 50 182 134 8.9
1997 PHI 17 11 2.97 35 35 7 2 254.1 208 96 84 58 319 143 11.3
1998 PHI 15 14 3.25 35 35 15 2 268.2 236 101 97 61 300 134 10.0
1999 PHI 15 6 3.54 24 24 8 1 180.1 159 74 71 44 152 136 7.6
2000 TOT 11 12 3.81 29 29 8 2 210.1 204 90 89 45 168 124 7.2
2000 PHI 6 6 3.91 16 16 4 1 112.2 110 49 49 32 96 120 7.7
2000 ARI 5 6 3.69 13 13 4 1 97.2 94 41 40 13 72 130 6.6
2001 ARI 22 6 2.98 35 35 6 1 256.2 237 86 85 39 293 157 10.3
2002 ARI 23 7 3.23 36 35 5 1 259.1 218 95 93 33 316 140 11.0
2003 ARI 8 9 2.95 24 24 3 2 168.0 144 58 55 32 194 159 10.4
2004 BOS 21 6 3.26 32 32 3 0 226.2 206 84 82 35 203 148 8.1
2005 BOS 8 8 5.69 32 11 0 0 93.1 121 59 59 22 87 80 8.4
2006 BOS 15 7 3.97 31 31 0 0 204.0 220 90 90 28 183 120 8.1
2007 BOS 9 8 3.87 24 24 1 1 151.0 165 68 65 23 101 123 6.0
20 Yrs 216 146 3.46 569 436 83 20 3261.0 2998 1318 1253 711 3116 127 8.6
162 Game Avg. 15 10 3.46 38 30 6 1 221 203 89 85 48 211 127 8.6
W L ERA G GS CG SHO IP H R ER BB SO ERA+ SO/9
PHI (9 yrs) 101 78 3.35 242 226 61 14 1659.1 1444 664 617 415 1554 126 8.4
ARI (4 yrs) 58 28 3.14 108 107 18 5 781.2 693 280 273 117 875 148 10.1
BOS (4 yrs) 53 29 3.95 119 98 4 1 675.0 712 301 296 108 574 120 7.7
BAL (3 yrs) 1 6 4.54 44 5 0 0 69.1 70 38 35 32 42 85 5.5
HOU (1 yr) 3 5 3.81 56 0 0 0 75.2 79 35 32 39 71 92 8.4
NL (13 yrs) 162 111 3.30 406 333 79 19 2516.2 2216 979 922 571 2500 131 8.9
AL (7 yrs) 54 35 4.00 163 103 4 1 744.1 782 339 331 140 616 117 7.4
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/12/2012.

Why He Should Get In
Schilling’s case is one that is defined by his performance in big games and the postseason.  While most of his regular season stats put him as a borderline hall of famer, his postseason numbers are seldom rivaled.  With a 11-2 record, a 2.23 earned run average, an average of over 7 innings per start, a WHIP below one and a strikeout per nine innings over eight, his postseason prowess will have many clamoring for his induction based on the postseason alone.

Why He Should Not Get In
Yes, he was a huge pitcher in the postseason and had monumental success on the biggest stage.  That being said, he does not have the hardware to back up his claim to Cooperstown.  Finishing second multiple times for the Cy Young Award simply makes him the second best pitcher during those seasons.  According to Baseball-Reference, he ranks as a slighly above the average hall of fame pitcher (according to the Jaffe WAR Score System).  However, advanced statistics have yet to play a large influence on hall of fame voters.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball
Follow him on Twitter here.

One thought on “Cooperstown Choices: Curt Schilling”

  1. Pingback: Cooperstown Choices: A Look At The Ballot | I-70 Baseball

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