Never Too Early to Check:

[gunboat82]

Originally Posted by Mike D.

Yes, Schilling is a world-class knob, but to date that's not been enough to keep anyone else out of the Hall of Fame (it's PED's, gambling, and domestic abuse to date). He should have been voted in by the writers.

With the committees, who knows when he'll get on a ballot (could be as early as next year) and when he does, who he'll be on with and will he get elected.

Sabathia and Schilling did overlap by a few years, but Schilling's debut was 13 years before Sabathia, making them sort of a different generation of pitchers. Going forward, what a Hall of Fame starting pitcher looks like is going to be really hard to figure out!

I think both Kent and Utley belong. Not sure why Kent didn't get that much love on the ballot.

Kent also had a reputation for being a world-class knob. No comment on whether it's deserved or not... but he was widely reviled as a human. So if he doesn't get in, he might test your theory that Schilling is the only one disqualified for knobbery.

[mainemule]

Schilling won the Roberto Clemente award and was well known to be a supporter of our troops.

His "knobdom," including saying he didn't want to be elected, certainly ruined his chances.

I can't comment on Kent's reputation.

[Mike D.]

Originally Posted by mainemule

Schilling won the Roberto Clemente award and was well known to be a supporter of our troops.

His "knobdom," including saying he didn't want to be elected, certainly ruined his chances.

I can't comment on Kent's reputation.

Some of the knobish things he did was borrow 10's of millions from the state of RI to move him company there and almost immediately run it into the ground, share memes about murdering journalists, and break the news that Tim Wakefield had cancer days before his death.

But nobody is all good or all bad....I believe he did some significant fundraising for cancer research and did support our troops.

In my mind, he falls into the Pete Rose camp of being his own worse enemy. Like, if he'd literally said nothing after his 9th year on the ballot, I'm sure he'd have been elected in this 10th and final year. But instead he chose to disparage the voters and say he didn't want to get elected.

So, should he be in the Hall of Fame? Absolutely. Is he easy to feel bad for? Not so much.

[Mike D.]

Originally Posted by gunboat82

Kent also had a reputation for being a world-class knob. No comment on whether it's deserved or not... but he was widely reviled as a human. So if he doesn't get in, he might test your theory that Schilling is the only one disqualified for knobbery.

Was he the one that got hurt on a motorcycle and almost got his contract canceled?

Kent played longer and had more power. Utley had probably a more all-around peak and was a better baserunner. I can't speak to their defense, although I think I remember Kent having a reputation as a below-average second baseman.

[gunboat82]

Originally Posted by Mike D.

Was he the one that got hurt on a motorcycle and almost got his contract canceled?

Kent played longer and had more power. Utley had probably a more all-around peak and was a better baserunner. I can't speak to their defense, although I think I remember Kent having a reputation as a below-average second baseman.

Yes, he claimed he injured himself because he fell of his truck while washing it. He was also notorious for being an a-hole to teammates and media, he was a mediocre defender, and he put up his offensive numbers during the steroid era, when numbers were up across baseball. That's probably enough to keep him out.

[Mike D.]

Originally Posted by gunboat82

Yes, he claimed he injured himself because he fell of his truck while washing it. He was also notorious for being an a-hole to teammates and media, he was a mediocre defender, and he put up his offensive numbers during the steroid era, when numbers were up across baseball. That's probably enough to keep him out.

It's interesting that he never really got anywhere close to being elected. Other than the "last year bump" of 46.5%, he never cleared 1/3 of the vote, and spent the bulk of his time on the ballot under 20%.

It'll be fascinating to see who ends up on the "modern baseball" (post-1980) ballot next year, and if they manage to elect anyone. My guess on recent history is that they flub both the player who appear on the ballot and the inductees.