Philadelphia Phillies: Curt Schilling learning Hall of Fame fate today

Former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Curt Schilling will learn his Cooperstown fate when the National Baseball Hall of Fame announces the class of 2021 on Tuesday afternoon.

With 216 wins, six All-Star games, and three MVP rings, Schilling enters this round of voting for the ninth time, the second-to-last year of eligibility for the righty.

As of 10 pm EST on Monday evening with 46 percent of the vote known, Ryan Thibodaux’s Hall of Fame tracker has Schilling with 75.3 percent of the known votes, barely scrapping by into the Hall of Fame with the necessary 75 percent.

He’ll need 160 of the 214 unknown votes for enshrinement in 2021. If not, 2022 will be the final year he’s eligible for enshrinement via the baseball writers’ vote.

Schilling’s Hall of Fame credentials are practically undebatable with the aforementioned 216 wins and 3,116 strikeouts. Propping up his candidacy is the postseason success, winning 11 of his 19 starts with a 2.23 ERA. In four World Series games, his ERA drops to 1.72 with a 3-1 record, his only loss coming in 1993 to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Social media likely keeps Curt Schilling out of the Baseball Hall of Fame this year.

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With his highly publicized and open political views, Twitter happens to be where Schilling has either lost or failed to garner support from voters.

According to the tracker, Schilling has lost votes in a year of political chaos, something he has openly thrown himself into. According to the vote tracker, his net vote total for this year is -1 after picking up four new votes and losing five.

It’s likely that Schilling, once again, falls short of the 75 percent needed for enshrinement. Despite leading in the early vote, there are more than half of the already-cast votes left to be accounted for publically. Typically the unknown votes drop a player’s known percentage a couple of points, meaning Schilling will likely fall only a handful of votes short in 2021.

If Schilling does not hold onto this current lead, it’s likely there won’t be a class of 2021 for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, also on their ninth year of eligibility, are also controversial figures given their connections to performance-enhancing drugs. Both players have more than 72 percent of the known vote but have failed to add new voters this year, with only one net vote between them.

Since 1996 the Hall of Fame has had only two classes without players elected by the baseball writers, the most recent case being in 2013.

The Hall of Fame class of 2020 (Derek Jeter, Larry Walker, Ted Simmons, and union leader Marvin Miller) will be enshrined this summer after last year’s ceremony was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Will any Philadelphia Phillies be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2021?

Former Phillies Scott Rolen, Billy Wagner, and Bobby Abreu have each picked upvotes this year but are highly unlikely to be inducted this year. Rolen currently has more than 60 percent of the known votes, while Wagner 45.6 percent and Abreu remains far behind at 12.1 percent.

Shane Victorino and A.J. Burnett have received zero votes and are unlikely to receive the 20 votes necessary for future consideration by the baseball writers.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame results will be unveiled on MLB Network and MLB.com at 6 p.m. on Jan. 26, 2021.