Curt Schilling has had enough of waiting.
The former Major League Baseball pitcher asked the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on Tuesday to remove his name from the Baseball Writers of America ballot in 2022.
Schilling topped the voting in 2021 by appearing on 71.6 percent of writers’ ballots but fell 16 votes shy of the 75 percent threshold needed for entry into the Hall.
The writers’ snub prompted Schilling to write the Hall a letter, in which he requested to forgo his final year of eligibility on the writers’ ballot and instead put his Hall of Fame fate into the hands of one of its veterans committees.
“I will not participate in the final year of voting,” Schilling wrote in the letter, part of which he included in a lengthy Facebook post. “I am requesting to be removed from the ballot. I’ll defer to the veterans committee and men whose opinions actually matter and who are in a position to actually judge a player. I don’t think I’m a hall of famer as I’ve often stated but if former players think I am then I’ll accept that with honor.”
The Hall of Fame will consider Schilling’s request at its next meeting, Hall of Fame board chairperson Jane Forbes Clark said in a statement, per ESPN.
No players were voted into the Hall of Fame in 2021. This is the first time that’s happened since 2013 and just the ninth time in history.
