Bordow: Schilling deserves spot in Hall of Fame

Scott Bordow, For the Tribune

June 23, 2008 - 9:22PM , updated: June 23, 2008 - 11:01PM

HALL OF FAMER? Curt Schilling has won 216 games in his career and has a .600 winning percentage.

The Associated Press

Curt Schilling's bloody sock is in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

It would a bloody shame if Schilling doesn't join it some day.

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Since Schilling announced late last week he needed possible career-ending shoulder surgery, there's been considerable debate as to whether the 41-year-old pitcher has numbers worthy of Cooperstown.

The main sticking point: Schilling only has216 wins, and as everyone knows, a starting pitcher isn't a Hall of Fame lock until he gets 300 victories.

There's just one problem with that criterion: It doesn't jibe with the way the game is played today.

Managers now monitor pitch counts carefully. They're thrilled to get six innings from their starter before turning the game over to the bullpen.

The result: Fewer opportunities for pitchers to rack up wins.

In 1985, for example, Minnesota's Bert Blyleven was the major league leader with 24 complete games. In 2007, Toronto's Roy Halladay led baseball with six.

The last starter to throw more than 10 complete games in a season was the Diamondbacks' Randy Johnson, who had 12 in 1999.

For better or worse, baseball has changed, and with that change comes an inevitable conclusion: There never will be another 300-game winner.

Yes, that includes Johnson, who is stuck on 288 wins, and the New York Yankees' Mike Mussina, who has 260 wins but, at 39 years old, is unlikely to find another 40 in his right arm.

Look further down the list of career wins for active pitchers and it's impossible to find anyone who might even come close to 300. At 32, Atlanta's Tim Hudson is the youngest starter in the top 20, and he has 143 victories.

So if Hall of Fame voters (full disclosure: I'm one of them) continue to make 300 victories the standard by which starters are judged, there soon will be an arms shortage in Cooperstown.

"How many people have won 300 games or more?" Johnson asked. "I'm sure there are some starters in the Hall of Fame that haven't won 300 games. Then again, I'm sure there are some starters who haven't been able to get in the Hall of Fame because they didn't win 300 games.

"I don't know what the standard is. It's not my business to know. Or for a hitter. I guess that's just up for debate."

To answer Johnson's question, only 23 pitchers in major league history have more than 300 wins. And several Hall of Fame pitchers won fewer than Schilling's 216 games. Among them: Don Drysdale (209), Bob Lemon (207), Rube Waddell (193), Lefty Gomez (189) and Sandy Koufax (165).

"If you are asking me, I'd be a cheerleader for him, because he's pitched for me for so long," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said.

Schilling will get my vote.

Yes, he won 20 or more games only three times, never captured a Cy Young Award and has been susceptible to injury, having failed to make 30 starts in half of his major league seasons.

But remember: If not for Johnson's historic seasons in 2001 and 2002, Schilling might have two Cy Young Awards on his mantle.

We're also talking about a pitcher who has a .600 career winning percentage and was one of the best postseason performers in baseball history.

Schilling's numbers: 10-2 with a 2.23 ERA in 19 playoff starts.

Johnson argued that postseason performances shouldn't be factored in because some pitchers never get a chance to pitch in October.

Sorry, but Schilling's chances shouldn't be devalued because he had the good fortune to pitch for playoff teams. Besides, you can argue that he was a big reason his teams made the playoffs.

There is one standard that always has defined a Hall of Famer.

Was he a dominant player for much of his career?

By any measure, Schilling fits that description.

Even without 300 wins.

Wins for active major league pitchers

(age in parentheses)

1. Greg Maddux (42), 350

2. Tom Glavine* (42), 305

3. Randy Johnson* (44), 288

4. Mike Mussina (39), 260

5. Jamie Moyer* (45), 237

6. Curt Schilling (41), 216