Kyle Kendrick is back in red …
Good morning! Who wants Kyle Kendrick news?
KENDRICK AFAR: The Red Sox signed Kyle Kendrick to a minor-league contract with an invitation to spring training.
The right-hander and former Phillie is a lifetime 81-81 pitcher with a 4.63 ERA. Last year he spent the entire season with triple-A Salt Lake, going 7-6 with a 4.46 ERA in 105 innings. At this point he’s more “AAAA filler” than a sure thing on any rotation.
THREE FOR HALL: As revealed yesterday, the Baseball Hall of Fame will welcome Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines and Ivan Rodriguez this year.
And, also revealed yesterday, bupkis for Pat Burrell and Matt Stairs.
Even though it’s painfully obvious Burrell is nowhere near a hall of famer, I would’ve loved to see him get just one vote. Just one.
And now I understand why sportswriters sometimes cast a single vote for a hometown hero type (aka look at the former Red Sox [naturally] getting love at the bottom of the ballot).
Okay, maybe it’s annoying.
WHAT NOW, SCHILL: Curt Schilling received 52.3 percent of the vote in last year’s hall voting. This year he got 45 percent.
Part of this may be first-year candidates swiping a couple votes (Rodriguez, Vladimir Guerrero, Manny Ramirez), but more likely Schilling’s unsavory feelings about journalists and his political views turned off a few voters.
As someone who previously made a living as a full-time journalist, I think Schilling’s support of that t-shirt was disgusting. It showed an inability to think critically or nuanced about the role of media.
Put it this way, the media is vastly important. I don’t agree with plenty recent developments in American media (clickbait, turning *everything* into a story, etc.) but members of the media are humans. And Schilling’s irresponsible support (he was gainfully employed by the media) showed an extreme lack of empathy toward those humans.
But does that mean he should receive fewer hall votes? I think players should be judged based primarily on their play, and less on their character, but both are still important. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, while not always wonderful in the character department, are slam dunks based on their play (and I’m not even counting disputed steroid-era stats).
Schilling? He’s not so much a slam dunk based on his play. He’s much closer to the bubble. And when you’re that close, the character discussion is a little more important (and by the way, your basic political beliefs don’t mean anything to me in regards to character).
So I get it. At this point it’ll be hard for Schilling to win back those voters. And that’s fine by me.
