Bomani Jones Pitched Curt Schilling for the HOF Even After the Former MLB All-Star Called Him ‘Racist’

To no one’s surprise, Curt Schilling did not make the Hall-of-Fame this year, his tenth and final appearance on the ballot. But he did have an unlikely supporter in Bomani Jones.

While Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens have been punished for their use of performance enhancing drugs, Schilling’s career as a Major League Baseball player is widely viewed to be clean. But it’s his post-playing career, crusading against sportswriters and aligning with far-right politics that kept him out of Cooperstown.

During a recent segment for HBO’s On the Record with Bob Costas, Jones pushed for Schilling to make the Hall. The surprising pitch from Jones came years after Schilling labeled him a “racist.”

“Schilling is a Hall-of-Famer. What can I say, I’ve made peace with this reality,” Jones said. “Sometimes bad people are good at stuff.”

Schilling has all the statistics worthy of a Hall-of-Fame plaque and you certainly can’t write the history of baseball without featuring the ace who helped break the Curse of Bambino, leading the Red Sox to their first World Series in 86 years while standing in a bloody sock.

Schilling was fired from ESPN for an offensive social media post and applauded a t-shirt that threatened violence against journalists. But Jones is able to focus on the pitcher’s accolades on the field, while nearly 42 percent of sportswriters with a Hall-of-Fame vote took a more self-righteous approach to judging Schilling’s legacy.

“Roberto Clemente may be the greatest man to play baseball. What got him to Cooperstown? Three thousand hits and that arm,” Jones explained. “Ascribing virtues to success is a foolhardy mission. But rather than abandon such childish simplicity, we deputize ourselves as arbiters of goodness. As if our lives aren’t hard enough already.”

Watch above via HBO