Reggie Jackson has no remorse for Curt Schilling over the former MLB great getting left out of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Jackson told NJ.com that he would tell Schilling the only person to blame for not getting a ticket to Cooperstown is himself.
“I would say to Curt, ‘Look at what you did. You took yourself out of the Hall of Fame because of what you say and how to express yourself and how you think.’ Freedom of speech is great, but we can’t have a country with white supremacy, Nazis, Black Panthers, racist stuff and anti-Semitics. We can’t have people wearing swastikas because it’s a freedom of expression. Come on!” the Yankees legend told the website.
Jackson said he didn’t think Schilling’s request to be taken off the Baseball Writers Association of America’s Hall of Fame ballot was legitimate. He said it made the former Arizona Diamondbacks and Boston Red Sox pitcher “look stupid.”
Schilling received 70 percent of the vote — 16 votes short of the 75 percent needed to get into the Hall of Fame. Many writers have cited Schilling’s political remarks, including his apparent support for the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, in his post-baseball life as the reason to keep him out. Jackson said he doesn’t think Schilling would ever get into the Hall of Fame.
“Freedom of speech got you freed out of the Hall of Fame,” Jackson told NJ.com. “Freedom of speech got your a– out of Cooperstown, bro!”
Schilling is an ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump, but Jackson said it wasn’t Schilling’s politics that are preventing him from the call to the hall.
“I don’t care if Schilling is conservative or not conservative,” Jackson said. “That doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that he’s stepping out on the balcony and yelling out something to defame Jews or Muslims or any other ethnicity or gender. Curt, get away from here with that.”
Nobody made the cut for this year’s Hall of Fame ballot. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were left off, as well.