Baseball Hall of Fame vote 2018: 5 things to watch for ahead of reveal

3. Will Curt Schilling rebound?

The year 2016 was quite a doozy for Hall of Fame candidate Curt Schilling. There was always a hint of jackassery with the big right-hander and World Series hero, but the rise of Donald Trump to viable candidate and then the Presidency really brought out an extra level of foolishness from Schilling.

Say what you will about his political views — and remember, there’s certainly nothing wrong with espousing conservative views online in a reasonable fashion — but Schilling just cross a line. He continued to fill up his timeline with questionable memes and began hosting a radio show on Breitbart (to OWN the libs). None of that quite measures up to posting an image that seems to encourage lynching journalists.

So — yeah, Curt Schilling saw his vote total drop by a healthy percent to 45 last year.

Based on the early returns, that drop appears to be a one-year blip with voters voicing their opposition to Schillings words and actions. He has already picked up 22 ticks from returning voters and has been selected by nearly three-quarters of first-time voters.

Despicable as it may be to peddle in racist memes online, none of that should dull the shine of what Curt Schilling accomplished on a baseball diamond. Voters have penalized him once and are once again comfortable voting for him. Barring a massive shunning from the private voters, Schilling will poll around 60 percent again and stay on track to one day reach induction into the Hall of Fame.