Curt Schilling believes his Republican Views Kept him out of the Hall of Fame

The Hall of Fame will induct four players this upcoming summer in Cooperstown and although many players did not get enough votes, one player, in particular, is claiming that the voting process is biased against Republican views. Pitcher Curt Schilling stated that being Republican cost him much-needed votes in his third year of eligibility.

The four athletes who were elected included pitchers Randy Johnson, John Smoltz, Pedro Martinez and second baseman Craig Biggio. For the pitchers, it was their first year on the ballot.

"I think he got them because of [Greg] Maddux and [Tom] Glavine," Schilling said on WEEI's Dennis and Callahan show Wednesday in response to why Smoltz received 240 more voted than he did. "The fact that they won 14 straight pennants I think... his Swiss Army knife versatility... I think he got a lot of accolades for that, I think he got a lot of recognition for that and he's a Hall of Famer... and I think the other big thing is, I think he's a Democrat, and so...I know that as a Republican that there's some people that really don't like that."

Schilling's numbers are comparable to Smoltz's. In some areas, Schilling's numbers exceed those of the Hall of Famer. However, Schilling has never won a CY young.

Schilling added that if he were not so outspoken about his political views, he would have earned at least 100 more votes.

"Absolutely. When human beings do something, anything, there's bias and prejudice," Schilling said. "I don't think that it kept me out or anything like that but I do know there are guys who probably will never vote for me because of the things I said or did. That's the way it works."

In 2004, Schilling had yelled "Go Bush" to reporters after Democratic senator John Kerry threw out the first pitch at a Red Sox-Yankees game.

In his third year, Schilling picked up 39.2 percent of the votes, which is an increase from the 29.2 percent he received the year before.