Curt Schilling asks to be removed from the next Baseball Hall of Fame ballot after falling 16 votes short as writers elect no one for the 1st time since 2013

Curt Schilling didn’t get elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

If he has it his way, he won’t be on the ballot next year for what would be his 10th and final shot in the Baseball Writers’ Association of America voting.

No new members were added to the Hall of Fame when the BBWAA voting results were released Tuesday. It’s the first time since 2013 that the BBWAA didn’t elect anyone.

Schilling came the closest at 71.1%, falling 16 votes shy of the 75% needed for induction. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens placed second and third with 61.8% and 61.6% of the voting.

All three were in their ninth year on the ballot. They’ll have one more year of eligibility in the BBWAA voting, and if not elected, they could eventually land in an Eras Committee discussion down the line.

A record 14 of the 401 ballots submitted were left blank, according to the Hall of Fame. A player needed 301 votes to be elected.

Schilling had plenty of big postseason moments during his career, such as his “Bloody Sock” performance for the Boston Red Sox against the New York Yankees in Game 6 of the 2004 American League Championship Series. But his social media posts — a tweet supporting the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol rioters the most recent example — have dominated any post-playing-days conversation.

After the voting results were released, Schilling shared on social media a lengthy letter he said he wrote to the Hall of Fame, requesting to be removed from next year’s ballot.

“I can say at this point I am mentally done,” the post read in part. “I know math and I know trends and I know I will not attain the 75% threshold for induction.

“I’ll defer to the veterans committee and men whose opinions actually matter and who are in a position to actually judge a player. I don’t think I’m a hall of famer as I’ve often stated but if former players think I am then I’ll accept that with honor.”

The Hall of Fame confirmed in a statement that it received Schilling’s request.

“As you know, the Board of Directors of the National Baseball Hall of Fame sets the rules and procedures for the BBWAA balloting process,” the statement read. “The Board has received Curt Schilling’s request for removal from the 2022 ballot, and will consider the request at our next meeting.”

Seven-time MVP Bonds, the game’s all-time home run leader (762), and seven-time Cy Young Award winner Clemens have the clouds of steroid allegations affecting their candidacies.

Likewise with Sammy Sosa, who is ninth all-time with 609 home runs. The former Chicago Cubs right fielder also will have one final chance on the BBWAA ballot after finishing 12th in the voting at 17% in his ninth year of eligibility.

Third baseman Scott Rolen was fourth in the voting, making a huge jump from 35.3% to 52.9%.

Shortstop Omar Vizquel, accused of domestic abuse in a December story in The Athletic, was fifth but slipped from 52.6% last year to 49.1%.

White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle will remain on the ballot next year after finishing at 11% with 44 votes. A player needs 5% to avoid dropping off. Former Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez (1%, four votes) and reliever LaTroy Hawkins (0.5%, two votes), who is from Gary, were among those who did not reach the 5% threshold.

The steroid era continues to be a major storyline with the voting.

Next year’s ballot is expected to include Alex Rodriguez, who hit 696 career home runs but also served a season-long suspension in 2014 for violations of the drug program, and slugger David Ortiz, who reportedly was included in the Mitchell Report for testing positive for PEDs in 2003.

Even though Tuesday produced a shutout, there is a Hall of Fame induction ceremony planned for the weekend of July 23-26 in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Last year’s class of Derek Jeter, Larry Walker, Ted Simmons and the late Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Marvin Miller will be honored after COVID-19 postponed the 2020 ceremony.

Former longtime White Sox broadcaster Ken “Hawk” Harrelson, the 2020 Ford C. Frick Award winner, will be joined by the 2021 winner, Al Michaels. The late Nick Cafardo, the 2020 J.G. Taylor Spink Award winner, will be honored along with 2021 winner Dick Kaegel.