By: Mark Fitzgerald On his blog "38pitches.com," aging Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling seemingly lets no thought go unexpressed, from his endorsement of Sen. John McCain for president to his dieting struggles. So when he signed a one-year contract in December, he naturally spilled its details ? including its $1 million bonus if he gets even a single vote for the Cy Young Award as the league's best pitcher.
Egged on by fans, Schilling said maybe he'd find some Baseball Writer Association of America (BBWAA) member willing to split the bonus for a vote.
That was too much for the BBWAA, which has long protested contract incentives for awards it decides, including Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year. "To be fair to Curt, I know him a little, I think he's right when he says he was joking," says BBWAA President Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star.
The BBWAA isn't joking, though. It promptly passed a rule making any player with an award incentive ineligible for the award.
The writers' association forbids itself from turning its coveted awards into cash cows, Dutton says: "Our position is, if we're not going to make any money off them, we don't want anyone else making money off them."
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