Cooperstown Choices: Jack Morris

With the Hall Of Fame election announcement coming on January 9, 2012, it is time to review the ballot, go over the names, and decide who belongs in the Hall Of Fame.

There are twenty seven men on the ballot this year and we will take a look at each one individually prior to official announcements. You can find all of the profiles in the I-70 Baseball Exclusives: Cooperstown Choices 2012 menu at the top of the page.

Tune in Saturday, January 7, 2012 as I-70 Baseball Radio will host a panel of writers discussing the Hall Of Fame Ballot in a 2-hour special.

In this article, we take a look at Jack Morris

Jack Morris
Morris enjoyed an 18 year career with four American League teams spanning from 1977 to 1994. His debut with the Detroit Tigers would place him with the franchise he would know for 14 years before he would move around and finish up as a member of the Cleveland Indians. Morris is on the ballot for the 17th year.

Year	Tm	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA+	SO/9
1977	DET	1	1	3.74	7	6	1	0	45.2	38	20	19	23	28	115	5.5
1978	DET	3	5	4.33	28	7	0	0	106.0	107	57	51	49	48	90	4.1
1979	DET	17	7	3.28	27	27	9	1	197.2	179	76	72	59	113	133	5.1
1980	DET	16	15	4.18	36	36	11	2	250.0	252	125	116	87	112	99	4.0
1981	DET	14	7	3.05	25	25	15	1	198.0	153	69	67	78	97	124	4.4
1982	DET	17	16	4.06	37	37	17	3	266.1	247	131	120	96	135	100	4.6
1983	DET	20	13	3.34	37	37	20	1	*293.2*	257	117	109	83	232	117	7.1
1984	DET	19	11	3.60	35	35	9	1	240.1	221	108	96	87	148	109	5.5
1985	DET	16	11	3.33	35	35	13	4	257.0	212	102	95	110	191	122	6.7
1986	DET	21	8	3.27	35	35	15	6	267.0	229	105	97	82	223	127	7.5
1987	DET	18	11	3.38	34	34	13	0	266.0	227	111	100	93	208	126	7.0
1988	DET	15	13	3.94	34	34	10	2	235.0	225	115	103	83	168	98	6.4
1989	DET	6	14	4.86	24	24	10	0	170.1	189	102	92	59	115	79	6.1
1990	DET	15	18	4.51	36	36	11	3	249.2	231	144	*125*	97	162	89	5.8
1991	MIN	18	12	3.43	35	35	10	2	246.2	226	107	94	92	163	125	5.9
1992	TOR	21	6	4.04	34	34	6	1	240.2	222	114	108	80	132	102	4.9
1993	TOR	7	12	6.19	27	27	4	1	152.2	189	116	105	65	103	70	6.1
1994	CLE	10	6	5.60	23	23	1	0	141.1	163	96	88	67	100	83	6.4
18 Seasons		254	186	3.90	549	527	175	28	3824.0	3567	1815	1657	1390	2478	105	5.8
162 Game Avg.		16	12	3.90	35	33	11	2	242	225	115	105	88	157	105	5.8
		W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA+	SO/9
DET (14 yrs)		198	150	3.73	430	408	154	24	3042.2	2767	1382	1262	1086	1980	108	5.9
TOR (2 yrs)		28	18	4.87	61	61	10	2	393.1	411	230	213	145	235	86	5.4
MIN (1 yr)		18	12	3.43	35	35	10	2	246.2	226	107	94	92	163	125	5.9
CLE (1 yr)		10	6	5.60	23	23	1	0	141.1	163	96	88	67	100	83	6.4

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/29/2011.

Why He Should Get In
Morris was an ace for the Detroit Tigers for many seasons, winning the all important 20 games three times during his career in 1983, 1986, and 1992. He also led the league in wins with 14 during the strike shortened 1981 season. He would never win a Cy Young Award, but would finish in the top ten seven times during his career. He made five All Star game rosters and received Most Valuable Player votes on five different occasions, ranking in the top 20 four times. With 254 wins and 2,478 strike outs, he should be in the Hall already.

Why He Should Not Get In
The only thing holding Morris back is the fact that he falls below 300 wins and played for a team that was not consistently competitive, keeping his numbers and recognition down.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
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Categorized | Classic, Cooperstown Choices 2012, I-70 Baseball Exclusives