Jack Morris is now a Hall of Famer; is he Really Worthy?

Former Detroit Tigers teammates Jack Morris and Alan Trammell were elected to the baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday. Both players were picked by a 16-man Modern Baseball Era Committee that considered 10 candidates whose biggest contributions came from 1970-87.

Let’s consider Morris’ candidacy.

Morris was on the Hall of Fame ballot for the 15th and final time in 2014 and never received the required 75% of the vote in any of his eligible years. After careful examination and scrutiny, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America deemed him a borderline candidate, unworthy of induction into sports' greatest, most demanding Hall of Fame.

The righty has always been one of the most controversial candidates, not because of PEDs, but simply due to his credentials.

Over 18 seasons, Morris posted the following:

254 wins
3.90 ERA
175 complete games
28 shutouts
2,478 strikeouts
1.30 WHIP

Morris was also a five-time All Star who twice led the American League in wins. He also led the AL in strikeouts once and shutouts once. Additionally, Morris is the only pitcher with 2,000-plus strikeouts who did not face a single pitcher in his career, meaning his Ks weren’t padded, like some NL pitchers.

The number that really jumps out in Morris' long career is his 175 complete games. For comparison, CC Sabathia leads all active pitchers with 38 complete games over 17 seasons. It’s unlikely that we will ever again see a pitcher who even approaches 175 complete games over the course of his career because the game has changed so much. These days, pitchers are on strict pitch counts and rarely go past the seventh inning, at most.

Since 1973, Morris, who debuted in 1977, pitched at least eight innings more times than any other pitcher in baseball, a testament to his durability and consistency.

Morris also started the most games, pitched the most innings and had the most wins of any pitcher in the 1980s.

On the other hand, during the '80s, Morris also led all of Major League Baseball in losses, runs allowed, earned runs allowed, hits allowed and home runs allowed. While those numbers could be a byproduct of pitching so many innings, they are glaring nonetheless.

Additionally, Morris led the league in wild pitches on six separate occasions, and his 206 career wild pitches rank eighth in baseball history.

Morris has the highest ERA of any pitcher in the Hall of Fame. He also failed to win 300 games or strikeout 3,000 batters, general Hall of Fame litmus tests.

Morris built his reputation in the post-season and played on four World Championship teams (1984 Tigers, 1991 Twins, and 1992–1993 Blue Jays).

While the post-season is only part of a pitcher’s career and resume, the Modern Baseball Era Committee seemed to have placed extra emphasis on this. There are only five pitchers in the Baseball Hall of Fame who never played or pitched in the World Series.

So here’s the question: Is Jack Morris a bona fide Hall of Famer or just a borderline candidate who was very good, but not great?

For Morris' supporters, and Morris himself, the strength of his argument has always been his postseason performance.

However, Morris was 7-4 with a 3.80 ERA in the postseason. If that’s the best argument for why he should be in the HOF, it’s not a very reasoned or rational one.

Morris had to rely on a special committee because the Baseball Writers’ Association of America could see that his induction would lower the bar on the game's most hallowed institution, and now it has.