Jack Morris and the Hall of Fame

Did baseball writers do both baseball and Jack a disservice by keeping him out of the Hall of Fame this year?

I know local sport writers like Bob Sansevere seem to think so, and he just HATES it when people bring up Jack's stats to prove he doesn't belong.

I'm going to take a different approach. I'm going to compare him to another pitcher who also had to STRUGGLE to get into the Hall of Fame, and almost didn't make it. This pitcher, to me, represents the bare minimum  of what should be be considered acceptable to enter the Hall. If Jack does gets in, I think it would be a disservice to Bert Blyeven and what he accomplished.

First of all, I'd like to mention that Bert and Jack both had long careers and that because of that, about 50% of their careers overlapped. In other words, even though they didn't overlap completely, they did for the most part pitch in the same era.

Sansevere mentioned that Jack had 175 complete games and pitched 18 seasons. Bert had 242 complete games in 22 seasons. Longevity matters and Bert is the clear winner.

Jack had 28 shutouts. That was a very nice figure, but in that nearly same timeframe Bert had 60.

Jack pitched 175 complete games. Bert had 242.

Jack had 254 wins. Bert had 287.

Jack had 2,500 strikeouts. Bert had 3,700. Bert's strikeout to walks ration was also much, much better. Jack had a great forkball, but he didn't have as much control of that pitch as Bert had of his own wicked curve. Because of that, Jack led the league in wild pitches SIX different times in his career. People tend to forget those things. Sports writers and stat freaks like me don't.

Yes, one of the reason Bert's stats are better is because he pitched longer, but longevity should also be a plus in Bert's column.

Let's look at the most telling stat of all.

ERA, for me is the great equalizer. In his 22 year career, Bert's ERA was 3.31. Jack's was 3.90.

No matter what era you pitch in, there is no way that an ERA of nearly 4 should be considered Hall of Fame worthy.

Jack was a tough competitor his entire career. He had more wins than any pitcher in the 80's. He pitched the best World series game I have ever seen, giving the Twins a World Series win in game seven of the 1991 Series.

But Jack is not a Hall of Famer. And only the very best are granted membership in the Hall.

Jack was just very good.

I can't emphasize this enough. Bert was BARELY allowed in. If Bert was just BARELY good enough, Jack can't possibly be good enough. I just can't look at it any other way.

Personally I'm glad that the standard is as high as it is. It wasn't a sad day for baseball when Jack didn't make it this week. It meant that not just anybody will be allowed in. Not even a great guy who had a very good career.

Very good is just not good enough.

Very good is not GREAT.