Jack Morris, Starting Pitcher
The St. Paul, Minnesota native was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 5th round of the 1976 draft out of Brigham Young University. He was quickly in the major leagues, tossing 45 2/3 innings in 1977. After a year as a swingman in 1978, Morris took over a spot in the rotation in 1979, and he didn’t give it up for the next 15 years.
Morris made an impact right away, winning 17 games in 1979 and making the All-Star game in 1981, when he led the major leagues with 14 wins. However, it was coming out of the 1981 season that he’d move into the role that would define his career.
His 3.05 ERA in the strike-shortened 1981 season ended up the best single-year ERA of his career. He would frequently post complete game numbers and innings numbers that challenged for league leadership, but his production in those innings was more solid than elite.
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It was the playoffs when that elite pitching came out. Morris would win 3 World Series over his career, including the 1991 World Series MVP award. However, his rough production in 1992 with the Blue Jays skewed what were incredible numbers by Morris prior to that point, though he finished his career with 13 postseason starts, tossing 92 1/3 innings, with a 3.80 ERA. He would post a 2.96 ERA in 51 2/3 World Series innings, even with 10 earned runs in 10 2/3 innings in the 1992 series.
Morris’ inning-eater modality would become a point of contention in MLB Hall of Fame voting over his career, as he appeared on 15 ballots, peaking in 2013 with 67.7%, still nearly 10% shy of the 75% needed. He finished his career with 254 wins and 5 All-Star selections, but also with a career 3.90 ERA and a sub-2 K/BB ratio.
His big moments earned him his spot, though, and he’s been a tremendous advocate for the game since his retirement, making his one speech to note during the MLB Hall of Fame inductions on Sunday.
So, one tremendous team that only won one World Series but had plenty of success over a decade gets two more of its members recognized in the MLB Hall of Fame on Sunday. Congrats to Detroit Tigers Jack Morris and Alan Trammell!