BYU Baseball gets their first Hall of Famer on Sunday
By Shaun Gordon
On Sunday, Jack Morris will be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, becoming the first BYU Baseball player to earn the prestigious honor.
If you judged Jack Morris by his college baseball stats, you’d never think in a million years that he’d go on to become a dominant Major League Baseball pitcher, let alone a Hall of Famer.
But college stats don’t count, and the Minnesotan who came to BYU with electric raw stuff and control problems will be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday.
He’ll earn the greatest honor in baseball, joining the all-time greats in Cooperstown. He’ll enter alongside some all-time greats as well, including Chipper Jones, Jim Thome, and Trevor Hoffman.
Old School
Morris took the long route to Cooperstown. In his 15 years on the Hall of Fame ballot, he never received the 75% of the votes he needed. He hit two-thirds, but could never reach that three-fourths threshold.
A lot of that comes from his statistics. The Hall of Fame voting is done by baseball writers, and they’re a stats-driven bunch. Morris never produced the eye-popping stats like many in Cooperstown. In fact, he’ll enter with the highest career earned run average of any Hall of Famer (3.90).
But when you crack the Top 50 in wins, including the most wins in the 1980’s of any pitcher, it bolsters your resume.
Add in the fact that he enjoyed an 18 year career as one of the most reliable workhorses in the last 40 years, and that resume builds even more.
Then add one of the greatest single-game pitching performances in MLB history, and you start to get the picture.
Oh, and he threw a no-hitter too.
Jack Morris’ career is the epitome of the idea that stats don’t tell the whole story, and that started at BYU. The Modern Era Committee saw what the writers didn’t, voting to induct Morris with 87.5% of their vote.
Stats vs. Stuff
Morris played two varsity seasons for the Cougars, alongside Vance Law, another future major leaguer.
He came to Provo with one pitch, a dominant fastball. The talent was there, but the accuracy and versatility wasn’t.
Enter Vern Law. Vance’s dad served as BYU’s pitching coach after his own long and illustrious MLB career. He worked with Morris over the two seasons to add new pitches and improve his control.
Morris never put up great stats with the Cougars. Between the 1975 and 1976 seasons, he finished with a 10-9 record and had an ERA just below 5.00.
Not exactly pro material based on stats alone, but the Detroit Tigers saw his talent and competitiveness and took him in the fifth round of the 1976 draft.
It took him less than two years to crack the big leagues, as his command and repertoire improved. His first MLB game came on July 26, 1977, and he never looked back.
He played 14 seasons for the Tigers, becoming the most consistently solid pitcher of the 1980’s. During that decade he made four all-star appearances, led the league in total wins (162), led the league in strikeouts in 1983, and helped the Tigers win the 1984 World Series.
He threw his no-hitter on April 7th of that same season, beating the Chicago White Sox in a nationally televised game.
Home Sweet Home
In 1991 he left Detroit and returned to his home state of Minnesota, signing a one-year deal with the Twins. He won 18 games that season, made a fifth all-star game, and helped the team roll into a World Series matchup with the Atlanta Braves.
The series went seven games, setting up a winner-take-all duel between Morris and Braves ace John Smoltz. The two aces held both teams scoreless through regulation, but Morris trotted back out in the top of the 10th and threw another scoreless inning before the Twins walked off with the series win in the bottom half of the inning.
In one of the biggest games of Morris’ career, he shined. It’s still considered one of the best single-game pitching performances of all time.
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Twilight
After one season in Minnesota he signed a two-year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. In 1992 he won 21 games, becoming the first Blue Jay ever to reach 20 wins. Toronto reached the World Series and beat Atlanta, although Morris struggled in the postseason.
Morris continued to struggle, posting a 7-12 record in 1993 with an ERA over 6.00, and suffering a season-ending injury before the postseason. The Blue Jays went on to secure back-to-back championships, though, giving Morris a third straight World Series ring and the fourth of his career.
In 1994 he set a record that still stands, making a 14th consecutive opening day start, this one with the Cleveland Indians. He struggled again that season, and the Indians released him a little more than halfway through the season.
In both 1995 and 1996 he tried to make a comeback, but finally hung up his cleats, finishing a long and productive big league career.
The Resume
Morris started 527 games over 18 seasons, finishing with 254 wins and 2,478 strikeouts. He threw 175 complete games and 28 shutouts, finishing in the Top 10 in Cy Young Voting seven times.
He never made less than 23 starts in a season, and averaged 242 innings per year. Morris averaged 7 1/3 innings per start, a stat that’s unheard of today.
Most importantly, he helped three different teams win four World Series title.
Plus there’s the no-hitter.
And a World Series MVP.
And one of the greatest pitching performances of all time.
The former Cougar earned the right to see his name among the legends.