Will Jack Morris Ever Get the Hall Call?

Recently, a group of bloggers (including myself) voted on a mock Baseball Hall of Fame vote, and in using the same parameters as the baseball writers, only Jeff Bagwell received the requisite 75% of the vote.

I too voted for Bagwell, who seemed to go through his career via the “Steroid Era” rather unscathed, never being accused of using, or playing the game “the wrong way.” Of course, the numbers are there too.

But on the ballot, seemingly endlessly, has Jack Morris on it. It continues to be a total mystery.

I’m not going to spout off hard numbers to you about Jack’s potential Hall credentials, except maybe to remind the masses that he is a 2-time champion, arguably one of the best pitchers during the course of the 80’s… which included a no-hitter the year he won his first title with the Detroit Tigers.

Instead, I’m going to spout off about the baseball writers in general.

My problem is, is the process. Why is it that he (or anyone) can get a vote from a writer one year, but that same writer might not vote for him again the following year? Are players potential Hall of Famers 1 year, and not the next? If you don’t vote for a player in his first year of eligibility but vote for him the next year, what makes him a Hall of Famer now, vs then?

My point is, it seems the writers flip and flop during the voting process, and often. I understand that new candidates surface each yeah, and it probably deflects from some of their thoughts and votes from years gone by. But that in itself is a lousy excuse for not electing or voting for certain players, especially if they’re qualified. Sure, my opinion here is my opinion, and I’m sure in the next couple of years we’ll see some interesting voting for the Hall since the first real batch of those Steroid Era players will be up for the Hall.

But is it not too much to ask for a little consistency, isn’t it? I’d rather have that than a bunch of votes here, or votes there, or no votes at all. As for the aforementioned player, he deserves it. And not because he was on my favorite team at one point in his career. But because he deserved it 5 years ago, and he’ll deserve it 5 years down the road as well.

———-

Follow me on Twitter, at @DisplacedTgrFan.