Still, some fans have begun to sweat a bit as Verlander can see the prospects of free agency on the horizon. Many were hoping for at least the beginnings of talks–talking about talking, if you will–to at least provide something a little more concrete than glowing words at a souped-up week-long pep rally.

Oct 16, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Justin Verlander waves to the crowd as he is relieved in the 9th inning during game three of the 2012 ALCS against the New York Yankees at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: John Munson/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports

It is understandable that some fans would be nervous. Detroit fans have never taken free agents leaving well.

I call this, the “Jack Morris Syndrome.” After he jumped ship prior to the 1991 season, several favorite Detroit athletes have followed suit.

When Barry Sanders left the Detroit Lions on the eve of the 1999 Training Camp, fans were extremely upset with their beloved hero. A couple years later, Grant Hill left Motown, but his exit was handled much better. Barry lacked certain social skills at the time, but Hill was a marketing genius. He actually organized a sign-and-trade and took out a full-page ad in the local newspaper to thank the fans and say goodbye. His exit was sad for many, but the way he handled it softened the blow–not to mention the trade also paved the way for the Pistons to win the 2004 NBA title. Finally, there was Sergei Fedorov. Remember him? He didn’t take kindly to playing in the tall shadow of Steve Yzerman, tried to leave once after the 1997 Stanley Cup title, and finally left the Red Wings in the lurch by signing a massive deal with Anaheim in 2003. His career was never the same and now it is exceedingly rare to hear “Fedorov” uttered when you ask a hard core Wings’ fan who was his or her all-time favorite player.

Back to Morris.  His career ERA of 3.90 is one of the major factors at keeping the best pitcher of the 1980′s out of Cooperstown. Tigers’ fans have a different view, because he was one of the best pitchers in franchise history. Face it, the Tigers do not have a long history of solid pitching. It seems that every generation of fans have one, and only one, great pitcher.

Our generation currently has Verlander. Our fathers’ generation had Morris. Before him was Denny McLain or Mickey Lolich, and the generation before that was Hal Newhouser. And that about rounds out the Tiger pitching greats. One could throw in Mark “The Bird” Fidrych and Willie Hernandez, but their residence at the top of their respective game was all too brief.

Lolich’s 1968 World Series was something of legend, but, while he was the Tigers’ ace for awhile, he could never re-capture that magic again. McLain’s stay in Detroit was brief, just like Fidrych and Hernandez, but his 31 wins in 1968 will undoubtedly sit in the record books until a comet obliterates the Earth. Usually a Tiger holding a seemingly unbreakable record would be a point of pride, however considering the stain on humanity that McLain has been throughout his post-baseball life, I am not sure anyone would really be sad to see another pitcher eclipse 31 wins.

Fans were very angry when Morris left for the Twin Cities in 1991. Long-time fans can remember the Bronx cheer he received after surrendering eight runs (seven of which came in the first inning) during his first career start against the Tigers in Detroit on May 19 of that year.

Yet time heals all wounds. Barry has been accepted back, no one holds any ill will toward Grant Hill, and no one really remembers Sergei. Despite being on the announcing team of the rival Twins, Morris is once again considered a Tiger, even throwing out the first pitch before Game 3 of the ALCS this past October.

Oct 16, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers former player Jack Morris waves to the crowd before game three of the 2012 ALCS between the New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

While we as Tigers’ fans once again relish him, it is perhaps a bittersweet moment when Morris talks of his best moment in baseball coming with another team, the storied complete game, 10-inning, 1-0 victory in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series.

And therein lies the rub with Justin Verlander.

He is “our” guy. He was a product of our system, not a trade from another organization. Just like Morris was. But if he leaves, it will be devastating, just like it was when Morris left. To see him perhaps throwing another no-hitter, or winning a World Series with another team–or having the best game of his career wearing Pinstripes, or Red Sox colors, or the Angels’ halo makes me want to vomit. Hell, if he went to play cricket in Australia, we’d still be extremely upset.

Not to mention, there have been few storybook endings with this club and their star pitchers over the decades.

So while I can understand fans being a bit antsy about the end of 2014 looming, it is likely unwarranted. Usually teams wait until the off-season before the final year of the contract to talk extensions. So that will most likely be addressed then.

That’s not to say that J.V. won’t do all he can to become the first $200 million pitcher in baseball. Lest we all forget he nearly did not sign with the Tigers after prolonged contract negotiations nearly led him to go back into the 2005 draft.

These are all valid concerns, however they are concerns for a year from now. For now, we just have his words to keep us going until the worry sets in next winter.

“I’ve made it no secret that I love Detroit,” Verlander said. “I grew up in front of these fans. I feel like I’ve been a big part of this city and this city has become a big part of me. So, obviously, I’d love to play my career here.”

June 24, 2010; Detroit, MI, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks bench coach Alan Trammell (3) during batting practice before the game against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Two longtime Detroit Tigers were on this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame ballot – as they have been for over 10 years each – but neither was inducted by the Base Ball Writers’ Association of America. In fact, no player on this year’s ballot received the required vote total to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Jack Morris was seemingly on the cusp after receiving votes from 66.7% of the BBWAA’s voting membership (75% is needed for induction), but he gained minimal ground this season, rising to only 67.7%. There was an abnormally large number of reports of writers filing blank ballots – an apparent protest to the large number of “steroid era” players now included – and perhaps Morris’ cause was hurt by these. Had these voters simply voted for the supposedly clean players (like Morris) they felt were worthy – rather than take the opportunity for a “look at me” grandstanding effort – then he may have made a more significant stride in the voting. Public opinion is split on Morris’ qualifications (basically high win total vs. high ERA total), but no one would argue that he was tainted by PEDs.

The advanced stat crowd may not love Morris’ resume, but for them Alan Trammell is a shoe-in selection (as would be Lou Whitaker if he hadn’t inexplicably fallen off the ballot). The writers of Baseball Prospectus released their collective (hypothetical) ballot this morning and, while none of them voted for Morris, over 81% voted in favor of Trammell’s induction. Alan Trammell earned the support of 36.8% of voters in last year’s “real” BBWAA Hall of Fame balloting and actually slipped a bit this year – he’s now down to 33.6%.

For my part, I wouldn’t be in favor of Jack Morris entering the hall, but Alan Trammell (and Lou Whitaker) really should be in there.

Both Trammell and Morris received enough support to remain on the ballot next year, so we’ll have these same discussions in twelve months. It’s like Miguel Cabrera versus Mike Trout, but drawn out over a 12+ year span.

Oct 16, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers former player Jack Morris waves to the crowd before game three of the 2012 ALCS between the New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

I don’t like to get too wrapped up in Hall of Fame debates – who gets in or doesn’t get in is of relatively little interest to me – but I do find some of the arguments to be fascinating. What I enjoy most about the conversation is that it gives us cause to look more deeply at some of the players of the past to see if our perception lines up with reality.

For former Detroit Tiger Jack Morris, the typical debate goes something like this.

Person 1: Jack Morris should be in the Hall of Fame.

Person 2: I don’t think so; he had a career 3.90 ERA.

Person 1: But he won a lot of games.

Person 2: I don’t really care for pitcher win-loss record.

Person 1: Yeah, but he won the most games in the 1980’s, that has to mean something, right?

That’s really the conversation surrounding Morris. Sure, his longevity helps him out, and his playoff performances are brought up as well, but usually the conversation focuses around the decade of the 1980’s in which he had more wins than any other pitcher.

By ERA you would never argue that the 1980’s were anything special for Morris – he ranked #131 among qualified pitchers for the decade – but his name atop the wins leader board is apparently hard to ignore. Because, when it comes down to it, you want a pitcher that can win you games, not just put up a sparkling ERA. Morris, it is said, would take a hit to his ERA by pitching to the score or pitching deep into games. He was more concerned about the team, and less concerned about himself. That’s the legend anyway.

But did Morris really win so many games because he was a winner, or did he win so many games because he pitched for a winning team? Morris was credited for more wins than any other pitcher that decade, that much is true, but the Detroit Tigers – who he played for all decade long – finished the 1980’s with the second most team wins. Were the Tigers good because they had Jack Morris, or was Jack Morris good because he was on the Tigers?

The answer is most certainly a resounding “both”, but I think Morris is the beneficiary of more credit than he deserves. Not that he doesn’t deserve some credit, but Alan Trammell, Kirk Gibson, Lou Whitaker, Chet Lemon, and Lance Parrish (to name a few) all played a big role for the organization that decade and, to my knowledge, none of those guys ever received a single win.

Here are some numbers that are more to the point.

The “Morris W%” column represents Jack Morris’ Win/Loss percentage in each year of the decade. The “Not Morris W%” represents the Tigers’ Win/Loss percentage for all games not started by Morris. The “Wins Added” column represents how many victories he added to the team by virtue of having a better percentage than the team had in an average non-Morris start.

So we see that Morris was a good pitcher. By being himself and not an amalgam of the Tigers’ other pitchers, he added nearly 14 victories to the franchise total over the course of the decade. That’s pretty good, but his decade wins lead over Dave Steib was 22. So if Jack Morris wasn’t “Jack Morris” and instead was some average version of the team’s other pitchers, he would still be the 1980’s decade leader in wins. The key for Morris was making a lot of starts on an otherwise very good team.

Morris did win a lot of games in his time – and he won a lot of games in part because he was a pretty good pitcher – but he also won a lot of games because he played on some pretty good teams. If part of your Hall of Fame argument in favor of Morris is his 1980’s win total, then you’re also arguing that the Tigers’ other pitchers, on average, produced Hall of Fame numbers for the decade.