MLB Hall of Fame Voting: 2012 Should Be the Year for Jack Morris

It has finally arrived—the time in baseball history when baseball writers need to decide between steroid-era All-Stars and those players who performed very well and have never been implicated in any PED scandals.

This year's Hall of Fame ballot will feature with players who have been tied to PED's as well as clean but underwhelming candidates.  There are, however, a few solid, hard-nosed players sprinkled in.

Jack Morris is one of the latter.  A hard-nosed right-handed pitcher that came at you with a fastball, slider and a splitter that would rattle even the best of opponents, Morris deserves to be in Cooperstown.

And here is why:

254 Career Wins

30 of the 59 pitchers that are currently in the Hall of Fame have fewer wins than Jack Morris.  

Sure, that list might be slightly tainted with some closers or converted starting pitchers but, in general, wins are a quantifiable number that signal one's dominance.

Morris has more wins than players like Jim Bunning, Catfish Hunter, Whitey Ford, Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax, to name a few.

2,478 Career Strikeouts

With 2,478 SOs, Morris has more career strikeouts than 48 of 59 pitchers currently in the Hall of Fame.

That is more than Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers, Old Hoss Radbourn, Jim Palmer and Dizzy Dean.

Morris was a dominating figure on the mound.

549 Games over 18 Seasons

Morris played in more games than 25 of the pitchers in the Hall of Fame.

That's more games than Catfish Hunter, Whitey Ford and Sandy Koufax to—and almost as many as Dizzy Dean and Addie Joss combined.

That is a testament to the man's longevity in a game that taxes the body—especially a pitcher's body, because of the unnatural motion.

Career 3.90 ERA and 1.296 WHIP

Jack Morris has one knock against him: his career ERA.  His 3.90, while not a bad ERA by any stretch, is higher than any other Hall of Fame pitcher.

The closest is Red Ruffing's 3.80 ERA.

But considering that 3.90 ERA came during the steroid era, perhaps it shouldn't weigh so heavily against him.  There is absolutely no way to prove it, but there has to be some chance that a portion of the 1,815 runs he allowed (1,657 earned) were a result of a player using steroids or some other performance enhancing drug.

In my opinion, that needs to be considered.

He's a Decorated Player

Morris is a five-time All-Star, a five-time top-ten Cy Young Award finalist (four times in the top five) and the 1981 AL TSN Pitcher of the Year. 

He won the 1984 and 1991 AL Babe Ruth Award and was the 1991 World Series MVP.  In short, he's decorated.

In 1983, Morris lead the league in strikeouts (232) and innings pitched (292.2).

He lead the league in wins twice—once with 14 (strike year) in 1981 and then again with 21 in 1992.

Long story short, Jack Morris was a pitcher that batters feared during an era that was less-than-clean.  

This will be his thirteenth ballot.  His induction to Cooperstown is long overdue.