Former Minnesota Twin Jack Morris, who pitched perhaps the greatest game in the history of baseball in the 1991 World Series, will never be voted into the Hall of Fame.
His 254 wins, five All-Star appearances, and nearly 2,500 strikeouts fell short for the 15th and final time in Cooperstown voting today, as he received just 61.5 percent support from the Baseball Writers Association of America, 78 votes short of the 75 percent plateau he needed to attain to go down in baseball lore.
Morris, known to Twins fans as the ‘game 7 hero’, had his shortcomings, as his 3.90 ERA, lack of a Cy Young award, and poor late-career numbers show.
But victories and weaknesses aside, it’s the Baseball Writers Association of America voters who have the final say, so here’s an in-depth look at how the vote went down.
Let’s first look at Dan Le Batard, ESPN personality that also does radio work and writes for the Miami Herald.
Le Batard voted for no one today, instead giving his ballot up to Deadspin, a sports blog site that asked its readers to vote on who would make the Hall.
Once the readers did, the ballot was submitted, and the people had their voice heard. As with every Hall of Fame ballot, their top-10 choices were submitted, and Jack Morris was not among them.
Then there is the man that voted one man, and only one man, into the Hall this year.
Ken Gurnick was his name, Dodgers beat writer and contributor to MLB.com, and the man he put in the hall was Black Jack Morris himself.
But some have asked, does the fact that Morris was the only name on his ballot make his vote any better than Le Batard’s?
Gurnick was one of just two members of the BBWAA not to vote in former Braves ace Greg Maddux, while also leaving off sure-fire first ballot legends Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas.
To once again be clear, ballot-holders are allowed to vote for 10 former players. Not one, not three, 10.
So while the jury is in on Morris, when it comes to the BBWAA voters, there’s still plenty of judgement to go around.
