An ace almost his entire career, surly Jack Morris was a bulldog on the mound, replete with the competitive fire to match his great stuff. He won 254 games in his career. In 2010, he received 52.3% of the Hall of Fame vote and in 2012, 66.7% of the vote. Historically, pitchers from the 20th century with 250 wins have gotten into the Hall. Morris is tied at 254 with Red Faber, who is in the Hall of Fame. However, Morris has a high 3.90 career ERA, and which is higher than any pitcher in the Hall of Fame. He also threw 175 complete games, a high total for that era.
Morris played on three World Series winners, including the 1984 Detroit Tigers, the 1991 Minnesota Twins, and the 1992 Toronto Blue Jays. In the 1984 Series, he went 2-0, in the 1991 Series he went 2-0, including a magnificent 10-inning shutout in the decisive seventh game, but in the 1992 Series, he went 0-2. He was also a member of the Blue Jay staff in 1993, when they repeated as World Champions, but did not pitch in the post-season after suffering through a poor 7-12, 6.19 season. Through 2007, Morris is the last pitcher to pitch in consecutive World Series for two different World Series champion teams (Minnesota – 1991, Toronto – 1992).
Jack Morris became a national star in 1984 when he pitched a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox on April 7, in the midst of the Tigers’ amazing run to open the season. Morris had been a solid pitcher before, but that feat grabbed headlines, and he never lost his star status afterwards, thanks to his excellent performance the rest of the year and in the ensuing World Series. Although he never won a Cy Young Award, he was in the top 5 in the voting five times.
“To me, he was the best pitcher I ever had in my career.” Sparky Anderson said.