OK, we have come, at last, back to the can opener which opened this particular can of worms, which is the question: Was Jack Morris, in fact, a Big Game Pitcher?
He was not.
He had the one brilliant post-season, of course, but other than that one three-week period he absolutely was not; it is not questionable, it is not debatable, it is not unclear. It does not seem likely that the conclusion could be altered by studying the question in a different way. Jack Morris did not have a great or even good record in Big Games, and the people who believe that he did believe that because they believe that, but not because there is any actual evidence for it.
In the games that our system has designated as regular season Big Games, Jack Morris made 46 starts, won 18 games, lost 19, 3.79 ERA. His teams were 24-22.
If you use a higher standard for what is a "Big Game", his record gets worse; it goes down to 10-14, although his ERA improves to 3.51. His teams won 14 of his Biggest Game Starts, lost 15.
Let’s look at what those games were:
September 4, 1978. Tigers are 74-61, 11 games behind but still on the fringes of the pennant race with 27 games to be played. Morris, not yet established as a major league pitcher, drew the start against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, was knocked out in the fifth inning after surrendering four runs. Tigers rallied to win the game, 5-4. Morris went back to the bullpen, and the Tigers didn’t get back into a pennant race until 1982.
September 10, 1982 Tigers, still a building team, are in a similar position, 11 and a half out with 25 to play. Morris started against Dennis Eckersley at Fenway Park and defeated the Red Sox, 6 to 4, keeping the Tigers on the fringes of the pennant race for another day or two. Tigers lost four of the next five (including one loss by Morris), and were virtually eliminated within days.
August 28, 1983. The Tigers are truly in a pennant race for the first time in Morris’ career. The Tigers are two games out of first (72-55) with 35 to play, playing the Blue Jays in Toronto; Blue Jays are in third place, two games behind the Tigers. Morris starts against Luis Leal. Tigers trail 2-1 going into the ninth inning, get 3 in the 9th to win the game, 4-2. Morris is 17-7, and 2-0 on this chart.
Morris wins his next start, which doesn’t count as a big game because it’s out-of-division against a weak team. Next big start is September 5, 1983. Tigers are now 4 and a half games back with 26 to play. Morris starts against Cleveland. He leads 2-0 going into the 7th, gives up a run in the 7th and 2 in the 8th, loses the game 3-2; Detroit misses a chance to gain ground.
September 9, 1983; Tigers now 5 and a half behind with 23 to play. Morris starts in Milwaukee against Moose Haas; loses the game, 2-1.
September 13, 1983; Tigers still 5 games behind with 18 to play. Tigers at home against Cleveland. Morris starts against Rick Behenna, wins the game, 3-2, his 19th win of the season. Baltimore beats Boston twice, pulls five and a half ahead despite the Tigers’ win.
September 17, 1983; Tigers now 6 games back with 15 to play, in danger of falling out of the race. Morris starts against Dennis Eckersley in Fenway Park. Tigers lead 2-0 going into the bottom of the 7th. Morris gives up 2 in the 7th and loses the game on a Tony Armas homer in the bottom of the 8th.
September 21, 1983; Tigers now 6 and a half back with 12 to play, tottering on the brink. Morris starts against the Orioles (Mike Boddicker) in Tiger Stadium. Morris gives up homers to Ripken and Murray in the second inning, gives up six runs in six innings, loses the game. Tigers also lose the second game of the double header, and are virtually eliminated.
On to 1984.
September 3, 1984; Tigers are running away with it, but the race is still sort of alive. Tigers lead the division by 8 and a half with 25 to play. Morris faces the Orioles (Storm Davis) in Tiger Stadium. Morris gives up 6 runs in 7+ innings, loses the game. The race lives another day.
September 8, 1984; Tigers now lead by 9 and a half with 21 to play; you can argue the race is over if you want to. Morris leaves the game with an injury in the 5th inning, score tied 2-2. Tigers win it late; race is over before Morris’ turn comes around again.
In 1985 and 1986 Morris did not pitch any Really Big Games. In 1985 the Blue Jays won the division at 99-62, the Tigers finishing 15 behind; they were on the fringes of the pennant race in mid- to late-August, but they were playing bad teams and out of division at the time. Morris pitched against the Blue Jays on June 30 and September 10, but June 30 is too early to be a Big Game, and by September 10 the Tigers had been virtually eliminated. And he lost both of those games, but we don’t count them as Big Games.
1986, you can credit Morris with a couple of Big Wins if you want to. Morris shut out the Red Sox at Tiger Stadium on August 11, 1986; that doesn’t score as a Big Game by my system, but you can certainly argue for it. The return matchup, at Fenway Park on August 16, does score as a Big Game and Morris did "win" it, although he gave up 6 runs in 7 innings.
After that Morris pitched against the Angels, Oakland, Seattle and Oakland. . .not only the other division, but (excepting the Angels) the worst teams in the other division. He was hit hard in all four of those games, giving up 21 runs 26.1 innings, but we don’t count them as Big Games. By the time he pitched in the division again, September 11 against Milwaukee, the Tigers had been virtually eliminated.
In 1987 the Tigers were back in the race, and that race would last to the wire. Morris’ first Really Big Start in 1987 was September 7, 1987, against the Orioles. The Tigers were in second place, one game out. The Orioles were non-competitive (62-74), but. .. September, one game out of first place; it’s a Big Game. Morris pitched against Jeff Ballard, and he won that game, 12-4.
Everything from now on, 1987, is a Big Game; the race is neck and neck.
September 12, 1987; Morris started against Bill Wegman of the Brewers. He gave up 7 runs in five and a third, lost the game.
September 16, 1987, Morris started against Jeff Sellers of the Red Sox, pitched extremely well, and won the game, 4-1.
September 20, 1987; the Tigers now a game and a half in front. Morris pitches against Juan Nieves of the Brewers in Tiger Stadium. Morris is hit hard; Tigers lose the game 11 to 4.
September 24, 1987; the Tigers now a half-game behind the Blue Jays. Morris pitches against the Blue Jays in Toronto, the biggest regular-season start of his career up to this point. Morris is staked to an early 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the third he walks two, throws a wild pitch, gives up a two-run double to Rance Mulliniks, and gives up four runs, loses the game 4-3.
September 28, 1987. By now the Tigers are two and a half behind with 7 games to play. Morris pitches against the Orioles (a bad team) and John Habyan (not a great pitcher) at Tiger Stadium. He loses the game 3-0, not exactly his fault, but. . .he walked five, Big Game, and he lost.
In the tightest pennant race of his career, Morris has now lost three straight starts and four out of five. In spite of Morris, though, the Tigers hold on, as Doyle Alexander and Walt Terrell are both winning every start. On the day that Morris loses to Baltimore the Blue Jays also lose, so the Tigers stay two and a half behind, six to play. The next day Frank Tanana beats Baltimore, and the Tigers pull to within a game and a half, five to play. Both teams lose on September 30 (Wednesday); the race holds its position with four to play. On Thursday Terrell beats the Orioles, the Blue Jays are idle, and the Tigers close the gap to one game.
The schedule makers have got it right this time; Toronto will play three games in Detroit to close the season. Friday, October 1. Doyle Alexander, obtained from Atlanta for a minor league pitching prospect, beats Jim Clancy, 4-3, and the race is tied. Saturday, Morris starts against Mike Flanagan. The game is tied, 2-2 through 9 innings. Morris leaves at that point. Flanagan pitches the 10th, the 11th; game still tied 2-2. Alan Trammell wins the game with a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 12th. MVP voters fail to notice. Tigers are a game ahead with one to play. Tanana pitches a shutout in the last game of the season, and the Tigers win the division.
They won the division, but it’s at least as much despite what Jack Morris did in Big Games as because of it. For the Tigers in September/October, 1987:
Matt Nokes hit .308 with 7 homers,
Darrell Evans hit 9 homers and drove in 25 runs,
Alan Trammell hit .417 (53/127) with 7 homers and 20 RBI,
Doyle Alexander went 6-0 with a 1.09 ERA,
Walt Terrell also went 6-0, albeit with a 3.58 ERA,
while Lou Whitaker, Kirk Gibson and Tom Brookens also played well, and even Frank Tanana turned in three brilliant games at the end of the month. Jack Morris was 3-4 with a 3.09 ERA.
In 1988 the American League East had one of its greatest pennant races, with five teams in it all the way. Morris struggled through the first half of the season, with a 5.33 ERA through July 19, then had a long string of starts against the other division. He made eleven starts in July and August, 1988, nine of them against the American League West. He did pitch very well in beating the Red Sox on August 5; we don’t mark that as a Big Game, but you can if you want to. But if you mark that one as a Big Game, you certainly have to mark his next start against the division, which was against the Brewers on August 27, and he lost that one, or anyway the Tigers lost it.
Morris’ first game in 1988 that meets our standard of a Big Game was against the Blue Jays at Tiger Stadium, September 5. The Tigers and Red Sox were now tied for first place, both teams at 75-61. Morris faced off against Mike Flanagan of the Blue Jays. He gave up 11 hits, 4 runs in eight innings; the Tigers lost in extra innings.
By the time he started again, September 10, the Tigers were two and a half behind; still a Big Game, obviously. Morris started against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. The Tigers staked him to a 4-2 lead. He gave up 11 hits and 7 runs in six and a third, lost the game 9-4.
September 16, Morris started against the Orioles at Tiger Stadium. The Orioles are still a bad team; they’re on their way to 100 losses. He was knocked out of the game in the third inning, after surrendering a three-run homer to Eddie Murray. The Tigers, down 5-1 at the time Morris left the game, rallied to win.
He started against the Indians on September 20; the Indians are the other non-competitive team in the division. By now the Tigers are six games behind with 12 to play; they are on the border of being eliminated. He beats the Indians, 3-1.
His next start is against the Orioles on September 25. The Tigers are five back with eight to play; they’re really out of it, but we err on the side of caution and pretend they are not. Morris beats the Orioles 2-1, and we give him credit for a Big Win, because there is one week left in the season and the Tigers have not been officially eliminated. The race is over before Morris starts again, so. . .that’s it for 1988.
In 1989 the Tigers lost 103 games; Morris was 6-14. Morris didn’t start another Big Game until September 12, 1990, against the Orioles, and that, again, is a game that we wince to describe as a Big One. The Tigers were ten and a half out with 19 to play. We err on the side of caution; we say that the Tigers are NOT virtually eliminated, although if they are not they are awfully close to it, but if they’re in the race in mid-September, it’s a Big Game. In any case he lost, dropping his record on the season to 11-18, and the Tigers were certainly out of the race then. Morris won his last four starts, against four teams that were also just playing out the string, and finished the season 15-18.
I was writing annual Baseball Books then, a few of you will remember, and I went out of my way that winter to defend Jack Morris against the many people who were saying that his career was finished. "He’s not finished," I wrote, "He can still win 18 games if he lands with a competitive team." Not sure the phrasing was exact; something very close to that. He did in fact sign with a competitive team, after I wrote that, and then he did in fact win 18 games. Blind pig; acorn.
In 1991 Morris pitched for the Minnesota Twins, who won the American League West in a fairly easy contest, winning by nine games. The Twins went on to win the World Series, Jack Morris being the World Series MVP after pitching a ten-inning shutout in the 7th Game of the World Series, perhaps the greatest Game 7 performance in World Series history.
It was that post-season, of course, that established Morris in the minds of sports writers as a Big Game pitcher—two wins in the playoffs, two more in the World Series, including the Game 7 masterpiece.
But as to the regular season contests. ..well, it is kind of the same stuff we have been seeing. After making three straight starts against the worst teams in the other division (August 27, September 1 and September 7), Morris made his first Big Game start of 1991 against the Rangers on September 12. The Rangers were over .500 and in the Twins’ division, although the race was not really close. The 44-year-old Nolan Ryan started for the Rangers. Morris gave up a three-run homer in the first inning, lost the game 4-3.
September 17, 1991 Morris started against the Royals (Bret Saberhagen). Saberhagen beat him, 4-1.
September 22, 1991. The Twins are ahead by seven games with 13 to play, but since we err on the side of caution, we’re going to say that the race is not over. Morris beats the Rangers, 8 to 4. We are crediting him with a Big Win.
That winter Morris was a Free Agent again. After two poor years in Detroit, 1989-1990, Morris was just looking for whatever he could get. He signed a one-year contract with the Twins, who had finished last in 1990, for a reported $3 million, which in baseball we refer to as a measly $3 million, because we have lost our marbles. The Twins—and Morris—had caught lighting in a coffee pot. Morris was good, and the Twins leaped from last to first to World Series champions, and Morris was a free agent again. He signed a two-year-contract with Toronto for just short of $10 million.
Toronto was the defending champion in the American League East. They needed a Big Game pitcher to carry them all the way, and Morris was their Big Game pitcher.
Morris made his first big-game start for the Blue Jays on August 11, 1992, against the Orioles. The Orioles were back in contention. Camden Yards was open (although this game was played at the Skydome); the Orioles were back in business. The Blue Jays were in first place, 66-46; the Orioles were in second, three games back. Morris started for the Blue Jays against Alan Mills, gave up three runs in the fourth inning, and lost the game.
The Blue Jays played Cleveland next—a non-competitive team, and it’s August, so that isn’t a Big Game—then played a series against the Brewers, the other good team in their division; the three good teams in the AL East in 1992 were the Blue Jays, the Orioles and the Brewers. Morris beat the Brewers with 7 strong innings (August 22, 1992), putting the Blue Jays three games ahead of the pack.
Then the Blue Jays played several series against the other division. . .the White Sox, the Twins, the Royals, the Rangers. They got back inside the division in mid-September. September 17, 1992, the Blue Jays were three games ahead with 15 to play. Morris started against the Cleveland Indians. The Blue Jays gave him 4 runs in the first inning. Morris gradually squandered the lead. After 9 innings it was 5-5. Morris left the game. The Blue Jays won it in the 10th.
September 23, 1992. The Blue Jays are now four ahead of the Brewers, five and a half ahead of the Orioles. Morris started against the Orioles at Camden Yard. He gave up a bases-loaded double in the third inning, lost the game 4-1.
September 27, 1992; the Blue Jays are up two and a half with five games to play. Morris started against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, and beat them 12 to 2.
October 2, 1992; the Blue Jays are two games ahead with three to play. Morris started against the Tigers (75-84) in Toronto. The Blue Jays score six runs in the first two innings to take a 6-0 lead. Morris gives up 6 runs in 6 innings, turning the game into a nail-biter, but is credited with the victory in an 8-7 game that clinches the division. Morris finishes the season 21-6.
Morris did not pitch well in the 1992 post-season, posting a 6.57 ERA in the playoffs, 8.44 in the World Series, and failing to win any of his four post-season starts. The Blue Jays, however, win all four World Series games that Morris doesn’t start, and win the World Series. Morris’ conspicuous failures in Big Games (in 1992) are overlooked and forgotten; he’s a World Series winner for the second straight season.
Morris’ career collapsed in 1993 (7-12, 6.19) ERA, and he never started another Big Game, although two of his starts in August of 1993 are line calls for Big Game status (Morris was raked over the coals in both outings, if you insist on knowing.)
Bert Blyelven. … .well, Blyleven’s record in Big Games isn’t great, either. It’s better than Morris’s, but it’s still not great. Blyleven in Big Games was 20-18, 3.08 ERA. He had the same problem in Big Games that he had in other games: you need runs to win. Blyleven is in the bottom 20% of pitchers in terms of run support average in Big Games. He still managed to win more of them than he lost.
Jack Morris became famous as a Big Game pitcher based on
a) four good starts in the 1991 post-season, and
b) the fact that the people who wanted to put him in the Hall of Fame had to have something they could say, so they claimed that he was a Big Game pitcher.
But other than those four starts in the 1991 post-season, there is nothing there. His record in Big Games, other than the 1991 post-season, isn’t good; it is actually very poor. Yes, he did win some Big Game; every pitcher who has a real career does, even Frank Tanana. Jon Lester has won far more Big Games in his career than Jack Morris did, in a career that isn’t yet half as long. Doyle Alexander was 0-5 in the Post Season—but he still won more Big Games than Morris did.
If you want to advocate for a pitcher being in the Hall of Fame based on his performance in Big Games, advocate for Ron Guidry, or Jim Kaat, or Mickey Lolich, or Mike Mussina.