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I think Morris is a flat out mistake. I would have voted for just about every other guy on the ballot before him and many not on the ballot, including Lou Whitaker.
Why Marvin Miller isn't in already is exhibit A in why the HOF voting process is broken.
Alan Trammell's traditional stats do not appear HOF caliber but when you include defense & base running skills, his advanced metrics are definitely HOF-worthy (70.4 WAR). So in the end, I think Trammell is the perfect Veterans Committee vote-in.
Jack Morris is a bit of a head-scratcher. Pretty good #2/#3 pitcher, but HOF good? Still, he was my fathers favorite Tigers player so I'm happy he gets to see him voted in.
Jack Morris shouldn't be in. His best attribute is that he took the ball every fifth day. That's obviously important for a pitcher but the numbers just don't stand up under scrutiny. He had some amazing Hall of Fame quality moments but the career is lacking. Everyone talks about him winning more games in the '80s than anyone else. He did. He also lost the third most games in the 80s. Nolan and Blyleven were both better from '80-'89. Stieb, Valenzuela (in 1 fewer season), and Clemens (in 5 seasons) were just as good or better. He was on one of the best teams of the '80s and piled up wins because of it, nothing else.
Tommy John probably should be in. If forced to pick one of he or Jack Morris for enshrinement I'm picking Tommy John. Just on his numbers he's borderline and probably just a bit short, but better than Morris. Throw in the fact that he changed the landscape for pitchers though and I think it should push him over. He never missed a start after TJS. Let that sink in for a second.
Alan Trammell was long overdue. He should have gone in first ballot. He was better than Larkin, better than Jeter, and can't help it that he played in an all time era for shortstops with Cal Ripken, Ozzie Smith, and Robin Yount. Just about any other era and he's the starting shortstop in the All Star Game for the AL for like 16 straight years. Instead he had to back up Ripken or Yount which isn't exactly a slight.
Ted Simmons is one of the ten greatest catchers in the history of baseball by fWAR, by JAWS, by old school stats, or by whatever other metric you want to use. If being in the top 10 all time isn't deserving then what is the point of the Hall? His biggest crime is playing in the same era as Johnny Bench, Gary Carter, and Carlton Fisk. it's dumb that he wasn't elected years ago. It's ridiculous that he missed by one vote on the Modern Era Ballot now.
Then there is the biggest snub of all. I can't believe they left out Marvin Miller who should have been in ages ago. Modern Era baseball isn't modern era baseball without Marvin Miller. You'd be hard pressed to find another single person who impacted the game of baseball more from 1970-1987 than Marvin Miller. To me, just on impact value, he's on the short list of people who changed the very nature of the game with Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, and Curt Flood (another name that should be up for consideration). I don't understand how on earth anyone could decide Marvin Miller doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame.
The only reason I can come with for why Marvin Miller keeps being snubbed is because the voters include not just players and media, but team executives, and those execs must have a vendetta against Miller for giving players more power.