Morris shy of Hall, but ups votes

For the fourth consecutive year, Jack Morris' vote totals increased in the latest round of Baseball Hall of Fame balloting. But for another year, it's not nearly enough to give him the momentum to expect to be inducted anytime soon.

The former Tigers, Twins and Blue Jays great received 172 votes in this year's results, raising his percentage from 26 last year to exactly one-third of the votes this time around. But with 75 percent needed for induction, that dream remains a long way off.

		2005 Hall of Fame   voting results
	The complete vote (516 ballots, 387 to gain election, 26 to remain on ballot):  Player  Votes   %  Wade Boggs  474  91.9%  Ryne Sandberg  393  76.2%  Bruce Sutter  344  66.7%  Jim Rice  307  59.5%  "Goose" Gossage  285  55.2%  Andre Dawson  270  52.3%  Bert Blyleven  211  40.9%  Lee Smith  200  38.8%  Jack Morris  172  33.3%  Tommy John  123  23.8%  Steve Garvey  106  20.5%  Alan Trammell   87  16.9%  Dave Parker   65  12.6%  Don Mattingly   59  11.4%  Dave Concepcion   55  10.7%  Dale Murphy   54  10.5%  Willie McGee   26   5.0%  Jim Abbott   13   2.5%  Darryl Strawberry    6   1.2%  Jack McDowell    4   0.8%  Chili Davis    3   0.6%  Tom Candiotti    2   0.4%  Jeff Montgomery    2   0.4%  Tony Phillips    1   0.2%  Terry Steinbach    1   0.2%  Mark Langston    0   0.0%  Otis Nixon    0   0.0%   Election coverage: • Wade, Ryno are Hall choices • No doubts about Class of 2005 • Boggs hits his way to the Hall • Ryno charges into Hall of Fame • Red Sox lavish praise on Boggs • Rays react to Boggs Hall call • From Beantown to Bronx to Hall • Sutter closing in on Hall of Fame • Boggs is fans' favorite to make Hall   Sights and sounds: • Boggs photo gallery • Boggs highlights: 56K | 350K • Boggs conference call • Sandberg photo gallery • Sandberg highlights: 56K | 350K • Sandberg conference call • Official announcement: 56K | 350K • HOF president Dale Petroskey   announces Class of 2005

It's not exactly a surprise to Morris, who said going into the balloting that he wasn't expecting a vast increase. When asked about it in December, he said he's taken the philosophy that if it happens, it happens.

"I've come to the realization that if I don't make it, then I don't make it," Morris said recently. "The only thing that changes in my life is that I'd get a lot more money and when I walked by people would say, 'There goes a Hall of Famer.' My life is going to be pretty much the way it is right now."

Nobody on this year's Hall of Fame ballot played on more championship teams than Morris, who won World Series with the Tigers in 1984, the Twins in 1991 and the Blue Jays in 1992 and '93. He earned such a reputation as an unflappable World Series pitcher that it overshadowed his honor as the winningest pitcher of the 1980s.

But Morris is one piece of 1980s history that hasn't become a sentimental favorite. Tuesday's results marked the sixth year Morris has been on the ballot and his highest total to date, both in pure vote totals and percentage of ballots cast.

Morris posted a 254-186 record with a 3.90 ERA during his 18-year big league career. He earned three 20-win seasons and pitched an astounding 293 2/3 innings in 1983.