This, and Game 7 against my Braves, is the reason why Morris is getting HOF consideration. I know others have shown that he did not have a uncanny ability to allow runs more often only when he had sizable leads. I am showing another, even if it's a less arduous, way that this wasn't true. Using B-R's HR Log, I found the mini-table that shows how far ahead/behind a team is when the home runs are allowed. For this study, I only counted the HR allowed when the pitcher was up 4+ runs. For example, Morris allowed 57 of his 389 HR - 14.7% - up 4 or more runs. Here is a table of 19 pitchers who primarily played from 1960-1995 and their respective percentages.
Name | Total HR | HR >4 R | % |
Tiant | 346 | 56 | 16.2% |
Kaat | 395 | 61 | 15.4% |
Blyleven | 430 | 65 | 15.1% |
D. Martinez | 372 | 56 | 15.1% |
Morris | 389 | 57 | 14.7% |
Palmer | 303 | 43 | 14.2% |
Tanana | 448 | 63 | 14.1% |
John | 302 | 41 | 13.6% |
Niekro | 482 | 65 | 13.5% |
Hunter | 374 | 50 | 13.4% |
D. Alexander | 324 | 43 | 13.3% |
Eckersley | 347 | 46 | 13.3% |
Viola | 294 | 38 | 12.9% |
Carlton | 414 | 51 | 12.3% |
Sutton | 472 | 56 | 11.9% |
Hough | 383 | 45 | 11.7% |
Seaver | 380 | 44 | 11.6% |
Ryan | 321 | 36 | 11.2% |
G. Perry | 399 | 32 | 8.0% |
Morris is high on the list, but not enough to warrant his "pitch to the score" reputation. Of the pitchers ahead of him, Blyleven was much, much better, Tiant was better, and Kaat and Martinez were nearly as good. There are many limitations to this statistic, but it's pretty safe to say Morris was not the pitcher many people think he was.