I love the 80's (Baseball Edition) #1 - Jack Morris

If you've followed my blog, you know that I grew up in the 80's and a big part of my card collection is focused on this decade. Whether it's vintage Star Wars figures or original Garbage Pail Kids, chances are if it was made during the 80's... I'm into it.

So when it comes to sports cards, it's no different. A huge part of my card collection are autographs of players I loved watching play in the 80's. After reading an article in last month's Baseball Digest, I decided to create a new series of posts dedicated to these players.

First up is Jack Morris. There's no special reason I picked Mr. Morris to begin this series. He's not my favorite player. The Tigers aren't my favorite team. He just happened to be mentioned in the magazine and I just happen to have his autograph, so voila... there you have it.

During the 80's, Jack Morris was one of the greatest starting pitchers. He had 22 more wins during this decade than any other pitcher (He had 162 wins, while Dave Stieb ranks 2nd with 140 wins). In addition to wins, Morris also led all pitchers in innings pitched during the 80's. Last, but not least... he had the 3rd most strikeouts during the decade. Can you guess who the top 2 (strikeout leaders of the 80's) are?

Here are just a few more cool facts about Mr. Morris:

- 5x All-Star

- 1981 The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year

- 2x Babe Ruth Award recipient (best World Series performance)

- 1991 World Series MVP

- has 254 wins (42nd all-time), 2,478 strikeouts (31st all-time), and started 526 times (36th all-time)

As of right now, he's not in the Baseball Hall of Fame. However, maybe one day Mr. Morris will find his way into Cooperstown. Until then, he'll always have a home in my collection.

By the way, if you're looking to add an autograph for your own personal collection... his autographs are really cheap. Beckett has over 15 different autographs under $10 ($5 is the cheapest). eBay also has a bunch of autographs in this price range as well.