It’s Hall of Fame Week at Umpbump. We’ll be taking a look at the guys on the ballot and giving you our take on who does and doesn’t belong in Cooperstown. First up is Jack Morris, the winningest pitcher of the 1980s.

Let’s get something straight: Jack Morris isn’t getting into the Hall of Fame. In his first year of eligibility, he received 41.2 percent support from voters. In his second year, he got 37.1 percent. Guys who don’t get into the Hall on the first vote need to build support in subsequent years. It’s a momentum thing. And Morris doesn’t have any momentum.

Let’s get something else straight: Jack Morris belongs in the Hall of Fame. We’re talking about a guy who was one of the best pitchers — maybe the best pitcher — of his era. He was dominant, never more so than when the games mattered most.

There are compelling cases to made in opposition to Morris. But the reasons to vote for him outweigh the reasons to vote against him.

Reasons not to vote for Morris:

1. Morris had 225 win shares.

The Win Shares method, developed by Bill James in 2002, is a complex method for evaluating players which includes all aspects of performance – offense, defense and pitching. James has stated that, “Historically, 400 Win Shares means absolute enshrinement in the Hall of Fame and 300 Win Shares makes a player more likely than not to be a Hall of Famer. However, future standards may be different. Players with 300-350 Win Shares in the past have generally gone into the Hall of Fame. In the future, they more often will not”.

225 Win Shares places Morris 14th among players on this year’s HOF ballot, just behind Chuck Knoblach. Ewww.

2. Morris never won a Cy Young.

3. Morris had a career ERA of 3.90. If elected, he’d have the highest career ERA of any HOF pitcher.

Reasons why none of that matters:

1. Win Shares are a good stat. But they’re not all-important. There are HOF pitchers with fewer Win shares than Morris. Bruce Sutter had 168!

2. Morris never won a Cy Young, but he came darned close. He finished fifth or better in the Cy voting five times. He led the league in wins twice and in strikeouts and complete games once. He was a five-time all-star. And nobody won more games in the 1980s.

3. Yeah, his ERA was high. But his career ERA was inflated by a couple of rough years (1988-1990). You know what Morris did in 1991? He won 21 games and posted an ERA of 3.43. That’s HOF perseverance, baby!

A few more reasons to vote for Morris:

1. The guy was clutch. If the only game you saw Morris pitch was his game seven start in the 1991 World Series, that was enough. Morris started for the Twins three times in that series. In a post season performance for the ages, the 36-year-old hurler threw 10 innings of shutout baseball against the Braves as the Twins won the World title on a 10th inning single by Gene Larkin that scored Dan Gladden. Morris was voted the World Series MVP.

2. Morris gave the most chauvinist quote of his generation, once explaining to a female reporter that, “I don’t talk to women when I’m naked, unless they’re on top of me or I’m on top of them.” Right now Keith Hernandez is reading this and taking notes.

3. Great ’stache.

4. Morris was a winner. I know that wins and losses are not the best way to judge a pitcher’s performance. I know it. But I can’t get past the feeling that Jack Morris better understood what it takes to win than any other pitcher of his generation. Maybe it’s because he won more games than any other pitcher in the 1980s. Maybe it’s because he was a mostly dominant postseason pitcher. Maybe it’s because he won FOUR World Series rings. But that’s always how it seemed. And I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Morris’s peers respected him. That’s why he played in five all-star games. That’s why he started a record 14 opening day games. He was the man.

One more thing before you go. I think it’s safe to say Curt Schilling will be pulling for Jack Morris. Schilling is the Morris of our generation: a consistently good pitcher who never won a Cy Young and whose big-game performances have enhanced his legend. Schilling, incidentally, has 242 win shares — 17 more than Morris. But Morris has one thing Schilling doesn’t: a no-hitter.

Here’s who I would vote for if I had a Hall of Fame ballot, in order of how much I think they deserve to be in:

1. Cal Ripken Jr. - Even if he hadn’t set the ironman record, he would still be a shoo-in for the the Hall because of how he revolutionized the way we think of what a shortstop should contribute on offense. At a time when shortstop was still seen as a position where you could sacrifice offense for defense, Ripken hit 438 homeruns at the position. Oh yeah, he also won 2 MVPs, 2 gold gloves, and the 1982 AL Rookie of the Year. Far and away the best shortstop of his era.

2. Tony Gwynn - the best pure hitter of his day, Gwynn was an 8-time batting champion and was also a good defender who won 5 gold gloves. His .338 career batting average ranks 14th all time in the modern era, and the best of all who played since Ted Williams retired in 1960.

3. Goose Gossage - One of the most feared and dominant relievers of all time, Gossage was better than hall of famer Bruce Sutter by many measures and had a career almost twice as long. He was named to 9 All-Star teams in 11 years from 1975 to 1985, and had an ERA of 2.90 or better in his first 10 years as a relief ace. The only way Gossage doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame is if you believe that no reliever should ever be allowed in.

4. Jack Morris - Morris’s career ERA is high for a hall of famer, but that’s about the only reason I could see to keep him out. The man was the ace of every team he ever pitched on, including four World Series squads, and outdueled John Smoltz in the greatest game in World Series history. If the Hall of Fame is all about stats (which it is clearly not), then he could be kept out, but if it is about fame and glory, there has to be a place for Jack Morris, who was the greatest starting pitcher of the 80s.

5. Andre Dawson - The first 16 years of Andre Dawson’s career are virtually identical to the entire 16 years of Jim Rice’s, except that Dawson stole 318 bases to Rice’s 58, won 8 gold gloves to Rice’s zero, and hung around a few more years to hit 56 more home runs than Rice. Dawson was a complete player, whereas Rice was a one-dimensional slugger.

Close but not quite: Jim Rice, Dale Murphy, Burt Blyleven, Tommy John, Alan Trammell, Mark McGwire

Strictly for people who think the “save” stat actually means anything: Lee Smith