Baseball Hall of Fame ballots were released Tuesday, offering a reminder that this is St. Paul native Jack Morris' 15th and final season of eligibility. Morris garnered 67.7 percent of the vote last season, inching closer to the 75 percent needed for enshrinement. No players were elected during the standard balloting last year; this year, however, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas headline a strong class of players eligible for the first time.

Voters can cast ballots for up to 10 players, so a crowded field doesn't necessarily rule out Morris gaining ground. However, we think another starting pitcher who falls into the "close but not quite" category might work against Morris. Here is a comparison between Pitcher A (eligible for the first time) and Morris, eligible for the final time:

Pitcher A

Category

Morris

270

Mussina

Career victories

254

3,562 2/3

Innings pitched

3,824

3.68

Career ERA

3.90

2,813

Strikeouts

2,478

5

All-Star appearances

5

6

Top-five finishes in Cy Young race

5

82.7

Wins Above Replacement (per Baseball-reference.com)

43.8

3.42

Postseason ERA

3.80

Who is the masked man known as Pitcher A? Mike Mussina. Where Morris sets himself apart are his heroic performances in his first two World Series — going a combined 4-0 with a 1.54 ERA for the Tigers and Twins in 1984 and 1991. He also fired 175 complete games to Mussina's 57 — a testament to both his workhorse nature and a shift in philosophy during Mussina's career. But as noted above, Mussina actually has a better postseason ERA and nearly as many regular-season innings as Morris.

Is Mussina worthy of Hall of Fame discussion? Sure. In addition to the solid numbers above, he also won seven Gold Glove awards (Morris did not win any). But it's also easy to decide that Mussina was a very good but not Hall-worthy pitcher. And if you do that, you might have to feel the same way about Morris — even if this is his last chance.

michael rand