Every player enshrined in Cooperstown was great, but the first-ballot Hall of Famers were the greatest who ever lived -- and Eddie Murray certainly qualifies.

What stood out about Murray was his consistency. He wasn't the best home-run hitter and run producer, and only led the league in home runs and RBI once during his career, but he produced big numbers every year.

To understand how good he was, just remember that Murray, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron are the only players in baseball history with more than 500 home runs and 3,000 hits. Plus, he was a defensive standout, earning three Gold Glove awards at first base.

As for Gary Carter, I defer to my former teammate, Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench, who has always told me that Carter belonged in Cooperstown. During his career Carter was the dominant catcher in the National League, playing in 11 All-Star Games. Only Yogi Berra (15) and Johnny Bench (14) have made more All-Star teams for catchers.

Carter played the game hard all the time and gave me one of the hardest hits I ever received. After I fielded a ground ball in the base path, I turned to tag him and throw to first base for the double play. But he hit me so hard I flipped in the air. I got up, patted him on the back, and said, "Nice play."

Some people have been turned off by Carter's extroverted personality, but playing against him, I always thought of him like a high school catcher who would say, "Swing, batter! Swing, batter!" I never saw his outgoing nature as a problem, just like I wouldn't penalize Murray for having a much quieter personality.

To me, the No. 1 player who fell short in the voting was Jim Rice. He was "the man" in the American League for at least 10 years. When I was in the National League, I read his box scores every day. He was so consistent, with hits, home runs and RBI. I can't believe he hasn't received more support, but playing in Boston may have hurt his publicity.

I'm also surprised at the low vote total that Ryne Sandberg received his first time on the ballot. I'm sure his numbers will improve next year because he was a great player, the premier second baseman of his time.

In addition, Bruce Sutter set the standard in the National League for what a closer really was. He would pitch the final two or three innings to get a save. In today's game, I believe he would consistently get 50 to 60 saves a year. He was dominant. Batters couldn't hit him, even though they knew his split-fingered fastball was coming nearly every pitch.

Andre Dawson is another player I felt would get more votes because he had more than 400 home runs. There are only three Hall-eligible players with 400-plus home runs who are not in Cooperstown -- Dawson, Dave Kingman and Darrell Evans.

I'm shocked about Rice, Sutter, Sandberg and Dawson, but not about Murray and Carter.

Joe Morgan, a baseball analyst for ESPN and a regular contributor to ESPN.com, was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 1990 and serves as the Hall's vice chairman.