Morehead first pitched in
Minor League Baseball in 1961 at the
Class A level, posting a 4.80
earned run average (ERA). As a major-league rookie in 1963, Morehead broke into the starting rotation of the Red Sox and posted a 10–13
win–loss record with a 3.81 ERA. He
shut out the
Washington Senators in his major-league debut on April 13. On May 12 of that same year, he pitched a one-hitter against the same Senators, the lone hit coming on a
Chuck Hinton home run. In 1964, Morehead went 8–15 and his ERA ballooned to 4.97. In 1965, he tied for the
American League lead with 18 losses, against 10 victories, for a Red Sox team that finished next-to-last, with 100 losses. On September 16 of the latter year, the same day the Red Sox fired
Pinky Higgins as general manager, Morehead
no-hit the
Cleveland Indians 2–0 before only 1,247 fans in a day game at
Fenway Park, the lone baserunner coming on
Rocky Colavito's second-inning walk. Not until
Hideo Nomo in 2001 would another Red Sox pitch a no-hitter, and the next no-hitter at Fenway Park wouldn't come until 2002 (
Derek Lowe). It was the fourth no-hitter by a Red Sox pitcher in a ten-year period, following
Mel Parnell pitching one in 1956 and
Earl Wilson and
Bill Monbouquette both pitching one in 1962. Parnell's and Wilson's no-hitters, like Morehead's, had also been pitched at Fenway Park, one of the major league's most notorious hitter-friendly stadiums. Over the next three years, Morehead was beset by arm ailments that limited him to 33 games pitched, one fewer than in 1965. He was a member of the
Carl Yastrzemski-led "
Impossible Dream" team that won the American League pennant in 1967, and he pitched two games in
relief in that season's
World Series, which the Red Sox lost to the
St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. Morehead posted a 2.45 ERA during the 1968 season, the lowest of his major-league career, while posting a 1–4 record from 11 appearances including nine starts. He also pitched in a total of 35 Triple-A games during 1967 and 1968. In the
October 1968 expansion draft, Morehead was selected by the
Kansas City Royals. He pitched in 21 games for the Royals during the 1969 season, 19 in relief, accruing a 5.63 ERA and a 2–3 record. In 1970, he pitched in 28 games (17 starts) and had 3–5 record and a 3.62 ERA. In
spring training of 1971, the Royals released him; he had pitched his final game at 28 years of age, the arm ailments having ended his career prematurely. In his career, Morehead won 40 games against 64 losses with a 4.15 ERA and 627 strikeouts in
innings pitched. He also exhibited periods of wildness, issuing 463
base on balls while throwing 41
wild pitches. In each of his first three seasons, Morehead was second in the American League in walks with 99, 112 and 113 respectively. ==Personal life==