Amateur career Morris attended
Highland Park High School in
Saint Paul, Minnesota, graduating in 1973. He then attended
Brigham Young University (BYU), and played
college baseball for the
BYU Cougars.
Detroit Tigers The
Detroit Tigers selected Morris in the fifth round of the
1976 MLB draft. He was first called up to the Tigers in 1977 after
Mark Fidrych was placed on the disabled list with an injury. Morris broke into the Tigers' starting rotation in 1979, posting a 17–7 record and a 3.29
ERA and establishing himself as the ace of the Detroit staff. Morris, along with catcher
Lance Parrish, shortstop
Alan Trammell, second baseman
Lou Whitaker, outfielder
Kirk Gibson, and manager
Sparky Anderson, played a notable role in turning the Tigers into a contending team for most of the 1980s. In 1980, Morris learned to throw the
split-finger fastball from newly hired pitching coach
Roger Craig, and it became an effective pitch for the rest of Morris' career. He led the major leagues with 14 wins in the strike-shortened 1981 season, while posting a 3.05 ERA. Despite playing for the notorious "Captain Hook" (Anderson), nicknamed because of his tendency to pull his starters at the first sign of weakness, Morris was known for finishing games. He racked up 175 complete games in his career (154 with Detroit). He compiled double-digit complete game totals in 10 of his 12 full seasons as a Tiger. In
1983, Morris completed 20 of his 37 starts. That year, he led the league in innings pitched (293.2), batters faced (1204) and strikeouts (232), while posting his first 20-win season. On April 7, 1984 (on
NBC's nationally televised
Game of the Week), Morris
no-hit the
Chicago White Sox at
Comiskey Park, beginning what would be an excellent season for both him and the Tigers. The no-hitter was the first by a Tiger since
Jim Bunning in 1958. By the end of the
1984 campaign, he had notched 19 wins and a 3.60 ERA, leading Detroit into the postseason. He scored a win over the
Kansas City Royals in the
ALCS, and added two more complete-game victories in the
World Series against the
San Diego Padres as the
Tigers concluded their wire-to-wire 1984 campaign with the World Championship. While teammate
Alan Trammell was named World Series MVP, Morris was given the
Babe Ruth Award for most outstanding performance in the 1984 postseason. In 1986, Morris went 21–8 with a 3.27 ERA and 223 strikeouts. His career-high six shutouts that season included a stretch from July 9–18 in which he threw a complete-game shutout in three consecutive starts. The
Tigers headed to the postseason again in 1987 behind a team-leading 18 wins from Morris, but this time Morris' postseason performance was below expectations. He lost his only start in the
ALCS, surrendering six runs in eight innings to the eventual World Champion
Minnesota Twins. Despite a sub-par season in
1989 when he made only 24 starts and won just 6 games, he finished the 1980s with 162 wins, the most by a major league pitcher during the decade. In
1990, his final season in Detroit, Morris lost a career-high 18 games, though he also led the Tiger staff with 15 wins and led the AL with 11 complete games. Morris had a 3–1 post-season record as a Tiger, with a 2.73 ERA.
Minnesota Twins In 1991, Morris signed a one-year contract with his hometown
Minnesota Twins. He enjoyed another great season, posting 18 wins with a 3.43 ERA, and an even better postseason after
Minnesota won the AL West. Morris won both of his starts over the
Toronto Blue Jays in the
ALCS, and his team went on to face the
Atlanta Braves in the
World Series. Morris started for the Twins three times in the series, going 2–0 with a 1.17 ERA, making his final outing in the deciding Game 7. In a postseason performance for the ages, the 36-year-old hurler threw 10 innings of shutout baseball against the Braves, as the Twins won the game 1–0 on a 10th-inning single by
Gene Larkin that scored
Dan Gladden. Morris was named the
World Series MVP for his performance, and joined fellow pitcher
Sandy Koufax as the only players to win the
Babe Ruth Award twice. He holds the record for most wins by a Twin in a single postseason, with four in 1991.
Toronto Blue Jays Following the 1991 season, Morris signed a two-year contract with the
Toronto Blue Jays. In the 1992 season, he earned 21 wins for the second time in his career (the first ever 20-win season for a Blue Jays pitcher) with only six losses, though he rode a wave of superior run support from his offense, given his 4.04 ERA that year. The
Blue Jays reached the
1992 World Series against the
Braves. Despite a subpar post-season performance (he went 0–3, including two World Series losses), Morris won a third
World Series ring as Toronto beat Atlanta in six games. He won a fourth ring in 1993, as
the Blue Jays repeated as World Champions with a victory over the
Philadelphia Phillies in six games. However, Morris was not a factor in the Blue Jays World Series repeat: he pitched poorly for the team in the regular season, finishing 7–12 with a 6.19 ERA, and was not used at all in the postseason due to a season-ending injury. On April 6, 1993, Morris set a major league record by making his 14th consecutive Opening Day start, becoming the fourth pitcher to make fourteen Opening Day starts to go with being the first (and so far only) pitcher to start the first game of a season in fourteen consecutive seasons.
Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds Morris joined the
Cleveland Indians in 1994, but was released by the
team on August 9, three days before the season was ended by a
strike. Morris finished the season with a 10–6 record and an ERA of 5.60. He signed a one-year, $600,000 contract with the
Cincinnati Reds on December 22, 1994. After an abortive attempt at a comeback with the Reds during spring training of
1995, Morris retired. In 1996, he made a brief return to professional baseball, this time playing with his hometown
St. Paul Saints of the
independent Northern League. The 41-year-old Morris went 5–1 in 10 starts, with a 2.69 ERA, before retiring for good.
Salary Morris was the highest-paid pitcher in the
American League on at least four occasions: 1987, 1988, 1991, and 1993.
Wildness The split-finger pitch was responsible for Morris leading the league in wild pitches on six separate occasions. His 206 wild pitches in his career rank thirteenth in baseball history (tied with
Adonis Terry) and third highest among pitchers who pitched their entire careers in the live-ball era. (Only
Nolan Ryan with 277 and
Phil Niekro with 226 rank higher than Morris.)
Awards and highlights {{MLBBioRet • 1981 –
The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year • 1984 – Babe Ruth Award • 1986 – Tiger of the Year by the BBWAA-Detroit Chapter • 1991 – Babe Ruth Award • 1991 – World Series Most Valuable Player • World Series Champion - 1984, 1991, 1992 • All-Star: 1981, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1991 • AL Wins Leader: 1981, 1992 • AL Strikeouts Leader: 1983 • AL Shutouts Leader: 1986 • AL Complete Games Leader: 1990 • Holds the major league record for consecutive opening day starts, with 14 (1980–1993) • Ranks No. 8 on the all time MLB list for wild pitches with 206 • Ranks No. 1 in Detroit Tigers history for wild pitches (155) and balks (23). • Holds Tigers' all-time record for most times leading the team in wins – 11 (1979–88, 1990). • Morris is the only pitcher with 2,000-plus strikeouts who did not face a single pitcher in his career. • Baseball Hall Of Fame Inductee - 2018 (Modern Era Committee) ==Post-career activities==