Morrie attended Salem High School in Salem, Illinois, where he earned varsity letters in baseball, basketball, football, and track. He was signed as a undrafted free agent by the
Chicago Cubs in 1958. Steevens began his 10-year pro career as a 17-year-old at with the
Class D Pulaski Cubs in 1958. In the minors he made the All-Star team in 1959 pitching for the Class D
Paris Lakers and in 1960 with the Class C
St. Cloud Rox. He pitched a no-hitter, as well, in 1960 for the Rox against the Minot Mallards. After going 11-6 with a 3.35 ERA for the
Double-A San Antonio Missions in 1961 and making a third-straight All-Star appearance, Those were the only runs allowed by the
rookie Steevens in 15 innings pitched for the 1962 Cubs. Steevens spent all of 1963 back in the
minor leagues and was traded to the Phillies, during the off-season. After a sparkling 8–1 season with the
Triple-A Arkansas Travelers, he was recalled by the first-place Phils as an extra
bullpen arm for the stretch drive. In his first relief appearance, on September 19, 1964 (two years to the day after his only MLB start), Steevens came into a 3–3 road game against the
Los Angeles Dodgers in the bottom of the 16th inning in relief of
Jack Baldschun to face left-handed-hitting
Ron Fairly with runners at second and third base and two
outs. But before he could retire Fairly,
Willie Davis, the runner at third,
stole home, to give the Dodgers a 4–3 victory. The Phillies recovered to win the next game, but then dropped ten games in a row to fall from the
National League (NL) lead and finish second to the
St. Louis Cardinals. Steevens appeared in three more games during the catastrophic losing streak, allowing one earned run in 2 innings pitched. Morris then split 1965 between Triple-A and the Phils, and appeared in six more big-league games. He posted a poor 16.88
earned run average (ERA), again in only 2 innings of work. Morris then spent and back in the minors before deciding to retire from the game. All told, Steevens lost his only two MLB
decisions. In 22 games and 20 innings pitched, he gave up 20
hits and 16
bases on balls. He
struck out 11 batters. Interestingly, he only pitched in April and September in the Major Leagues. == Personal life ==