Matt Morris (baseball)

Matt Morris
Pitcher
Born: August 9, 1974 (1974-08-09) (age 37) Middletown, New York
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
June 4, 1997 for the St. Louis Cardinals
Last MLB appearance
April 26, 2008 for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Career statistics
Win–loss record	121–92
Earned run average	3.98
Strikeouts	1,205
Teams
St. Louis Cardinals (1997–2005) San Francisco Giants (2006–2007) Pittsburgh Pirates (2007–2008)
Career highlights and awards
2× All-Star selection (2001, 2002) 2001 NL Comeback Player of the Year

Matthew Christian Morris (born August 9, 1974) is a former Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher. He retired on April 30, 2008.^[1]

Morris attended Valley Central High School in New York before starring at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, he was drafted 12th overall in the June 1995 free agent draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. Morris pitched in the minor leagues in 1996 and 1997, reaching the majors in 1997. In his first season, he won 12 games with a 3.19 ERA. In 1999, he underwent Tommy John surgery after he was injured in spring training.^[2]

Morris became the ace of the Cardinals' pitching staff in 2001, earning his first All-Star selection and a 3rd place finish in the NL Cy Young voting. He won 22 games with 185 strikeouts and a 3.16 ERA. In 2002, he won 17 games and made his second All-Star appearance.

In 2004, Morris signed a one-year contract after he won 15 games on a Cardinals team that made the World Series. In 2004, he lost 10 games for the first time in his career and had a 4.72 ERA, also a career high.

Morris underwent surgery during the 2004/2005 off-season and started the season 8-0 with a 3.16 ERA, and was 10-2 with a 3.10 ERA at the time of the All-Star break. In fact, he was considered by many to be snubbed for the All-Star game. Morris went 4-7 with a 5.55 ERA after the All-Star break. He was the number three starter for the Cardinals in the playoffs, behind ace Chris Carpenter, and Mark Mulder. In the thin free-agent market of the 2005/2006 off-season, Morris was touted as one of the best available pitchers.

On December 12, 2005, Morris signed a 3-year contract with the San Francisco Giants worth $27 million. He had an injury-filled year with the Giants in 2006, going 10-15 with a 4.98 ERA.^[3]

Prior to the 2007 season, Morris changed his uniform number from 35, which he had worn for his entire career, to wear number 22 as a tribute to retired former teammate Mike Matheny. Rich Aurilia took the number 35 jersey.

On July 31, 2007, Morris was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for center field prospect Rajai Davis and pitcher Stephen MacFarland.

Morris started off the 2008 season with a 0-4 record and a 9.67 ERA in 5 starts. On April 27, 2008, Morris was released by the Pirates.^[4] He retired three days later.^[5]

See also

• List of Major League Baseball wins champions
• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins

References

1. ^ Jenifer Langosch (2008-04-29). "Report: Morris calls it quits Veteran right-hander was released by Pirates on Sunday". MLB.com. http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080428&content_id=2605020&vkey=news_pit&fext=.jsp&c_id=pit. Retrieved 2008-04-29. 
2. ^ "Matt Morris Statistics". The Baseball Cube. http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/M/matt-morris.shtml. Retrieved 2008-04-29. 
3. ^ Henry Schulman (2006-10-03). "GIANTS NOTEBOOK Injured ribs affected Morris at end of season". The San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/03/SPG43LH1VE1.DTL. Retrieved 2008-04-29. 
4. ^ George Von Benko (2008-04-27). "Morris released, hints at retiring Veteran right-hander winless in five starts this season". MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080427&content_id=2597858&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb. Retrieved 2008-04-29. 
5. ^ Justin Rodriguez (2008-04-29). "Morris hangs 'em up". [1]. http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080429/SPORTS/804290316/-1/NEWS14. Retrieved 2009-08-11. 

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• CBS Sports Line -daily updates

Preceded by Tom Glavine	National League Wins Champion 2001 (with Curt Schilling)	Succeeded by Randy Johnson
Preceded by Andrés Galarraga	NL Comeback Player of the Year 2001	Succeeded by Mike Lieberthal

Persondata
Name	Morris, Matt
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 9, 1974
Place of birth	Middletown, New York
Date of death
Place of death