John Scott Morris (born May 16, 1955) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1977 to 1994, mostly for the Detroit Tigers. During his career, Morris won 254 games.
Morris used a fastball, slider, and forkball. He was selected as an All-Star five times (1981, 1984, 1985, 1987, and 1991). He played on three World Series Championship teams: the 1984 Detroit Tigers, the 1991 Minnesota Twins, and the 1992 Toronto Blue Jays. In the 1984 postseason, Morris had a 3–0 record, including two complete-game victories in the World Series. In the 1991 postseason, he had a 4–0 record, including a ten-inning complete-game victory in Game 7 of the World Series. Morris won the Babe Ruth Award in 1984 and 1991. He was named World Series MVP in 1991. Although he gave up the most hits, earned runs, and home runs of any pitcher in the 1980s, he also started the most games, pitched the most innings, and had the most wins of any pitcher in that decade. Morris is one of ten players in MLB history to win back-to-back World Series championships on different teams. The other players are Allie Clark, Clem Labine, Bill Skowron, Don Gullett, Ryan Theriot, Jake Peavy, Ben Zobrist, Joc Pederson, and Will Smith.
After retiring, Morris worked as a television analyst for the Blue Jays, Twins, and Tigers. He also worked as an analyst for MLB broadcasts on Fox Sports 1. Morris was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018. He has the highest career ERA among pitchers in the Hall of Fame.
Playing career
Morris attended Highland Park High School in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and graduated in 1973. He then went to Brigham Young University (BYU) and played baseball for the BYU Cougars.
The Detroit Tigers chose Morris in the fifth round of the 1976 MLB draft. He joined the Tigers in 1977 after another player, Mark Fidrych, was injured and placed on the disabled list. Morris became a starting pitcher for the Tigers in 1979, where he had a record of 17 wins and 7 losses, with an ERA of 3.29. He became the team’s top pitcher. Morris, along with catcher Lance Parrish, shortstop Alan Trammell, second baseman Lou Whitaker, outfielder Kirk Gibson, and manager Sparky Anderson, helped the Tigers become a strong team in the 1980s. In 1980, Morris learned to throw the split-finger fastball from new pitching coach Roger Craig, and this pitch helped him throughout his career. In the shortened 1981 season, Morris led the major leagues with 14 wins and had an ERA of 3.05.
Even though manager Sparky Anderson was known for removing pitchers quickly when they struggled, Morris was known for finishing games. He completed 175 games in his career, 154 of them with the Tigers. He had double-digit complete games in 10 of his 12 full seasons with the team. 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), and had his first 20-win season.
On April 7, 1984, during a nationally televised game on NBC, Morris no-hit the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park. This was the first no-hitter by a Tiger since 1958. By the end of the 1984 season, Morris had 19 wins and a 3.60 ERA, helping the Tigers reach the postseason. He won a game in the ALCS against the Kansas City Royals and had two complete-game wins in the World Series against the San Diego Padres. The Tigers won the World Championship that year. Although teammate Alan Trammell was named World Series MVP, Morris received the Babe Ruth Award for his outstanding performance in the 1984 postseason.
In 1986, Morris had a record of 21 wins and 8 losses, with a 3.27 ERA and 223 strikeouts. That season, he had six shutouts, including three in a row from July 9 to 18. The Tigers reached the postseason again in 1987, with Morris leading the team with 18 wins. However, his performance in the ALCS was poor, as he lost his only start. In 1989, Morris had a weak season, making only 24 starts and winning 6 games. Despite this, he finished the 1980s with 162 wins, the most by a major league pitcher during that decade. In 1990, his final season with the Tigers, Morris had 15 wins and 18 losses, and led the AL with 11 complete games.
As a Tiger, Morris had a 3–1 postseason record with a 2.73 ERA.
In 1991, Morris signed a one-year contract with the Minnesota Twins, his hometown team. He had a strong season, with 18 wins and a 3.43 ERA. After the Twins won the AL West, Morris won both of his starts in the ALCS against the Toronto Blue Jays. His team then faced the Atlanta Braves in the World Series. Morris started three games, winning two with a 1.17 ERA. He pitched in Game 7, throwing 10 innings without allowing a run. The Twins won the game 1–0, and Morris was named World Series MVP. He became the only player to win the Babe Ruth Award twice. He also holds the record for most wins by a Twin in a single postseason, with four in 1991.
After the 1991 season, Morris signed a two-year contract with the Toronto Blue Jays. In 1992, he earned 21 wins, with only six losses, though his ERA was 4.04. The Blue Jays reached the World Series against the Braves. Although Morris had a poor postseason performance (0–3), he 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 by beating the Philadelphia Phillies. However, Morris was not used in the postseason in 1993 due to a season-ending injury.
On April 6, 1993, Morris made his 14th consecutive Opening Day start, setting a major league record. He became the first pitcher to start the first game of a season in 14 consecutive years.
Morris joined the Cleveland Indians in 1994 but was released on August 9, three days before the season ended due to a strike. He finished the season with a 10–6 record and an ERA of 5.60. In December 1994, he signed a one-year, $600,000 contract with the Cincinnati Reds. After a poor performance during spring training in 1995, Morris retired. In 1996, he briefly returned to professional baseball, playing with the St. Paul Saints of the Northern League. At 41 years old, he went 5–1 in 10 starts with a 2.69 ERA before retiring for good.
Morris was the highest-paid pitcher in the American League on four occasions
Post-career activities
Morris worked as a color analyst for the Minnesota Twins. He also coached part-time for the Detroit Tigers in Lakeland, Florida, during spring training.
In 2013, Morris joined Sportsnet as a color analyst for Toronto Blue Jays radio broadcasts. He also appeared on television broadcasts. In 2014, he worked as a pre- and post-game analyst for Twins telecasts on Bally Sports North. He also served as a part-time substitute for the regular game analyst, Bert Blyleven. Additionally, he was a regular on-air contributor for KTWN-FM and the Twins Radio Network.
On February 10, 2015, Morris was hired as a part-time analyst for Detroit Tigers telecasts on Fox Sports Detroit. He worked alongside former teammate Kirk Gibson. In a special arrangement, Morris continued to work part-time for both the Twins' and Tigers' television crews. In 2017, it was announced that Morris would no longer work on Tigers telecasts. On January 15, 2019, Morris was named a color commentator for the Tigers again.
On August 17, 2021, Morris used an accent during a broadcast that some people considered inappropriate while Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels was batting. Later in the broadcast, Morris apologized on the air. Ohtani said (through an interpreter), "Personally, I'm not offended and I didn't take anything personally." After this incident, Morris was suspended from the Tigers' broadcast team. He returned to the team less than a month later. After the 2022 season, Morris left the Tigers' broadcast team.
Morris has two sons from his first marriage and one son from his second marriage. He enjoys hunting and fishing, especially in Minnesota, his home state.
Hall of Fame candidacy
Morris was eligible for the National Baseball Hall of Fame from 2000 to 2014, but he did not receive the required 75% of the vote during that time. From 2000 to 2003, he received no more than 30% of the vote. However, his vote totals increased slowly over the years. He received 40% of the vote for the first time in 2006. In 2010, he received 52.3% of the vote. In 2012, he received 67% of the vote, and 67.7% the following year. On January 8, 2014, Morris received 61.5% of the vote in his final year of eligibility. After being removed from the regular ballot, Morris was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Modern Era portion of the Veterans Committee in December 2017. He was inducted as a Detroit Tiger in 2018 along with former Tigers teammate Alan Trammell. His 3.90 career ERA is the highest of any pitcher elected to the Hall of Fame.
Morris is the first Hall of Fame pitcher to have played all of his games in the American League after the introduction of the designated hitter rule and before interleague play began. This makes him the Hall of Fame player with the fewest regular-season at-bats in Major League Baseball history: one. On April 30, 1987, Morris pitched a complete game victory against the California Angels. In the eighth inning, the designated hitter Mike Heath moved to first base, ending the use of the DH for the rest of the game. Morris faced two outs in the ninth inning, hitting a foul fly to right field. This was his first time batting since playing for the minor-league Evansville Triplets in 1977. Morris also appeared as a pinch runner 19 times during his career, scoring four runs. This makes him the only Hall of Fame player to have scored more runs than he had plate appearances.