stlcardinals.com
February 16, 2003

Cardinals' Morris A Changed Man

By Matthew Leach

JUPITER, Fla. -- Matt Morris is tanned and relaxed. He's laughing a lot. He walks through the Cardinals clubhouse with ease and confidence.

It's a side of the St. Louis ace that wasn't seen too often in the second half of the 2002 season. And it's all despite the fact that he carries more responsibility on his shoulders than he has ever felt in Spring Training.

For the first time, the 28-year-old right-hander is the undisputed ace of his team's staff. There's no doubt Morris has the ability -- he's won 39 games over the last two years and topped 200 innings in each of those campaigns. But unlike in 2001 and '02, there's no co-ace. Fellow right-hander Darryl Kile, a friend and mentor to Morris, passed away in June.

It's 'Matty Mo's' staff now, no doubt about it.

"I was thinking about that, my role," Morris said. "Am I gonna be more outspoken and try to show the 'younger guys' the right way to do things? I know I like to go out there and compete and leave it all on the field and have the (other) players watch.

"You really don't have to talk too much. But I'm gonna take on any responsibility I have to. With Woody (Williams) and his experience, he speaks up a lot. He takes over the role of being the spoken leader on the staff, I'm sure. But when it's time to compete, I'll be the first one out there trying to show everybody how to do it."

Morris endured his share of stress in 2002, not only with losing Kile. He also made a late-season trip to the disabled list. And after the season ended, he got married. It was not just another year.

And already, after just two days of workouts, the experience shows. He's not the same person he was a year ago.

"I feel a year older," he said with a laugh. "But, yeah, I do feel like I grew up a lot more in that year than I did the previous years, just from the adversity and the different situations that we were dealing with. But it's a positive now that I look at it -- (although) obviously some of the things that happened (were not positive)."

That doesn't mean the changes were drastic. It's not as though Morris was a wild child before. He underwent Tommy John elbow surgery in April of 1999, and made it all the way back to top form. He's long been dedicated to his craft.

But still, there's something different.

"I don't think it's anything drastic, because he was always mature and responsible," said manager Tony La Russa. "He wasn't out there going crazy. From his first year here, he was willing to listen. He respected the veterans on the team.

"He definitely suffered. (With) the injury and Darryl, he learned a lot about life. But he isn't dramatically different than he was. He's always had his stuff together. I think (getting married has) been another important step forward."

The next step could be to regain his 2001 form. In that season, he posted a sparkling 22-8 record and a spiffy 3.16 ERA. Although he was still an All-Star and still the team's best pitcher in 2002, his 17-9 mark and 3.16 ERA were not up to standards.

Or were they?

"I was looking at the two years," he said. "Someone sent a card for me to sign in the mail, a new card that I hadn't seen. So I was kind of comparing the last two years' stats, and they were almost similar. I shocked myself.

"I felt like I had a less (effective) year, I didn't feel as accomplished as I did the first year. But if I can go out there and put up those kind of numbers ... you can't control everything. If I can set my goals of 200 innings and trying to make every start, hopefully the wins will take care of themselves with the lineup we have."

As Morris begins his seventh year wearing the "birds on the bat" uniform, he appreciates it more than ever. He's the youngest of the seven starting pitchers that St. Louis has in camp, but he's becoming something of an elder statesman.

In fact, he's the dean of the team, the only player who has been a Cardinal since the beginning of the 1997 season -- a tenure almost as long as La Russa's.

"It's pretty cool," he said. "I appreciate the fact that the Cardinals had such great interest in me and we were able to work out a relationship. That's all you can ask for, especially in this day and age of baseball, the business of it. It is a game, and I love it. I'm able to go out there and play every day. Everything else is gravy."