St. Louis Post-Dispatch
February 26, 2003

Morris Matures in Role as Ace of Cards' Pitching Staff

By Dan O'Neill

It was a February morning in Southern Florida. It was Matt Morris' third throwing session of spring training. It was 40 pitches against teammates, a handshake from the catcher and head for the beach.

But there was a time when the Cardinals' righthander would have been upset if someone named Jose Nieves had lifted one of those pitches over the chain-link fence encircling the outfield.

Five big-league seasons and 28 birthdays have changed those times. Morris knows now he can joke about such things. "Hey, c'mon now," he yelled in at Nieves, adding afterwards: "The wind blew that out."

Morris has learned how to pace himself, how to prepare mentally and physically, and how to handle the role of staff ace.

"I know in years past, you just want to beat everybody, whether they had the same jersey or not," Morris said. "I think that's one of the reasons I blew my elbow out in 1999, and I think that's one of the reasons some of the other guys have some soreness in spring. You're put in to face each other and you want to try to make an impression, especially if you're a new face around here and nobody has seen you.

"That's something you have to tone down. I'm lucky where they've seen me enough and I can work on things. That home run didn't get me so mad as it would have in the past. I wouldn't have beat myself up over it, maybe, but inside it would have hurt my pride a little."

Make no mistake, the pride is still there, more pronounced than ever. Morris' professional dignity has been buffed with 39 victories over the past two seasons and cauterized with a reputation as one of the NL's best.

Last season was the most difficult of Morris' life. The death of Darryl Kile, a close friend and role model, was devastating. And late in the season Morris had to cope with a hamstring strain that limited his effectiveness. The fact he won 17 games under the circumstances represents a notch in the belt for many players. But he led the NL in victories (22) and was third in the Cy Young balloting in 2001.

He judges last year's numbers by those parameters and by a premature postseason departure. He labels them "disappointing."

"It's getting harder and harder to lose," said Morris, who was 17-9 with a 3.42 earned-run average last season. "It was the second year in a row that I lost the last game. I want to win the last game."

Morris pitched brilliantly in his final 2002 start, but lost as the San Francisco Giants eliminated the Cardinals from the National League Championship Series. He suffered the same fate against Arizona in 2001.

After a few weeks of winter reflection and relaxation, Morris is in camp with a fresh outlook. He is confident of his place at the head of the rotation, and he's committed to re-establishing himself as a 20-game winner. He's also convinced he can win that last game.

"I've heard the comment before," Morris said. "Through the grapevine, or whatever, someone told me about a pitcher who had won 18 or 19 games and they said to him, "Man, you almost won 20,' and he said, 'Well, that's OK because then they'd want me to do that next year, too.'

"You hear that and it's like, so now you're not going to give it your best effort. It's a Catch-22, of course, but shoot, I'd go for (20 wins) every time."

Robinson agrees to one-year contract

The Cardinals and outfielder Kerry Robinson have come to terms on a one-year contract, though the team did not release details. Albert Pujols and Jason Simontacchi are the only players in camp who remain unsigned.

Taguchi, Vina star

The team played its first "real" baseball of the spring on Tuesday, a squad game. The "visitors" took a 6-1 lead in the five-inning competition, which will be concluded today. The losing team has to buy the winning team dinner.

Left fielder So Taguchi and second baseman Fernando Vina sparkled in the field. Taguchi made two running catches while Vina got the first strawberry of the spring with a diving putout. Designated hitter Jon Nunnally homered over the right-field fence for the visitors, although the pitching was done batting-practice style, with coaches doing the pitching. Nunnally's bomb came off Dyar Miller, who gave up 35 home runs in his career.