stlcardinals.com
February 22, 2003

Cards Notes: Morris Competes

By Matthew Leach

JUPITER, Fla. -- It was really an unfair situation to put Matt Morris in.

Just get your work in. Take it easy. Don't push anything. It's not even March yet.

Oh, by the way, you're going up against Albert Pujols and J.D. Drew.

For Morris' pitching practice session Saturday, he threw 40 pitches to four hitters: Pujols, Drew, Eli Marrero and Kerry Robinson. His stated goal was just to continue working out the kinks and building up to spring games, but Morris was unable to leave it at that.

"Sometimes you let some of the competition get in the way, and I think that's my problem," Morris said afterward. "Especially early on, when the body's not 100 percent. To go out there against those guys -- they can hit -- it tells you where your place is. It's fun. You gotta make pitches with those guys. You gotta execute. And they'll let you know if you don't."

The batters hit a few balls hard off of the staff ace, including one grounder that Pujols scorched up the middle -- forcing Morris to dance a bit to avoid being hit. Morris wasn't his sharpest, but overall, it's fair to call the showdown a draw.

Regardless of the result, it was a draw in another sense -- nearly 100 fans found their way to Field 5 of the complex to watch some of the National League's best players go head-to-head.

"Competing against those guys and having people around watching, you want to try and get them out," Morris said. "And that's not really the goal right now. It's just building up arm strength and things like that. So you don't want to let the competition get in the way of your practice, but sometimes you just can't control it. Especially me."