St. Louis Post-Dispatch
March 7, 2001

Morris is Sharp in First Start Since '99

By Rick Hummel

The last time Matt Morris had started a game for the Cardinals was two years ago almost to the day. It was his only start of 1999.

Morris threw two innings that day in Jupiter in a spring game against the New York Mets. He left the park fearing he might need surgery to ease the throbbing in his elbow.

The arm "was already done," Morris recalled. "It was a matter of testing it out to see if the arm was going to hold up or not.

"My dad had just shown up. I didn't have anything on the ball. I was trying to throw strikes down the middle.

"I knew something was wrong. I didn't know the extent of it."

Pitching coach Dave Duncan remembers that game, too. "It was a very disappointing day," he said. "We lost a warrior."

Two years removed from Tommy John surgery, Morris faced the Houston Astros on Tuesday. He gave up two runs in the first inning of a 9-7 victory, but he hardly was hit with authority.

Julio Lugo's leadoff single was blown back toward the infield and landed in front of center fielder Jim Edmonds. Jose Vizcaino rolled a perfect hit-and-run single.

Shane Andrews booted a double play ball as one run scored, and Moises Alou delivered a jam-shot single to left, scoring the other run.

Morris appeared to be seething after these misfortunes, so catcher Mike Matheny trotted to the mound to offer solace.

"I tried to keep my cool," Morris said. "He said, 'You're doing great.' I said, 'Yeah, all right.'"

In general, though, Morris was elated.

"My mechanics were good. My ball was sinking and running. With all that, my body feels good," he said.

"Some of the balls were up, but . . . it was a positive outing for the first outing. In the second inning, I was able to make the same pitches I made in the first, and I got three ground balls."

Morris threw 42 pitches (34 in the first inning). Duncan surmised that a dozen or so of those pitches could have been shaved off if the double play had been made. "You might have seen him out there for three innings," Duncan said.

"He had really good velocity and good movement. He's back the way he was. He was a pretty exciting guy to watch."

And now?

"I'm excited for him," Duncan said. "Time will tell, but I feel pretty confident that he's going to be there.

"Physically there have been no limitations on him. I went into the spring thinking that there were going to be days where we'd have to give him an extra day's rest, but he hasn't had setbacks or any problems at all."

Manager Tony La Russa said Morris was "really outstanding, really impressive. He's more exciting to watch (now) because we've had him and then we missed him."

Morris spent last season in the bullpen. So despite lasting only two innings, he said, "This was one of the longest outings I've had in a while. It felt weird (starting). I felt I was facing a different way."

Pitching in a strong wind, Morris walked none but hit Houston catcher Brad Ausmus in the left wrist. "The ball ran a little too much. It must have been real windy on that pitch," Morris joked.

The victory featured six runs batted in by Edmonds and was the Cardinals' second in five exhibition games. Former University of Indiana basketball coach Bob Knight sat next to La Russa after having spent the previous two games in the stands. In past springs, Knight has been something of a good-luck charm for La Russa.

"They wanted to do it without me, but they brought me in," Knight said, with a smile. "And they even let me eat with them.

"It's a day-by-day thing. I just do what I'm told. Some days I show up in the morning and I'm told, 'Get your butt up in the stands.' . . . Today they actually said, 'Would you sit with us?'"

La Russa countered by saying that Knight makes the call. "You know how much deference I make to Hall of Famers?" La Russa said. "He's a Hall of Famer, so he does whatever he likes to do."