St. Louis Post-Dispatch
May 14, 2002

Morris Says Threat to Hit Cubs Was a Mistake

By Rick Hummel

An apologetic Matt Morris took the mound for the Cardinals against the Chicago Cubs on Monday night at Busch Stadium.

Last week in Chicago, Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan accused Cubs first base coach Sandy Alomar of stealing location signs and giving them to Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa. Morris said he might plant a pitch in somebody's ear if the Cubs persisted in stealing signs.

Before Monday night's game, Morris, who had surrendered a two-run, first-inning homer to Sosa in the game he won 3-2 last week, said, "It's unfortunate that the rivalry and the competition that we have has been almost marred by something that I said that I didn't mean. I was ticked off at the time. I said that in a figure of speech, but it was stupid to say. I'm not going to try to retaliate.

"I was surprised that 'Dunc' had said anything in the first place, so it was almost OK for me to say stuff. But it was my mistake. . . . I just don't want it to be a distraction, that's all."

Morris didn't seem all that distracted as he blanked the Cubs 3-0 on four hits.

Umpiring crew chief John Hirschbeck said before the game he had been apprised by umpire supervisor Steve Palmermo of the bad blood between the teams. Hirschbeck didn't issue a warning when Cardinals manager Tony La Russa and Cubs coach Rene Lachemann, a longtime friend of La Russa's, exchanged lineup cards. But he noted that Morris and Kerry Wood were pitching and told them, "I want both pitchers to stay around for a while."

La Russa said the whole matter of last week was "no big deal.

"The two most unfortunate parts of it were that Matt said (it) in the heat of the moment, when adrenaline's pumping and I don't think creating any doubt about Sammy was a good thing."

But while La Russa wanted to defuse the Morris situation, he did take exception to Cubs manager Don Baylor saying that La Russa sometimes played mind games to gain an edge against the opposition, and calling Duncan a liar.

La Russa told a group of Chicago and St. Louis reporters Monday night, "(Baylor) misspoke. Dave Duncan might have made a mistake, but he's not a liar. He's a very honest guy, which is part of why he's a great pitching coach. I believe he is real protective of his pitchers. He thinks like I do, like all the old-timers think, that all that stuff needs to be handled by the clubs and never needs to get into the public."

Baylor played for La Russa in Baylor's last year as a player in Oakland in 1988.

"You can take all the players who have played for me and I'll take my chances on what they say about how we compete and whether we take cheap shots and play mind games," La Russa said. "I don't know where Don is coming from."

Baylor said he was surprised at the furor over last week's charge of sign stealing.

"It was like something they hadn't heard of in the last 40 years," Baylor said. "Before video, that's the way it used to be. . . . You look for any edge. It's not cheating.

"We get pitches all the time from the bench. But a lot of guys don't use them."

Baylor said that group included Sosa.

Baylor, a former most valuable player in the American League with California, said he wanted to know locations when he played. "I would rather have inside than outside," Baylor said. "I knew there was one pitch they were going to throw inside and it wasn't going to be a changeup."

Baylor said a sign stolen by a coach or somebody in the dugout was no different than a hitter taking a fleeting glance down and behind him to see where the catcher is lining up.

And some hitters are more ingenious than that. One big-league manager said recently he had heard of a major-league hitter who wore wrap-around sunglasses during day games and ascertained the catcher's position by watching the shadow of the catcher. The hitter batted much higher in the daytime than at night.

Regardless of whether the Cubs stole signs, neither team expected retaliation Monday night by the Cardinals.

"You especially don't want to start any stuff with the guy who's pitching for us today," Baylor said. That was Wood, who throws his fastball in the mid-90s.