Hal Morris
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William Harold Morris III (born April 9, 1965) is an American former
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
(MLB)
first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...
who played for several teams from 1988 to 2000, including a ten year stint with the
Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...
. From until 2016, he was the director of professional
scouting Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...
for the
Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...
.


High school and college career

Morris attended Munster High School in
Munster, Indiana Munster is a suburban town in North Township, Lake County, Indiana, United States. It is in the Chicago metropolitan area, approximately southeast of the Chicago Loop, and shares municipal boundaries with Hammond to the north, Highland to the ...
, and the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
. While at Munster, he was a three time all Lake Suburban Conference baseball player. He was an Indiana Baseball All Star in 1983, and was named the MVP of the annual North-South All Star Game in Jasper, Indiana, where he went 8-9 in the series. Morris captained the tennis, basketball, and baseball teams in his senior season at Munster. His Michigan teams won the Big 10 Championship in 1984 and 1986, and advanced to the College World Series in 1984. In his first Big 10 start in 1984 versus Purdue University, Morris hit two home runs. Following his freshman year, he played for the Adray Sound team in the Adray Summer League in Detroit, MI, leading the league in hitting. Michigan's 1985 team lost to Mississippi State in the Southeast Regional. MSU featured future big league players Will Clark, Rafael Palmeiro, Bobby Thigpen and Jeff Brantley. Morris was named to the All Southeast Regional team for his performance, including back to back home runs off of Brantley in the championship game. Morris set records for slugging percentage and batting average while at Michigan. His teammates at Michigan included future Major League players Barry Larkin, Chris Sabo, Jim Abbott, Scott Kamieniecki, Mike Ignasiak, and Gary Wayne. In 1985, he played
collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...
with the
Harwich Mariners The Harwich Mariners are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Harwich, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Mariners play their home games at Whitehouse Fiel ...
of the
Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...
.


Major League career

Morris played for the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
, the
Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...
, the
Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...
and
Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...
. Morris was known for his unusual hitting technique, in which his feet never settled as the pitcher delivered the ball, so his swing was preceded by his feet shuffling towards the plate. Morris was not known for his power, but he had the ability to spray the ball to all corners of the ballpark. He also appeared on the cover of
Wheaties Wheaties is an American brand of breakfast cereal that is made by General Mills. It is well known for featuring list of athletes on Wheaties boxes, prominent athletes on its packages and has become a cultural icon in the United States. Originall ...
. In a 13 year major league career, Morris posted a .304
batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
with 76
home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...
and 513 RBI in 1,246
games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Associat ...
. Defensively, he was a solid first baseman, posting a .994
fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...
at that position.


New York Yankees

Morris was selected by the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
in the eighth round of the amateur draft. He was named the Rookie of the Year in the New York Penn League in 1986, set an Albany-Colonie Yankees record for hits in a season in 1987, was second in the International League in hitting in 1988, then led the International League in hitting in 1989 at .326. He debuted with the Yankees on July 29, 1988 against the
Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...
at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. He collected a base hit in his first at bat, a single to left field against Toronto reliever Duane Ward. Morris was thought so highly of in the Yankee organization that they considered trading Don Mattingly to make room for him.


Cincinnati Reds

On December 12, 1989. Morris was traded, along with Rodney Imes to the Cincinnati Reds for pitcher Tim Leary and outfielder Van Snider. The trade proved beneficial for the Reds as Morris was a part of the 1990 Cincinnati Reds, who won the World Series. He hit .340 on the year, which, at the time, was the third highest batting average by a rookie in 50 years. Also, his 136 OPS+ led the team. His sacrifice fly in game 4 turned out to be the series-winning RBI. While the Reds failed to repeat their World Series win in 1991, Morris had another strong season, finishing one point behind Atlanta's Terry Pendleton in the battle for the National League hitting crown. Morris ended the year at .318, while Pendleton finished at .319. Until Casey McGehee failed to make the All Star team in 2014, Morris had been the last player to be leading his league in hits at the All Star break and not do so. In 1994, Morris was hitting .358 with 120 hits at the All Star break, but was not selected to the team. Morris was named the 1994 Reds MVP by the Cincinnati Chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. On November 2, 1995, Morris became a free agent but was re-signed by the Reds on December 6, 1995. Morris compiled a 32-game hitting streak from August 26, 1996 to April 3, 1997. This streak is the longest by a first baseman in the modern era of Major League baseball. His .319 average at
Riverfront Stadium Riverfront Stadium, also known as Cinergy Field from 1996 to 2002, was a multi-purpose stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the home of the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1970 Cincinnati Reds season, 1970 through 2002 Cincinna ...
was the highest by any Reds player in the history of the stadium.


Kansas City Royals

Morris was again granted free agency on October 29, 1997, signing with Kansas City in December of that year. He played as a DH, and he hit .309, although his power numbers had dropped. He stayed with Kansas City for one year, before again becoming a free agent. Due to his power number drop off, his next contract would be for less money.


Cincinnati Reds

Morris re-signed with the Reds, playing the 1999 season with them and part of the 2000 season.


Detroit Tigers

Morris was sold to the Tigers on July 18, 2000 and played with them for the rest of the season. Since 1961—the start of Major League Baseball's Expansion Era—Hal Morris and
Derek Jeter Derek Sanderson Jeter ( ; born June 26, 1974), nicknamed "the Captain", is an American former professional baseball shortstop, businessman, and baseball executive. As a player, Jeter spent his entire 20-year Major League Baseball (MLB) caree ...
are the only players with a minimum of 10 seasons in the Major Leagues who collected a game-ending RBI in their final home game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Morris did it with the Tigers with a pinch-hit single on Oct. 1, 2000, giving his team a 12-11 win over the Twins, while Jeter hit a game winning single against the Orioles in his final appearance at Yankee Stadium on September 25, 2014. For Morris, this was the final at bat of his career. Morris was declared a free agent on November 1, 2000 and he retired.


Retirement

Kirk Radomski alleged that he sold Morris Deca-Durabolin and
testosterone Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone and androgen in Male, males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of Male reproductive system, male reproductive tissues such as testicles and prostate, as well as promoting se ...
in 1999. Morris' name and address were listed in a book seized from Radomski's home. Through a lawyer, Morris denied using
performance-enhancing substance Performance-enhancing substances (PESs), also known as performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), are substances that are used to improve any form of activity performance in humans. Many substances, such as anabolic steroids, can be used to improve ath ...
s during his career but did not specifically deny buying or possessing them or meeting with Radomski. After retiring, Morris continued his education by graduating with a BS in Biology from the University of Michigan, and an
MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...
from Stanford University. Morris has been involved in a variety of real estate and technology ventures, and has been an advisor to Montara Capital Partners, a boutique private equity firm focused on 1031 exchange and tax advantaged real estate transactions. Before joining the Angels in November 2011, he was a professional scout for the
Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...
for two seasons and the
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
for one (). His brother, Bobby, played professional baseball between 1993 and 2001. Morris served as the pro scouting director for the
Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...
from 2011–2016.


See also

* List of Major League Baseball players named in the Mitchell Report


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Hal 1965 births Living people People from Fort Rucker, Alabama Major League Baseball first basemen Cincinnati Reds players Kansas City Royals players Detroit Tigers players New York Yankees players Boston Red Sox scouts Los Angeles Angels scouts Pittsburgh Pirates scouts Baseball players from Alabama Michigan Wolverines baseball players Nashville Sounds players People from Munster, Indiana Baseball players from Lake County, Indiana Harwich Mariners players Albany-Colonie Yankees players 20th-century American sportsmen Columbus Clippers players Indianapolis Indians players Oneonta Yankees players Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni