Warren Randall Morris (born January 11, 1974) is an American former

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

and

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 ...

player. He is most remembered for his two-out, 9th inning

walk-off home run In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. For a home run to end the game, it must be hit in the bottom of the final inning and generate enough runs to exceed the opponent's score. Because the opponent will not have an opp ...

that won the

1996 College World Series The 1996 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1996 NCAA Division I baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Serie ...

for the

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is tradition ...

Early life

Morris grew up in

Alexandria, Louisiana Alexandria is the ninth-largest city in the state of Louisiana and is the parish seat and largest city of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River of the South, Red River ...

and graduated from Bolton High School. He played baseball, basketball and cross country at Bolton High.

College career

Morris joined the LSU

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

team in . He did not receive an athletic

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

to play baseball, but made the team while on academic scholarship as a

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

. He did not play at second base in his first season at LSU, because the Tigers already had All-American Todd Walker at the position. Morris did see action at other positions. Walker went pro after the season, and Morris became the team's starting second baseman from to . His best season at LSU came in 1995. He hit .369 with 8

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s, 50 RBI, and 18

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s. LSU was expecting big things from Morris in 1996, but a broken hamate bone kept him out of the lineup for 42 games that season. He did rejoin the team in time for the 1996 postseason, which would include the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the culmination of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament—featuring 64 teams in the ...

. However, the wrist injury still lingered. He could not hit for power, and was placed at the bottom of the lineup.

College World Series hero

LSU reached the championship game of the College World Series in 1996, and was trailing

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

8–7 in the game with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Morris came up to the plate with one runner on base, and hit Miami

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

Robbie Morrison Robbie Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer known for his work in the weekly anthology '' 2000 AD'', where he co-created the long-running serial '' Nikolai Dante'' with artist Simon Fraser. Career Morrison began his career in '' 2000 ADs ...

's first pitch just inches over the

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In t ...

fence. The walk-off home run won the game for the Tigers 9–8. It was his only home run of the season, and is the only walk-off championship-winning home run in College World Series history. In addition, it is the only 2-out, ninth inning, walk-off home run in a championship of any collegiate or professional level. The home run also won Morris the 1997 Showstopper of the Year ESPY Award.

Major League Baseball career

Morris was drafted in the fifth round of the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft by the Texas Rangers as a second baseman. He started out in the Rangers' farm system, but was later traded to 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 ...

along with

Todd Van Poppel Todd Matthew Van Poppel (born December 9, 1971) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Oakland Athletics (, –), Detroit Tigers (1996), Texas Rangers (, –), Pittsburgh Pirates (1998), Chicago Cubs (–), and Ci ...

for

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

Esteban Loaiza Esteban Antonio Loaiza Veyna o-EYE-sa(born December 31, 1971) is a Mexican former professional baseball pitcher and current pitching coach for El Águila de Veracruz of the Mexican League. He played in Major League Baseball for the Pittsbur ...

. He made his major league debut in , going from non-roster invitee in

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

to starting second baseman early in the season. Morris had a promising rookie season with the Pirates, hitting .288 with 15 home runs and 73 RBI, while placing third in

National League Rookie of the Year In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is given annually to two outstanding rookie players, one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL), as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). The aw ...

voting. He also made the 1999 Topps All-Star Rookie Roster at second base. It was his best season as a pro. However, the Pirates released him before the season. Morris was the starting second baseman for the

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 ...

, following the release of Damion Easley. For the rest of his career, he was a journeyman

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

in the minor leagues. He announced his retirement from baseball in .

References

External links