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Tuesday, February 26, a gathering of local Rotarians and guests had the opportunity to hear 1991 World Series pitching hero Jack Morris speak at Hazelden. He shared his personal history, analyzed the game of baseball, provided his hopes for the future and candidly answered questions from the crowd.

Morris grew up in St. Paul. The son of a 3M employee, he attended grade school in Mendota Heights and graduated from Highland Park High School and was a Twins fan from the very beginning.

His Life in Baseball

After high school, he went to Brigham Young University where he took classes, but, "Majored in baseball." In his junior year, he was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the fifth round. In his first year as a pro, he spent half the time in AA ball and the other half at the Tigers' triple A club.

His second year was the first of 13 he spent as part of the Tiger rotation. He spoke fondly of Detroit manager Sparky Anderson as, "A father, a brother and a friend." About his importance to the team, Anderson said, "Give me the horses and I'll be a genius every year."

Morris enjoyed most of his tenure in Detroit, including a World Series win. He also recalls one, "Very disappointing playoff series loss to the Minnesota Twins." Morris admits that his departure from the Tigers was somewhat bitter. Former University of Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler was the general manager of the Tigers and he and Morris disagreed about Morris' value to the team.

In 1991, he played for the Twins in what he described as, " A dream year." He said the Twins were, "A great organization with great guys." Of course, Morris became a part of Twins' lore when he pitched nine scoreless innings in game seven of the World Series. Twins manager Tom Kelly told Morris that Twins closer Rick Aguilera would replace him in the 10th.

"You did a great job. You've done all we could ask," T.K. said. Morris responded, "This is my game. I'm goin' back out. I will go to my grave believing that I told him what he wanted to hear." Morris went back out and the Twins won it on Gene Larkin's hit in the bottom of the 10th.

After the '91 season, Twins owner Carl Pohlad invited him to lunch. During the meeting, Pohlad told Morris that he could probably get a lot more money if he chose to play somewhere else, but he sure hoped that Morris would remain a Twin. In Morris' view, Pohlad could have chosen to pay him, and a number of other players well and keep the team together. Pohlad explained that he would lose public support and be, "run out of town" if he didn't re-sign Kirby Puckett.

Pohlad chose Puckett and Morris became, "The highest paid pitcher in the history of baseball - for about three-and-a-half weeks." Morris signed with the Toronto Blue Jays because he thought he would never again have a chance to sign for that much money.

"I enjoyed Canada," Morris said. "Canadians live for today. They live hard and play hard." The Blue Jays won two World Series while Morris was there. "We sold out every one of the 51,000 seats for two years. We were bigger than the Maple Leafs!"

Baseball Today

Speaking about the state of baseball today, Morris said, " We don't have the same desperation as Caribbean kids. That's why they're great and not as many of our kids are."

He believes that, despite state-of-the-art knowledge and techniques current pitchers are working with some disadvantages. "We have the greatest trainers, facilities and nutritionists. Johan Santana is the best there is, today. But he's never been given the opportunity to finish," Morris explained. "If I was down by nine runs in the third, Sparky left me in - to learn how to pitch."

The 2007 Twins

"We've got the best bullpen in baseball. We have a great combination of offense and defense," Morris commented. "What the Twins are known for is the quality of their farm system. He gives credit to Twins GM Terry Ryan and scout Jim Rantz for that. "They live and breathe baseball."

"Right now, their biggest problem is starting pitching," Morris explained. "I don't see the camaraderie that we lived every day."

Life after Baseball

Morris currently works for the Twins radio network as a part-time broadcaster and in marketing. He will be the color analyst for about 40 games this season, subbing for Dan Gladden.

When he's not working Morris spends as much time as he can with family and in the outdoors. He loves hunting and fishing and said, "We all know that the world has changed. I wish my kids could have the chance to see and experience what I saw and did when I was a kid."

Inspiration

"When I was kid, I was a big Vikings fan. I thought a lot about the Vikings during game seven. I didn't want to go home a loser. Tarkenton and the Vikings were my inspiration."

"I was about eight years old. My family was looking to move to another house. We were out driving around looking at homes in the Macalester area. We came to the top of a hill and we saw this beautiful home. I said to my Mom, 'Some day, I'm gonna play for the Twins, we're gonna win the World Series and I'm gonna buy you that house.' I've been very lucky!"

Some dreams do come true.

After seeing how the Twins have started spring training, maybe "Black Jack" could make a comeback with the Twins.

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