Old enough to smoke

By Charles Richards Associated Press writer

ARLINGTON, Texas -- If there was ever a more exciting moment for Jimmy Morris, the oldest rookie in the major leagues since the Twins called up Minnie Mendoza in 1970, he can't recall it.

Only hours after flying into Dallas on Saturday to join the Tampa Bay Devil Rays against the Texas Rangers, Morris said, "The whole game, I was sitting in the bullpen, going, 'Oh, I'm tired, I'm tired.'

"But then I was like, 'You know, it would be better to go in and get it over with and get the nervousness out of me,' because my heart was pounding."

With two out in the bottom of the eighth, Devil Rays manager Larry Rothschild summoned the 35-year-old left-hander to face Texas Rangers shortstop Royce Clayton.

The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Morris -- who only four months ago was a high school baseball coach and science teacher at a West Texas high school -- struck out Clayton on four fastballs, the first two clocked at 95 mph and the last two at 96.

"It was fantastic. What an experience!" Morris said.

Morris also became the oldest rookie pitcher since 41-year-old Diomedes Olivo with Pittsburgh in 1960.

On Sunday, the Devil Rays beat the Rangers 15-2, and Morris was in the Tampa Bay clubhouse, taking it all in.

"This summer has just gotten better and better," he said.

For the last two years, Morris was the baseball coach and assistant football coach at Reagan County High School in Big Lake (pop. 3,672), 70 miles west of San Angelo. He didn't realize he could throw as fast as he does until his players began to complain about the speed of his pitches.

"I just thought they were 16- and 17-year-old kids griping at me because they didn't want to take batting practice."

But the players were serious, and they made him promise that if they won the district title, he would attend a major league baseball tryout. Reagan County did its part, and then it was up to Morris.

So Morris -- with graying temples, speckled mustache and receding hairline -- showed up June 19 at a Devil Rays tryout in Brownwood, Texas. He was 25 pounds heavier than when he worked out for the same scout, Doug Gassaway, at another tryout 17 years earlier.

Morris was pushing his 4-year-old daughter, Jessica in her stroller, balancing 1-year-old daughter Jamie in his arms and keeping an eye on 8-year-old son Hunter.

Morris' first pitch hit the catcher's mitt at 94 mph. Gassaway didn't believe his radar gun, so another coach used a gun for the second pitch, which came in at 96 mph. The next pitch registered 95 mph. Then he reeled off 12 in a row at 98 mph.

The Devil Rays asked Morris to come back in two days. In pouring rain, he again smoked the radar guns, and Tampa Bay signed him to a minor league contract.

"All this started out on a kind of whim," he said. "The kids put me up to it. ... You know, I didn't really think it would go real far. I had no expectations really."

Such success was expected of Morris almost 20 years ago at Ranger Junior College following a high school career at Brownwood, where he played on a state championship football team.

The Milwaukee Brewers made him their first-round draft choice in 1983. But his left elbow went out in 1985 and his left shoulder in 1987. He missed all of the 1986 and 1988 seasons. At best, his fastball moved at 87 mph and throwing strikes was a problem. He never made it beyond Class A, first with the Brewers and then with the White Sox.

With a tendon transplanted from his right ankle holding his left shoulder together, Morris was finished with pro baseball after two appearances early in the 1989 season.

"I don't know if it is physics or genetics or just that I am a late bloomer," Morris said. "I guess I stayed in shape and got my arm stronger throwing all that high school batting practice and lifting weights with the football team."

Morris later enrolled at Angelo State, where he was a star punter. In 1997, he was hired as the baseball coach and assistant football coach at Big Lake.

In the Devil Rays' farm system, Morris pitched three games this summer at Double-A Orlando, then was promoted to Triple-A Durham. After Durham's season ended Friday night, the Devil Rays called him up.

Gassaway said the Devil Rays grade pitchers on a scale of 2 to 80. Morris' fastball scores a 75, as does his breaking pitch.

"It's phenomenal," Gassaway said. "Take all the left-handers in all of baseball, and he has the third- or fourth-best arm."

Devil Rays general manager Chuck LaMar says Morris has the pitches, but he wonders how he'll respond to pressure.

"We don't know how he will pitch to Rusty Greer and Rafael Palmeiro in front of 40,000 in Texas," he said.

On Saturday night, Morris' wife and children drove from their home in San Angelo to the game in Arlington.

"This is the first time I or the kids have ever seen him pitch," his wife, Lorri, said. "It's a feeling I just can't put into words. We've been married 12 years, and I've watched him throw batting practice for his high school team, but as far as seeing him pitch in a professional setting, even when he was in the minors 10 years ago, I never got to watch him."

Morris has rejoiced in watching 8-year-old Hunter.

"My son is beside himself," he said. "He loves this situation." Hunter is not the only one. Players and fans in Big Lake are caught up in the excitement.

"We are so proud for coach," outfielder Kellen Thompson said. "So very proud for him."

Photo by The Associated Press
Tampa Bay Devil Rays relief pitcher Jimmy Morris fires the second of four fastballs to strike out Royce Clayton of the Texas Rangers in his major-league debut last Saturday. Morris, 35, became the oldest rookie in the majors since Minnie Mendoza with Minnesota in 1970.