#111 Johnny Morris - Seattle Pilots

John Wallace Morris
Seattle Pilots
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  195
Born:  August 23, 1941, Lewes, DE
Signed:  Signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent, June 9, 1960
Major League Teams:  Philadelphia Phillies 1966; Baltimore Orioles 1968; Seattle Pilots 1969; Milwaukee Brewers 1970-1971; San Francisco Giants 1972-1974

Lefty John Morris pitched in 132 major league games over eight seasons, peaking with the Brewers in the early 1970s.  After 5 1/2 seasons pitching in the Phillies' minor league system, and missing the entire 1963 season due to injury, Morris was called up to Philadelphia in the summer of 1966, making his big league debut that July 19th.  He'd pitch in 13 games in relief for the Phillies, and then return to the minor leagues before appearing in 19 games for the Orioles late in the 1968 season.  Morris was selected by the Pilots in the expansion draft, and after making the team's opening day roster, he was sent down to the minors in late April.

With the Pilots moving to Milwaukee for the 1970 season, Morris found steady work in the Brewers' bullpen, appearing in 69 games over two seasons with the club.  In 1971, he had a 3.72 ERA in 43 appearances and 67 2/3 innings pitched as one of the Brewers' more reliable relievers.  He was dealt to the Giants following the season and he'd bounce back and forth between San Francisco and their Triple-A team in Phoenix for three years between 1972 and 1974.  Morris was 11-7 lifetime with a 3.95 ERA.

Building the Set / Card #149
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)

In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania.  My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set.  That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon.  I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.

This is the 72nd of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York.  My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside.  After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far.  With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298.  The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing me less than a dollar.

The Card / Pilots Team Set / Accuracy Index -8

This is Morris' rookie card, and he's wearing a Phillies jersey here.  The back of the card includes his long list of minor league statistics, and includes a spelling error with the Topps' editor missing the "Drafter" misspelling.

Accuracy Index:  Morris slips to -8 for the Phillies jersey (-5) and for being hatless (-3).

1969 Season
Morris appeared in six games for the expansion Pilots, all in April, with no record and a 6.39 ERA in 12 2/3 innings pitched.  He had only one appearances in which he didn't give up at least one run.  In the minor leagues, splitting time between the Vancouver Mounties and on loan to the Reds' top farm team, the Indianapolis Indians, Morris was 10-4 with a 3.28 ERA in 28 games, including 16 starts.

Phillies Career
Morris made his professional debut with the Johnson City Phillies of the Appalachian League in 1960, and he'd pitch in 156 minor league games before earning a promotion to the Phillies in July 1966.  He pitched better than his numbers demonstrate, as in 10 of his 13 appearances he gave up no runs.  He suffered through a disastrous outing against the Astros late in the season, allowing six runs in two innings of work, causing his ERA to balloon from 1.86 to 6.17.  He'd finish the season, and his Phillies career, with a 1-1 record and a 5.27 ERA in 13 2/3 innings pitched.  After spending all of 1967 back in the minors, he was dealt to Baltimore as the player to be named later in a deal that happened a year earlier in which the Orioles sent Dick Hall to the Phillies.

1971 Topps #721

1975 Topps #577

1983 Galasso 1969 Seattle Pilots #38

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1969 Topps #111
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (3):  1969, 1971, 1975
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1983 Galasso 1969 Seattle Pilots #38
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  21 in the Beckett online database as of 10/15/23.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database

#110 Mike Shannon - St. Louis Cardinals / #112 J.C. Martin - New York Mets