Detroit Tigers pitchers might notice higher temperatures than usual during spring training. The extra heat will emanate from the competitive fire of Jack Morris.
Morris, who has more victories than any Tigers right-hander who never pitched in the pre-1920 dead-ball era, is a camp instructor and will emphasize two vital elements of his success: the forkball and self-confidence.
“Let’s face it, 80 percent of the guys in the big leagues have the same stuff,” Morris said. “The 20 percent that stand out are the ones with more mental toughness. Physically, they’re all the same, or very close.”
Morris’ competitive flames sometimes spilled into on-field gestures and off-field outbursts. After an unacceptable outing, his postgame displeasure could last until his next start. These displays sometimes drew scorn. Now they are symbols of the Tigers’ good old days.
Morris was 198-150 as a Tiger. The only right-handers who won more games for the franchise were George “Hooks” Dauss, with 221 in a career that began in 1912, and George Mullin, with 209 in a career that ended in 1913.
The Morris record that means the most this spring is 10-2. In 12 full seasons as a Detroit starter, ending with 1990, the Tigers finished with a winning record 10 times. In his first two seasons after leaving Detroit as a free agent, he steamed to the same heights with Minnesota and Toronto that he attained in Detroit in 1984–ace on a World Series champion.
All that should make him a valuable resource for a club on which no player has ever played on a Tigers team that finished with a winning record. Bobby Higginson, the senior Tiger, has been with the club for seven of its eight straight losing seasons.
Morris has enough company for a quorum of Motown excellence. The camp instructors also include Bill Freehan, Willie Horton and Al Kaline, all former Tigers with well-regarded backgrounds.
Morris, 46, has been out of baseball since his career ended in 1994. He lives in Wisconsin, just across the Mississippi River from his hometown of St. Paul, and he hasn’t developed a new livelihood.
Last season, when Morris served as guest analyst on a few Tigers telecasts, Kaline suggested that he come to spring training as an instructor. General manger Randy Smith endorsed the idea. Morris debuted in the role at last month’s mini-camp, and he returns to work Monday when formal workouts begin.
“I thought I’d try this because the timing is right,” Morris said. “I’ve been out long enough to understand what baseball has meant to me. I had to get away because I lived and breathed it for so long. If I didn’t feel like I could contribute to the kids, I wouldn’t be here.”
He suspects that pitchers who have at least four or five seasons in the big leagues are confident in their ways and won’t be interested in his suggestions.
Morris, 254-186 in 18 seasons, hasn’t made full-time coaching a goal because he’s reluctant to resume the extensive regular-season travel. He’s also made it a goal not to interfere with pitching coach Dan Warthen. He’s in camp to augment Warthen, not contradict him.
“It’s great that he’s here,” Warthen said. “He’ll talk to the pitchers about preparation and mental strength. I talk about those things, but coming from Jack Morris, it can have a little more impact.”
