Baseball legend shares what happened after infamous 1996 hit in College World Series
One swing of the baseball bat on June 8, 1996 changed Warren Morris’ life forever and turned him into a baseball legend.
It was the bottom of the ninth inning in the College World Series National Champioship Game in Omaha. The LSU Tigers were trailing the University of Miami 7-8. Morris steps up to plate. With the first swing of the bat, he hit a two-out, two-run homer to give LSU a 9-8 victory.
At some point, everyone has seen a replay of that highlight, said Morris who was the guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Alexandria’s Tuesday luncheon. And he always gets asked the same question when he sees it.
“’Does it ever get old?’ And my answer is, ‘No. Because it always ends well.’ I don’t mind seeing it again,” he said from the podium.
He had no idea that moment which happened 27 years ago would be what people would remember him for and that’s great considering most players are unfortunately remembered for mistakes.
“So for me, to be remembered for something good, especially in the state of Louisiana, it's really special,” he said.
He doesn’t think there is a week that goes by that someone doesn’t come up to him and tell him that they remember where they were and what they were doing the moment he hit that two-out, two-run homer.
“And, you know, it's funny, I bet 50 percent of the stories I've heard over those years either involved someone getting so excited that they jumped up and hit their hand or their head on the ceiling fan,” said Morris.
Even if that were the end of the story, he said it would be better than anything he ever could have written.
Wanted to be a basketball player
Morris grew up in Alexandria and is a product of Rapides Parish Schools. He attended Nachman Elementary School, Scott M. Brame Middle School and graduated from Bolton High School. His father Bill Morris was a basketball coach at Bolton.
As a youngster in the 3rd or 4th grades, he wanted to be an NBA basketball player when he grew up.
“I actually never played baseball until I was like 9 or 10 years old,” he said.
Steve Boniol, the father of one of his friends, Scott Boniol coached a Little League team and encouraged him to play for the team so he did.
“I remember the first practice we went to, my dad had to stop by the store and buy a glove. I didn't even own the glove. And you know, I wasn't that great. I remember I blundered a lot, but I did stick with it and played basketball and baseball all through high school,” said Morris. “But I guess my point is, what if Mr. Steve Bono would have never invited me to play on that baseball team? Like I may have never played.”
He said you never know the power of an invitation.
“Something small like that may change somebody's life forever. And you know, for me, definitely it did because it it led me on a career path,” he said.
He got the opportunity to play at LSU for Coach Skip Bertman whom he considers the greatest college baseball coach of all time.
He not only left LSU with an education and an education in baseball but also an education in life.
A lot of what Bertman taught them about being a championship level team can be applied to work, friendship or even parenting.
He recalled that Bertman taught them about HWA or “How to Win Awareness.”
“HWA is a good thing. he always said If we have a team with a high level of HWA then we can accomplish great things,” said Morris. “In the baseball world that means you’re able to know what to do next without somebody having to tell you what to do.”
An example he gave was base runner who is on first and the batter gets a base hit to centerfield. As that runner is getting to second base, they see the outfielder bungle the ball, they will immediately take off for third without having to be told. One hundred percent of the time, Morris said that runner will be safe. But if the runner waits to be told what to do, they will have to hold at second because it’s too late.
This is a lesson he shared with his three daughters that in life, they shouldn’t have to be told to do something for the betterment of the community. They should just do it.
The other thing he learned from Bertman is TOB or the “Transfer of Blame.”
“Coach used to say, unfortunately now today in America, the Great American pastime is no longer baseball. It's become the TOB transfer of blame,” he said. “We always look for reasons to make an excuse when we don't do the job or we mess up. And we learned early on the team, you're going to mess up. That's OK. We'll still love you. You're still gonna be part of us. But you have to own it. The only way you're going to get better is to accept that responsibility and go from that. And again, I hear that and I see it now today.”
Played in the 1996 Olympics
After winning the College World Series, Morris went on to play for the 1996 U.S. Olympic Baseball team in Atlanta which won a bronze medal, He brought his with him and showed the Rotarians.
He said he made the team and played with some of the best college players from all over the country. Two of them are managers of major league teams now. A.J. Hinch is the manager of the Detroit Tigers and Mark Kostay is the manager of the Oakland Athletics.
“But back then we were just 22-year-olds just playing the game we loved and trying to to be the best we could. And we didn't really, I don't think, understood what it meant at that time to represent your country,” said Morris.
Even though he’s never been in the military, his father was in the Navy and he knows there is a lot of pride with putting your life on the line.
“This is nowhere near that. But just looking back, the ability to wear that uniform and to represent my country. I mean, there's nothing better than wearing that LSU. But you know, having that USA across your chest and we had the opportunity to play in the Olympics in Atlanta, in our home country. I mean, something that there there's nothing more special than that to me.”
Professional baseball career
After the Olympics, Morris was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the fifth round before being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He played professional baseball for nine years in the major and minor leagues and feels blessed to have been able to do so.
During that time, he said he got to see a lot of the country during that time. He lived in places like Bradenton, Fla., Tulsa, Okla., Nashville, Edmonton, Ontario, Pawtucket, R.I., just to name a few of the places where his career took him.
In the big leagues, he said he got to be a Pirate, a Twin and a Tiger.
“But Minor League? You play for some very interesting mascots. I was also a Sound and Aeros. A Red Sox, a Driller, an 89er, a Redbird, A Trapper, a Mudcat and a Mud Hen,” he said.
He also played with players from all walks of life. Some were 18-year-olds just drafted out of high school. Others came from countries like the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Venezuela. He also met a lot of interesting people and played against legends like Sammy Sosa and Mark McGuire.
Morris also shared stories of his time in the major leagues. As a Chicago Cubs fan, he was in awe while playing at Wrigley Field.
After he retired in 2005, he and his wife Julie returned to Alexandria to raise their family. In 2006, he started a job at Red River Bank where he’s been working now for the past 17 years. He is also a Rotarian.
But people still haven’t forgotten about him.
“I still get fan mail and people that collect baseball cards still want my autograph and stuff, still get stuff at my house for that, which is really cool,” he said.
He was with the Nashville Sound for his last game in Tacoma, Wash., when they won the AAA Championship.
“I can remember taking my jersey off that night thinking this is the last time, you know, I’ll ever wear a jersey. And so the last game I played in pro ball, we won a championship. The last swing I took at LSU, we won a championship. And then in the Olympics, our last game we won a bronze medal. So hey, I mean, It doesn't get much better than that,” said Morris.
This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Baseball legend shares what happened after infamous 1996 hit in College World Series
