Edward "Cannonball" Morris (September 29, 1862 – April 12, 1937) was an American

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. He played for the Columbus Buckeyes,

Pittsburgh Alleghenys The following is a history of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. Franchise beginnings (1870s-1899) Early baseball in Pittsburgh and the American Association The earliest mention of "base ball" in the region was found in the journal ...

, and

Pittsburgh Burghers The Pittsburgh Burghers were a baseball team in the Players' League, a short-lived Major League that existed only for the 1890 season. The team included a number of players who had jumped from the National League's Pittsburgh Alleghenys (now the ...

from 1884 to 1890 and had a career

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of matc ...

of 171–122.

Early life

Morris was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

in 1862. The left-handed pitcher started his professional baseball career in 1879. From 1879 to 1883, Morris played in the Pacific League, New California League, California League, League Alliance, and Interstate Association. In 1883, with the Interstate Association's Reading Actives, he had 199.2 innings pitched and went 16–6 with a 1.80

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA), and 140 strikeouts; he also played as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

and had a .300

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

."Ed Morris Career Stats Leagues Statistics & History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 24, 2021.

Major league career

In 1884, Morris made his major league debut with the Columbus Buckeyes of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

(AA). That season, he had 429.2 innings pitched and went 34–13 with a 2.18 ERA and 302 strikeouts. He ranked third in the AA in ERA."Ed Morris Stats"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 24, 2021. On May 29, he pitched a no-hitter in a 5–0 win over the Pittsburgh Alleghenys. The Alleghenys purchased Morris in October 1884. In 1885, Morris had 581 innings pitched and went 39–24 with a 2.35 ERA and 298 strikeouts. He led the league in games pitched (63), games started (63), complete games (63), innings pitched, strikeouts, and shutouts (7). He also ranked second in wins and third in ERA. In 1886, Morris had 555.1 innings pitched and went 41–20 with a 2.45 ERA and 326 strikeouts. He led the AA in wins and shutouts (12). He also ranked third in innings pitched and strikeouts. The Alleghenys moved to the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

(NL) in 1887. That season, Morris had 317.2 innings pitched and went 14–22 with a 4.31 ERA and 91 strikeouts. In 1888, Morris had 480 innings pitched and went 29–23 with a 2.31 ERA and 135 strikeouts. He led the NL in games pitched (55), games started (55), and complete games (54). He also ranked second in innings pitched. In 1889, Morris had 170 innings pitched and went 6–13 with a 4.13 ERA and 40 strikeouts. In 1890, Morris played for the Pittsburgh Burgers of the Players' League. He had 144.1 innings pitched and went 8–7 with a 4.86 ERA and 25 strikeouts. That was his last season in professional baseball. During his major league career, Morris had 2,678 innings pitched and went 171–122 with a 2.82 ERA and 1,217 strikeouts. He also had a .161 batting average. Writer David Nemec described Morris as "the first truly outstanding southpaw pitcher in major league history."

Later life

After his baseball career ended, Morris worked as a deputy warden at a Pennsylvania prison.Nemec, p. 106. He died in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

in 1937 and was buried in Union Dale Cemetery, Pittsburgh.

References

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Ed 1862 births 1937 deaths 19th-century baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Columbus Buckeyes players Pittsburgh Alleghenys players Pittsburgh Burghers players San Francisco Eagles players San Francisco Mystics players Philadelphia Phillies (minor league) players San Francisco Nationals players Reading Actives players San Francisco Haverlys players Saint Mary's Gaels baseball players Baseball players from New York (state) Sportspeople from Brooklyn Baseball players from New York City

Early life

Major league career

Later life

See also

References

External links