Morris Dale Steevens (born October 7, 1940), is an American former professional baseball left-handed pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

() and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

(–). During his playing days, Steevens stood tall, weighing . Morrie attended Salem High School in Salem, Illinois. He was signed as a undrafted free agent by the

in 1958. Steevens' ten-year pro career began in 1958, and he made the Cubs' 28-man early-season roster out of

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

in 1962. He went unscored upon in four April relief appearances (covering 3

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

) before being sent back to the Double-A

San Antonio Missions The San Antonio Missions are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. They are located in San Antonio, Texas, and are named for the Spanish missions around which the city was founded. ...

, for whom he won 15 games. The Cubs then recalled him in September and used him in eight games, including his only big-league starting assignment. On September 19 he went 3 innings against the Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium, permitted four earned runs, and was charged with the loss in a game shortened by rain. Those were the only runs allowed by the rookie Steevens in 15 innings pitched for the 1962 Cubs. But Steevens spent all of 1963 back in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

and was traded to the Phillies, during the off-season. After a sparkling 8–1 season with the Triple-A Arkansas Travelers, he was recalled by the first-place Phils as an extra

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if t ...

arm for the stretch drive. In his first relief appearance, on September 19, 1964 (two years to the day after his only MLB start), Steevens came into a 3–3 road game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the bottom of the 16th inning in relief of

Jack Baldschun Jack Edward Baldschun (born October 16, 1936) is an American former professional baseball player. He was a relief pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) for all or part of nine seasons (1961–67; 1969–70), for the Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinn ...

to face left-handed-hitting Ron Fairly with runners at second and third base and two outs. But before he could retire Fairly, Willie Davis, the runner at third, stole home, to give the Dodgers a 4–3 victory. Retrosheetbr>box score: 1964-09-19
/ref> The Phillies recovered to win the next game, but then dropped ten games in a row to fall from the National League (NL) lead and finish second to the St. Louis Cardinals. Steevens appeared in three more games during the catastrophic losing streak, allowing one earned run in 2 innings pitched. Morris then split 1965 between Triple-A and the Phils, and appeared in six more big-league games. He posted a poor 16.88 earned run average (ERA), again in only 2 innings of work. Morris then spent and back in the minors before deciding to retire from the game. All told, Steevens lost his only two MLB decisions. In 22 games and 20 innings pitched, he gave up 20

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

and 16

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

. He struck out 11 batters.

References

External links

Morrie Steevens
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Steevens, Morrie 1940 births Living people Amarillo Gold Sox players Arkansas Travelers players Baseball players from Marion County, Illinois Chicago Cubs players Lancaster Red Roses players Major League Baseball pitchers Paris Lakers players People from Salem, Illinois Philadelphia Phillies players Phoenix Giants players Pulaski Cubs players Reading Phillies players St. Cloud Rox players Salt Lake City Bees players San Antonio Missions players San Diego Padres (minor league) players