1983 Topps, Jim Morrison

#173 Jim Morrison

This card was given to me by the Collective Troll. He sent me about fifteen autographed cards last month to make up for the Donruss Opening Day set he was unable to get me. This was the oldest card in the lot.

Jim was basically a utility infielder that played twelve seasons with five teams- the Phillies, White Sox, Pirates, Tigers, and Braves. He had his longest stint with the Pirates and mostly played third base for them. Throughout his career he also got some time at every other infield position and he played a few games in left and right field. But the one position that really stands out to me is his pitching.

In his final big league season, he got to pitch for the Braves. And it wasn't just a one time deal either; the Braves put him on the mound three different times. The first time happened at the end of June when the Braves were losing to the Giants 13-6. He pitched 2.1 innings and gave up no runs on three hits and a walk. He recorded his only strikeout of the year in that game and it was against the Giants pitcher, Craig Lefferts.

He was back on the bump two months later. This time, the Braves were down to the Cards, 7-0 (John Smoltz started the game). Jim pitched the final inning and gave up no runs on no hits with one walk.

His final outing occurred seven days later against the Cardinals, again. Going into the ninth inning, the Braves were down 5-0. But Jose Alvarez gave up four runs in the ninth while only getting two outs. So the Braves brought in Morrison to put out the fire. He got Terry Pendleton to ground out for the final out of the game.

Terry Pendleton faced Morrison the week before and popped out to third. He finished his career 0-2 against Morrison. The only players to get a hit off of him were Candy Maldonado, Jose Uribe (a triple), and Harry Spillman.