Barney Morris

Barney Morris
(Big Boy, Big Ad)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 170 lb.

• Debut 1932
• Final Game 1948
• Born June 3, 1910 in Shreveport, LA USA
• Died May 24, 1962 in New York, NY USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Barney Morris was a two-time All-Star in the Negro Leagues.

Morris debuted in 1932, going 6-4 for the Monroe Monarchs. He pitched for New Orleans in 1933 then was with the Bismarck Churchills in 1935-1936 alongside Satchel Paige, Chet Brewer, Hilton Smith and Double Duty Radcliffe. The knuckleballer was back in the Negro Leagues with the 1937 Pittsburgh Crawfords, going 3-4. He was picked to start for the East in the 1937 East-West Game and allowed two hits and one run in three innings. He got the decision in a 7-2 victory over the West.

Barney improved to 6-1 for the Crawfords in 1938. He was 13-8 for Cienfuegos in the 1939-1940 Cuban Winter League, better than teammates Martin Dihigo and Jorge Comellas. He led the league in wins, complete games (15) and shutouts (3, tied with Radcliffe and Rodolfo Fernandez. He joined Fernandez as the All-Star pitchers.

Morris went 2-0 in the 1940-1941 California Winter League. Again taking his arm to Latin America, he had a 11-16, 4.86 record for the 1941 Monterrey Industriales, with 110 walks in 213 innings. He came back to the USA with the New York Cubans, going 0-2 in 1942.

Going 7-3 in 1944, Morris got his second East-West Game appearance. In the 1944 East-West Game, he gave up two hits and one run in 1 1/3 IP as the third East pitcher, between Carrenza Howard and Bill Byrd. He left for pinch-hitter Henry Kimbro in a 7-4 loss.

Morris had records of 5-4 in 1946 and 4-6 in 1947. In the 1947 Negro World Series, he shutout the Cleveland Buckeyes in game three as New York went on to the title.

Notable Achievements

• 2-time NNL All-Star (1937 & 1944)
• NNL Saves Leader (1945)
• NSL Innings Pitched Leader (1932)
• NSL Strikeouts Leader (1932)
• NNL Shutouts Leader (1937)
• Won one Negro World Series with the New York Cubans in 1947

Sources

• The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues by John Holway
• The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues by James Riley
• Black Baseball's National Showcase by Larry Lester
• The California Winter League by William McNeil
• The Mexican League: Comprehensive Player Statistics by Pedro Treto Cisneros
• Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History by Jorge Figueredo