Morris Rekindles Postseason Glory

Toronto's Jack Morris was magnificent as he twirled a complete game to guide the 1992 Blue Jays a 6-1 Game 3 victory in their World Series against the 2003 Florida Marlins. Toronto now leads the series 2-1 as the teams split the first two games in Miami. The win pushed Morris's postseason mark to a perfect 3-0 to go along with a miserly 1.13 ERA. He has 23 strikeouts in 24 innings and has remarkably only walked one batter. His fantasy efforts seem to be retribution for his actual 1992 postseason where he was 0-3 with an unsightly 7.43 ERA. Ironically, Morris was noted for his postseason heroics a year earlier as he won two games in the Twins ALCS win over the Blue Jays. Jack was 4-0 that year in the Twins 1991 championship run with a 2.23 ERA. He was named World Series MVP going 2-0 which included that unforgettable 1-0 10 inning complete game shutout over the Atlanta Braves. Morris also starred in the postseason with the 1984 world champion Detroit Tigers going 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA. He also picked up two wins in that World Series against the San Diego Padres.

Morris fell behind the eight ball early as Candy Maldonado misjudged a fly ball by Marlins' leadoff hitter Juan Pierre that turned into a three-base error. Luis Castillo immediately followed with an RBI single which would be the only blemish on Morris' fabulous start.

Maldonado was quick to make restitution for his error in the home half of the first inning. He dumped a jam shot inside the right-field line with runners on the corners to score what would be the game-winning run. Joe Carter tied the game two batters earlier with an RBI single. Toronto jumped on Marlin's starter Josh Beckett early and the crushing blow was delivered by Game 2 hero Kelly Gruber as he crushed a three-run blast to cap a five-run first. Gruber's two-run homer in Game 2 broke a 2-2 tie and led the Blue Jays to their first win of the series. Kelly hit two homers in 1992 postseason but only hit .105 in the World Series. In the last two games in my fantasy World Series, Gruber is 3-7 with 2 homers and 5 RBI.