Yellow Horse Morris
American baseball player
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Harold Goodwin Morris (February 24, 1902 – September 6, 1959), nicknamed "Yellow Horse", was an American Negro league pitcher from 1924 to 1930.
| Yellow Horse Morris | |
|---|---|
| |
| Pitcher | |
| Born: February 24, 1902 Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. | |
| Died: September 6, 1959 (aged 57) San Francisco, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| Negro league baseball debut | |
| 1924, for the Kansas City Monarchs | |
| Last appearance | |
| 1930, for the Chicago American Giants | |
| Teams | |
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Morris was born in 1902 at Little Rock, Arkansas.[1] He moved to California's Bay Area with his family by the early 1920s.[2]
Morris played professional baseball in California from 1922 to 1924, including the Vallejo Giants and the Pierce Colored Giants.[3][4] He acquired the "Yellow Horse" nickname after pitching a game against Moses Yellowhorse; Morris copied Yellowhorse's "war whoops" and was given the nickname by his teammates.[2]
Morris made his Negro National League debut with the Kansas City Monarchs during their 1924 Colored World Series championship season. Morris appeared in 19 games for the Stars (nine as a starter), compiling a 5-4 record and a 3.31 earned run average (ERA).[5]
Morris next played for the Detroit Stars from 1925 to 1927. His best season was 1927 when he appeared in 27 games (17 as a starter) with a 14-8 record, 13 complete games, 79 strikeouts, and a 3.39 ERA in 183 innings pitched.[1] He ranks among the Stars' all-time pitching leaders with 77 games (third), 28 wins (fourth), and 176 strikeouts (fifth).[6]
Morris concluded his playing career playing for the Chicago American Giants in 1929 and 1930. He compiled a career-low 2.19 ERA in 15 games during the 1929 season.[1]
After his playing career, Morris was involved in the 1946 formation of the West Coast Negro Baseball Association, and in 1949 became a scout for the Chicago Cubs.[7] He also promoted exhibition baseball and managed baseball clubs in California.[8]
Morris retired from organized baseball in 1950 and was credited by a San Francisco newspaper as the person "who did more than anyone else in the state of California to promote the interest of the Negro baseball players."[9] He died in September 1959 of a heart attack at the University of California Hospital in San Francisco at age 57. He had a leg amputated several months prior to his death.[8]
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