MLB WORLD SERIES: CARDINALS v RED SOX

October 23, 2004

Matt Morris

MATT MORRIS: They are dangerous, one through nine they have guys that can hit for average, hit for power. They have guys that can do it all. It's no different. Houston had a great lineup. We've had a tough Division Championship and a tough NLCS, and, you know, we're not expecting this to be any different.

MATT MORRIS: I think the last time I pitched on short rest was a whiffle ball game when I was ten.

MATT MORRIS: Yeah. There's nothing to rest for; this is the whole point. It's all or nothing right now. I'm not saving myself for anything. I don't know what to expect but I expect that I'm going to go out and make pitches. My body doesn't know at this point what short rest is.

MATT MORRIS: What do you mean?

MATT MORRIS: Yeah, well, you know, things change in a hurry. I thought I was going to have a better night's sleep last night, but I didn't. So, you know, it's all part of it. It comes down to the final seven games, winning one series and, you know, wherever they think the best chance of winning, I'm going to take that shot.

MATT MORRIS: You know what, after the game I pitched against the Astros, I thought it might be a possibility to pitch the second game here and let Marquis pitch at home. I don't know why, I just felt comfortable with that. I was trying to prepare myself, but after we clinched and won the National League Championship, they had told Marquis that he was throwing. So I was able to take a deep breath and relax a little bit and last night the news changed. It's no different, I'm not unprepared, that's for sure.

MATT MORRIS: He's been great. He's been great ever since he came over here. He just can't throw because he's got a problem with his index finger and that's not especially -- especially in the cold weather that's not going to help. You do what you have to do. It's a long season. Guys are beat up right now. I'm sure there are guys on their team that are not feeling well, just like there are guys on our team that are not feeling well. It may hurt us a little bit but we're not worried about it. We're going to go out and do what we've got to do. The bullpen is the strength of our team and they will do the right thing.

MATT MORRIS: The scouting, it's a Catch-22 with me. We played Houston so many times that I'm out there thinking of a pitch I made in June, you know, or after the All-Star Break to a guy and wondering if it's going to work again, and you can get in trouble doing things like that. It's almost nice to have a fresh team in your mind, not really worrying too much. Their strengths you want to be aware of, of course, but you want to go with your strengths that make you a successful pitcher. So I'm concentrating on what I have to do. I'll make an adjustment as the game goes on, I'm sure. But if I can execute my game plan and see if anybody is making good swings or not I'll make adjustments on throwing the ball.

MATT MORRIS: This year was tough. I had a lot of distractions that I let creep into my mind, starts, contract situation and worrying about other things that I really can't control. The only thing I can control is going out and making pitches. I had a tender shoulder halfway through the year that I just pitched through and wasn't as effective as I could have been. You know, it's tough to get Major League hitters out when you're healthy. Those things happen. You deal with them. I'm still happy with the way the year went. We won 105 games, and I was a small part of it but I'm still happy about it, you know, how you leave it all out on the field, whatever you've saved up from that time of rest. My last month was kind of shaky a little bit, but I think I rested enough to be sharp right now.

MATT MORRIS: It's tough to get something like that out of your mind. Once it's in there, you can't forget it. But it's not going to do me any good to think about it. I'm going to enjoy the moment, enjoy the game tomorrow, the game tonight. This whole series is an opportunity of a lifetime. So I'm going to have fun with it. I'm going to deal with that when it's all said and done. Usually it's all mapped out for you anyway depending on how you did. St. Louis is a great organization. They have brought me up since I was a kid, I'm still a kid, but they have been nothing but respectful and stuck with me through injuries and elbow surgery and all that, and I appreciate that kind of stuff. Hopefully we can continue a relationship.

MATT MORRIS: Well, I played in the Cape Cod league as a freshman. I went to Seton Hall University. We came up here for a day off; actually Varitek was my catcher in the Cape Cod League in Hyannis. That was quite fun. The history here, the fans, the organization, it's a lot like St. Louis but with I think a deeper hole to fill. You know, it was intense yesterday for our workout. I can imagine how tonight is going to be. But I get a great opportunity to come here and pitch in a World Series game and I'm going to try to take advantage of it.