Morris was one of the most successful pitchers of the 1980's, but his
last two seasons with Detroit had been tough ones. Morris compiled a 21-32 record
from 1989-90, and his future was in some doubt. A native of the Twin Cities,
he signed with the Twins, and came back to have one of his best seasons. In the
playoffs, Morris was 4-0, winning two games against both the Jays and Braves.
Morris started Game Seven against John Smoltz of the Braves; after nine innings,
the game was still scoreless. Morris kept on pitching, and Minnesota won the game.
Though it was a great triumph for both Morris and the Twins, there was a sour
aftertaste; after the season, Morris signed with the rival Blue Jays, with whom
he won another World Series in 1992.
Roger Clemens was once again the
best pitcher in the league. He failed to win 20 games, but was good enough to win his third Cy Young
Award. The 20-game winners were Scott Erickson and Bill Gullickson. Gullickson
was a journeyman who didn't pitch all that well, but benefited from a Tiger offense
that scored a bunch of runs for him. Erickson was just 23, and had a brilliant
start to his career; he began to struggle very badly a couple of years later,
and his career did not snap back until he was dealt to the Orioles. With Baltimore, he established himself among the more durable and consistent pitchers in the league, until injuries prematurely derailed his career.
After Clemens, I think the best pitchers in the
AL were Bryan Harvey, Jim Abbott and Mark Langston. All three pitched for
California; the Angels must have had quite a team, eh? Well, actually, they
finished in last place in their division. Their offense was among the worst
in the league, and negated their great pitching.
But wait; they weren't all that bad. The Angels
finished last, despite playing .500 ball (their record was 81-81). No team in
the West Division had a losing record, something that had never been done
before. Eleven teams in the AL had winning records this year; only the Yankees,
Orioles and Indians had losing records. This was the end of a four-year period
in which all of the best teams in the AL came from the West; the "AL Best"
they were nicknamed, while their rivals were tagged the "AL Least".
The big story was Abbott. Young Jim was 24 years
old, and was a remarkable athlete for a number of reasons. Most obviously, he was born with
only one arm. But his disability didn't stop Abbott, nor did it even slow
him down. Abbott had debuted a couple of seasons earlier without playing a game
in the minor leagues. This was his best season; he had a couple more good
ones, before arm injuries wrecked what looked like a brilliant future. But
for a while, Abbott was one of the best pitchers in
baseball.
