By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
NATCHITOCHES – A visitor to the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame here last week noticed a Pittsburgh Pirates jersey with the number 30.
“Hey, they have Paul Skenes’ jersey in here,” Hall of Fame chairman Doug Ireland overheard in reference to the Pirates’ ace and former No. 1 pick of the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft from LSU. He led the Tigers to the ’23 national title and was the National Rookie of the Year in 2024 and the NL Cy Young winner last year.
“And then they saw the name on the back – Morris,” Ireland said during the Hall of Fame introductory press conference on Thursday with other members of the 12-person class to be enshrined tonight (7 p.m., LBP) at the Natchitoches Event Center.
That would be Warren Morris – a previous No. 30 with the Pirates from 1999-2001 who was a National League Rookie of the Year contender as he hit .288 with 15 home runs and 73 RBIs ’99. Morris also hit the most famous home run in college baseball history for LSU – a two-run shot to right field to give the Tigers a 9-8 win over Miami for the national championship at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska, 30 years ago last June 8.
The Skenes story did not surprise Morris, whose last Major League season was in 2003 before retiring in 2006.
“I mean, face it, look at me, I’m every guy, you know,” Morris said at the podium. “Skip Bertman (LSU’s baseball coach from 1984-2001) used to say I could be on a subway somewhere in a big city, and if great NFL players were there, you would know it. If an NBA player was there, you’re going to know it. But I could be the guy that you work next to in a cubicle, right?”
Morris, 52, doesn’t work in a cubicle. He has a vice-president office at Red River Bank in Alexandria, his hometown.
“It’s neat that God put this story together,” Morris said. “And I got to be able to live through it. And then just to be able to tell this story and to be honored here with the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, it’s just been a dream come true.”
Morris will be inducted as a recipient of the Louisiana Sports Ambassador Award. And he has often been the center of attention wherever he goes since the home run.
“Just blown away is a good word to say,” he said. “Just an honor. Never something that you just think is going to happen. I’ve been through the Hall of Fame several times – just an hour down the road. And it’s cool to see just how many great athletes are from, per capita, a pretty small state. But we produce great athletes, and I think it’s part of that passion of the people here. For someone who did have an opportunity to live in different areas around the country, and those are all great places, but there’s nowhere like home to be recognized as an ambassador for the state. And hopefully for people to remember me as someone who did something well and somebody you could root for.”
Among the other inductees are former LSU men’s basketball coach John Brady, former LSU and Atlanta Falcons center Todd McClure, former LSU women’s basketball center Sylvia Fowles, former Saints and Falcons wide receiver Joe Horn and former Northwestern State men’s basketball coach Mike McConathy.
Maybe not everyone remembers Morris’ number with the Pirates (30) or his number at LSU (4), but they remember the home run 30 years ago this summer.
“People ask me all the time, like, ‘Man, you’ve seen that video so many times, do you ever get get tired of watching it?’ And my answer is, ‘Heck no, I love it. It ends well,'” Morris said.
“Dreams do come true,” Ireland said. “Congratulations on what you’ve done, and who you are, and how you represent our state of Louisiana. Perfect recipient of the Master Award. Congratulations!”
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