We had season tickets for the Saints back then and I remember watching Straw that summer. Morris was getting guys out with guile and stuff to the tune of a 2.69 ERA, but it was all happening at 83 mph. Darryl, on the other hand, was mashing from the start. He hit home runs like I've never seen, lasers that ricocheted off the outfield light standards like pucks hitting the pipe. And he was having a good time. My cousin was a high school teacher and artist most of the year but spent summers as an usher for the Saints. She would trade with Darryl and his wife, signed balls for earrings and such. It was a fun year, but Morris and Strawberry left around the same time, headed in different directions. Morris was upset that no one believed major league hitters would be bamboozled by his Moyer-esque junk and retired, and Darryl went on to a second career.

I had no idea until today that Jack Morris pitched in the indies after leaving the majors.

We had season tickets for the Saints back then and I remember watching Straw that summer. Morris was getting guys out with guile and stuff to the tune of a 2.69 ERA, but it was all happening at 83 mph.

There's voodoo involved in pitching. My college coach was Mike Caldwell, the lefty junkballer from the Harvey's Wallbangers team. He liked to have us play intrasquad games and he liked to pitch for one of the teams, and I generally caught for his team. (I was a utility guy of the C/SS/CF variety... who hit like a guy who could defensively handle any position but still wasn't a starter.) Here's a guy who has only been out of the major leagues for 3-4 years - but he's also ~40 and... becoming portly. He wasn't touching 80, his slider had millimeters of break but spun in a way that looked funny and may have been deceptive, and his change was a spitter that he threw rarely. I also never had to move my glove more than an inch or two. He generally dominated pretty good D1 hitters throwing what we semi-lovingly referred to as "pus".

I had no idea until today that Jack Morris pitched in the indies after leaving the majors.

The Reds cut Jack Morris in spring training of 1995 (or he got hurt, don't remember) and it looked like he was done. I don't think he tried to sign on with another team that year. But he gave it more shot with the Saints in 1996.

Just watched the movie. A bit of an indy league documentary itself but the 2nd half really delivers and you're not making it through with dry eyes.

I forget who but somebody wrote a book about that Saints teams. They had a guy with no legs as well and Bill Murray was part owner.

Slouching Toward Fargo

They ran a lot of MLB talent through there in the 90s before more convenient places like Atlantic City got independent teams. Rey Ordonez, JD Drew, Kevin Millar, Jason Varitek, Caleb Theilbar and Mike Mimbs went on to MLB contracts. Tanner Scheppers went there to dodge the draft as well. Lots of fun faces over the years.