Jed Morris, 2009 catcher and first baseman for the Barnstormers, anticipates a stronger performance from Lancaster’s Atlantic League team in the 2010 season. With Tom Herr returning to the role of manager, Morris said, “I think, overall, it could be a better experience.” Herr, who had served as manager through the team’s 2006 championship victory, is currently focusing on recruitment efforts.
“He should be able to get some good talent,” Morris said, “The Atlantic League is usually veteran guys who know the drill. They’ve been around professional baseball for long enough. Usually, just looking for guys who will be professional, do the job, and not cause a lot of fuss. That makes it easier on the manager, too.”
The Barnstormers finished their 2009 season with an overall 67-73 record, with 34-36 in the second half.
“Last season there were some really strange things that happened to us,” Morris said, “We had a string of bad luck there at the beginning of the season….If our starting pitcher did really well, we had some problems in the bull pen. If the bull pen came in and shut ’em down, our starting pitcher might have given up enough already. It was just kind of back and forth.”
Training for 2010 will begin in April, and until just about then, the team roster may not be final. Morris, who first signed on with the Barnstormers in late March of last year, is still working out his contract for the coming season. “I’ve talked to [Herr] and should be able to find a spot,” Morris said, “I’m looking to play a different role—maybe a little more right field, third base, first base.”
But, whether or not he winds up on the Barnstormers this Spring, Morris isn’t one to complain. Having survived lukemia in 2006, Morris founded You and Me on a Comeback, an organization dedicated to helping recent cancer survivors get back into the swing of ordinary life. Morris’s role on the Barnstormers has already helped him gain exposure and support for the organization: “I’m in the community, I was on the team last year, and I want to go ahead and start something that I think I have an opportunity to do here,” Morris said.
The Barnstormers will kick off the 2010 season with an away game versus the Long Island Ducks on April 22.
