1998 Topps Stadium Club Co-Signers Matt Morris/Roger Clemens Autograph
By themselves, both players are pretty cool. Most people are more than familiar with Roger Clemens and need little to know introduction to the right handed pitcher. Matt Morris had some nice seasons with the Cardinals in the late 90s and early 2000s, but bounced around between the Giants and Pirates at the end of career during a few more than forgettable seasons.
I understand that both players are right-handed pitchers, but there is little to connect the pair outside of that one similarity. They were both on different teams and they differed greatly in style. Morris featured a big curve ball and was a successful ground ball pitcher. Clemens struck out more than five thousand batters during his career.
I took a quick glance over at Baseball Reference to see if Topps could have made a better combination of players on a Co-Signers card for Roger Clemens or Matt Morris. The Cardinals really had a pretty poor pitching staff that year. Sure, the offense was great, but Manny Aybar...No. The Blue Jays actually offer a few combinations. Namely two young pitchers on the 1998 Jays: Chris Carpenter and Roy Halladay. How cool would a Clemens and Carpenter card be? Halladay would be equally as sweet.
Morris and Clemens are truly an odd combination, but a welcome addition to the collection.
I still have no idea why the Pirates previous GM traded for Matt Morris but passed up guys like Matt Wieters and Madison Bumgarner that same year in the draft. What terrible memories I have of that 2007 season. Cool card tho.
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