Former Boston Red Sox pitcher buried near Flomaton, Alabama

Walter 'Big Ed' Morris

My 14-year-old son, James, and I were riding to Flomaton last Thursday afternoon to watch a high school softball game. We got off the interstate at Exit 69 and as we traveled down Alabama Highway 113, I began to think about former Boston Red Sox pitcher, Walter Edward “Big Ed” Morris. As it turns out, our drive to the softball game was going to take us right by the church where he is buried.

Six miles from Exit 69, we pulled over at Halls Creek Baptist Church, got out and spent a few minutes looking for Morris’ grave. Those of you who have been to this cemetery before will know that it’s not very large and contains only about 50 graves. With that said, it didn’t take us long to find the former Major Leaguer’s grave.

Morris was a 32-year-old, right-handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, who grew up in the Foshee community between Brewton and Pollard in Escambia County. Morris broke into the Major Leagues in 1922 with the Chicago Cubs and eventually ended up with the Boston Red Sox. Morris, an American League MVP candidate in 1928, pitched in his final Major League game on Sept. 21, 1931, just six months before his life was unexpectedly cut short in March 1932.

News of the incident that would end Morris’ life appeared in many area newspapers under the headline “Red Sox Pitcher Stabbed At Brewton.” According to those stories, Morris “was in a Century, Fla. hospital in a serious condition from knife wounds received during an altercation at a fish fry near (Brewton), given in his honor by a group of friends on the eve of his departure for the Red Sox training camp. Hospital attendants said he had only slight chance to recover.”

That story went on to say that Morris had been stabbed twice near the heart by a man named Joe White during an argument at the fish fry, which was held about five miles from Brewton.

“Witnesses said Morris slapped White down and himself tripped and fell,” the article said. “While lying on his back, they said White drew his knife and stabbed Morris after slashing at him.”

White was arrested after the incident and wasn’t initially charged as authorities waited to see if Morris would live. That all changed though when Morris died on March 3.

Despite my best efforts, the only other information about this incident that I could find appeared in an Evergreen newspaper, in a story under the headline, “White Indicted In Death of Pitcher.” According to that story, the Escambia County grand jury indicted White, a resident of Brewton, with second-degree murder on March 11, and White was being held in jail without bond.

Morris, who lived in Brewton during the offseason, had planned to leave on March 1 for Red Sox training camp, which was held that year in Savannah, Ga. In addition to playing for the Cubs and the Red Sox, Morris had also played for the Nashville and Mobile teams in the minor league Southern Association.