Revered county coach Morrison dies in crash

Heart attack is suspected

Friday, May 9, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo File photo by GARY SMITH Tommy Morrison, president of Waldorf American Little League, was involved in the program for 35 years. During opening ceremonies for a state tournament in 2007 in Waldorf, Morrison held the microphone for Megan Bruce as she recited the Little League prayer. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

Thomas ‘‘Tommy” Morrison was traveling Oaks Road in La Plata around 1:42 p.m. when he failed to make a sharp curve near Tall Oaks Place. His vehicle left the road and struck a tree.

He was taken by ambulance to Civista Medical Center where he was later pronounced dead.

Morrison’s was a familiar face and name around the county, especially in the world of Waldorf Little League, where he was instrumental both on the field and behind the scenes.

He had just kicked off the start of his 35th season with the organization last month and is considered by many to be the driving force behind the construction of the Robert D. Stethem Memorial Sports Complex, the home field of the Waldorf Little League.

‘‘This is a huge loss ... not only for our family but for the community,” said Morrison’s daughter, Sheri.

Others echoed the sentiment.

‘‘We lost a friend,” said Michelle Ruble, athletic director for the College of Southern Maryland, where Morrison coached softball for 20 years from 1986 to 2006 and was inducted in the CSM Hall of Fame in 2007.

‘‘He was our leader for more than 30 years,” said Barbara Montgomery, treasurer of Waldorf American Little League, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last month. ‘‘He will be sorely missed.”

Morrison, 66, is remembered as the coach who took a Little League team of boys between the ages of 13 to 15 to the world championship, winning it in 1986.

He also led District 7 Big League girls’ softball teams to a World Series championship three times in the 1990s, Sheri Morrison said.

‘‘He’s the only coach I know of that’s won a Little League world series with both boys and girls,” said John Creaturo, who coached with Morrison for almost 40 years. ‘‘He was a great, great coach — probably the best on-field game coach that’s ever been in this state, maybe one of the best in the country.”

Creaturo pointed to Morrison’s near-photographic memory as a coach’s gift.

‘‘He could tell you who batted third against him 20 years ago and he’d tell you what they hit,” Creaturo said. ‘‘He had a tremendous memory. It probably helped him with his card playing too. He liked to play poker, and he was good at it.”

Ruble was coached by Morrison when she played Little League softball alongside Sheri Morrison.

‘‘There are not many people you will meet who are involved in softball or baseball that haven’t played for him or played against him,” Ruble said. ‘‘I’m very fortunate to have met him.”

Joe Gardiner, known as the ‘‘singing umpire” for belting out the national anthem before several Little League contests, called games for more than 30 years, officiating many involving Morrison’s teams during that time.

‘‘He was one of the best,” said Gardiner in a prepared statement. ‘‘Tommy’s teams were always competitive, spirited and disciplined, schooled in executing the fundamentals of the game. His engaging personality and coaching skills will be greatly missed.”

Morrison, who gave up playing in a traveling softball team when he was a young man because it meant too much time away from his family, found an outlet for his love of the game through coaching, Sheri Morrison said.

‘‘He loved the game, but he also loved teaching the kids,” said Sheri, who said she went into coaching due to the influence of her father.

‘‘He was a strict coach but understanding,” said Montgomery, who was one of the founders of the league. ‘‘He knew that youth could have bad days sometimes ... we used to say ‘When you’re hot, you’re hot, when you’re not, you’re not.’”

‘‘Softball was a passion of his,” Ruble said. ‘‘But I think working with young people was a bigger passion. He was a gentleman of the game. He always put the athletes first.”

On various occasions, when the CSM Lady Hawks were winning by a wide margin, Ruble witnessed Morrison ask the umpire to watch his runner on third and call her out if she left base, which he would tell her to do.

‘‘He would try not to embarrass his opponents,” Ruble said. ‘‘Sportsmanship, he was huge on that.”

He was also a good friend, especially to Creaturo.

‘‘He was like a brother to me,” said Creaturo, who recalled Morrison as ‘‘honest and outspoken.”

‘‘He was a typical Irishman,” he said. ‘‘He always had a story for you.”

A retired systems analyst from the Washington Gas Light Co., Morrison could always be counted on to be somewhere near a dusty diamond, dedicating his time not only to coaching or managing, but serving as the league’s president or chairman of the board.

‘‘He was always involved, very supportive,” said Sheri, who has a brother, Tommy Jr., and sister, Susan — all of Morrison’s children were involved in the league at one time or another; now his grandchildren play. ‘‘Whatever you needed, he went out of his way to do it.”

Ruble agreed.

‘‘He was marvelous,” she said.