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Keith Moreland
Carrollton &
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1972 The
Roar
Yearbook of R. L. Turner High School
Carrollton, Dallas Co., TX
Senior Class |
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BIOGRAPHY
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Bobby Keith "Zonk" Moreland
(born May 2, 1954 in Dallas, Texas) is a former
outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Philadelphia Phillies,
Chicago Cubs, and San Diego Padres. In 1989, the final year of his career, he
played for the Detroit Tigers, then the Baltimore Orioles.
Moreland graduated from The University of Texas at Austin, and was drafted by
the Phillies in the seventh round of the 1975 draft. He started out as a
catcher, but the Phillies also played him at third base and first base. In 1989,
playing for American League teams, he also made 80 appearances as a designated
hitter.
Moreland played twelve seasons in Major League Baseball. He helped the Cubs win
the 1984 National League Eastern Division championship. His best year was in
1985 with the Cubs, when he batted .307 (14 HR, 106 RBI, 12 SB). He also had a
good year in 1987, with 27 HR and 88 RBI. He is currently the color analyst for
the radio broadcasts of Texas Longhorn football and baseball, as he is a former
player for both teams. Inducted in Texas Longhorn hall of Honor.
Position: Third Base Inducted: 1985
Hometown: Carrollton, Texas ·
Career .388 hitter with UT · Three-time All-American · Led UT to three NCAA
College World Series berths · Co-captain of 56-6 national championship team in
1973.
Hit .410 over a 62-game schedule in 1975
named to all-time College World Series decade team of the 70's.
Second most hits in career of the College World Series history with 25 in
3 years(73-75, behind Sam Fults of Stanford.
Wikipedia - The Free
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Where have you gone Keith Moreland?
08/26/2002 9:02 PM ET
By Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
CHICAGO -- It's college football season and if you're a Texas fan, you may hear
a familiar Chicago Cubs voice broadcasting Longhorn games.
Former Cub third baseman and outfielder Keith Moreland now works for the
Longhorn Sports Network and does the color commentary for the football and
baseball teams' games. When the USA Today/ESPN preseason poll was announced,
Texas was ranked No. 2 in the country behind defending champion Miami.
After Moreland retired from baseball, he moved to Austin, Texas, and earned his
college degree at the university. In 1994-95, he worked for the Longhorn Sports
Network, doing the color commentary for the university's baseball team. This
year will be his first covering the football games.
This summer, Texas won the College World Series and Moreland was there for the
first time since playing in the event in 1975. In the CWS title game, Moreland's
Longhorns defeated South Carolina 5-1 for the championship. This year was a
rematch with Texas again beating the Gamecocks, 12-6.
"The Saturday morning before the national championship game I remembered being
in that same spot 27 years earlier and getting ready to play the title game,"
Moreland said. "I wasn't nervous at all then because I was going to play. I
could take care of my business then.
"(As a broadcaster) I was a nervous wreck for the kids who you get to know going
out to play one game, a national championship game, and you're sitting there and
I can't do anything about it. That part was an adjustment and a weird feeling."
Moreland was on the Longhorns coaching staff when he initially returned to
Austin. Because the NCAA limits the number of coaches and because one of his
friends needed a coaching job, Moreland switched to the broadcast booth.
Moreland, who played outfield and third base for the Cubs from 1982-87, said the
early wake-up call for day games at Wrigley Field take some getting used to.
"You've got to make an adjustment," said Moreland, 48, who stopped to chat this
month while attending a Cubs game. "You go on the road and spend a week to 10
days playing night games, eating your evening meal at 12 o'clock, sleeping until
12 o'clock the next day.
"All of a sudden, you're up at 8:30, get to the ballpark, (batting practice)
starts at 9:30 for a 1:20 game," he said. "The other team comes in and they only
have three days of it and they're gone."
The Cubs currently play 18 night games at Wrigley Field. When Moreland played
for the team, they only played day games. The lights were not installed 1988.
Moreland said he understands the tradition of playing day games at Wrigley Field
but also recognizes the wear and tear they take on a player's body.
"You go to San Francisco and the first night game there doesn't start until 9:30
Central time," Moreland said. "All of a sudden, it's the seventh inning and
you're trying to win a ballgame facing a guy and it's midnight (body clock
time). For a week, you've been in bed for an hour by that time, an hour and a
half. It's a heck of an adjustment.
I'm a traditionalist," Moreland said, "and I love being back here and playing
day games are a very important part of this. But I truly believe the first
couple games of the homestand are tough."
While with the Cubs, Moreland batted .281 and hit 100 home runs. In 1985, he
batted .307 with 106 RBIs and 14 home runs. In 1987, he belted 27 homers and
drove in 88 runs. In his 12-year career, the stocky Texan batted .307.
The game isn't any easier from the broadcast booth.
"I think it's a very tough game," Moreland said. "To hit a round ball thrown at
90 mph with a round object is a tough thing. It's not the easiest game in the
world to play. It's a skill oriented game."
He'd like to see college baseball eliminate aluminum bats and switch to wood.
"With all the (economic) problems going on in Major League Baseball, I would
love to see a situation where Major League Baseball could defray the costs of
using wood bats," he said. "It's very expensive to go with that but it would be
very good for the game.
"Some of the kids who learn to pitch -- (Cubs pitcher) Mark Prior who is
pitching now -- take awhile to adjust to the fact that they can pitch inside,"
Moreland said. "You can't do that with aluminum bats because a lot of those
balls get over the infielders head and it would be a shattered bat."
Moreland sat in the home dugout at Wrigley Field and was amazed at how little
the ballpark has changed.
"Outside the building, it's changed a lot," Moreland said of the Wrigleyville
area. "The grass is still thick and high. I loved to go to the plate and hit
(when the wind was blowing out). When the wind's blowing in, it's a tough day to
hit. Things haven't changed at all."
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