John Morlan grew up on the west side of Columbus and attended Dana Avenue Elementary and Westmoor Junior High before entering West High School. He was President of Varsity W and a member of the Student Council. His baseball career began in Little League and continued into junior high. He was on Westmoor’s first Junior High School City League Championship team. At a later date, that same Westmoor Team, beat West High School’s Varsity Baseball Team by a score of 9 – 3!
While at West High School, he played both baseball and football. In football, he played quarterback and was also Captain of the team. John was voted for the All-City team in his Junior and Senior year as well as All-District and All-Ohio his Senior year. John was named Central Ohio Back of the Year in 1965, the first player to be named from West since the 1940’s. This award was presented to John on TV by longtime Columbus TV sportscaster, Jimmy Crum. John also played at Canton, Ohio in the High School All-Star Game.
In baseball, John led the City League in scoring his senior year with 72 points. He was All-City, All-District, and All-State his sophomore, junior, and senior years where he both pitched and played center field. John played in the East-West All Star game at Jet Stadium. He was voted the Best Male Athlete by his 1965 Senior Class.
John comes from a family of athletes. His father, John Sr., and his four uncles, Charlie, Joe, Art, and Steve all played football and baseball at Central High School. His dad caught for the Cleveland organization in the minor leagues and later was a scout for the Cleveland Indians.
John was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds his senior year at West. His mother wanted him to attend college, so she was pleased when he was scouted by dozens of colleges, including Notre Dame, Michigan, and the Naval Academy. The legendary OSU Football Coach Woody Hayes also recruited him. Woody was bound and determined that John should come to OSU. After wooing John, his parents, and his grandparents, Woody was able to get John to sign a letter of intent to go to Ohio State. However, Bob Wren, the baseball coach at Ohio University had also heavily recruited John and Coach Wren continued to keep in touch. Later, when presented by Coach Wren with the opportunity to play baseball on a full scholarship and to play football, if he chose, John decided to attend Ohio University. He was pleased to let Coach Wren break the news to Woody.
John was drafted, again, during his freshman year at Ohio University by The Pittsburgh Pirates and his sophomore year by The Cleveland Indians. He decided to continue his college education. During a game as a sophomore, he collided with another ball player, fracturing his cheek. This resulted in him sitting out most of that season. He rebounded his junior year and had an 8 -1 pitching record. He was selected as an All MAC (Mid-American Conference) player. He was also selected, along with Rich McKinney, as MVP’s for playing on the MAC winning team during regional finals. After his junior season, The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted him again. This time as their Number 1 pick. John signed with them, thus sitting out his senior year at OU.
Once with Pittsburgh, John played in the minor leagues for 2 ½ years before being sent up to the majors along with Dave Parker. While in AAA at Charleston, he was pitcher of the year and voted most valuable player. He had the lowest ERA with 2.01, his record was 12 – 4. He was also Topps Chewing Gum Pitcher of the Year while in Charleston. During the 1973 and 1974 seasons, he earned the position as a starting pitcher for the Pirates. He played under manager Bill Verdon and alongside such notables as Willie Stargell, Bill Mazeroski, and Al Oliver. He pitched to Hank Aaron, Pete Rose, Mike Schmidt, and Johnny Bench, among others. After the 1974 season, John had surgery on his elbow to remove bone chips and was sent to AAA to rehab. His arm was never able to return to its pre-surgery form and John was finally released from the Columbus Clippers, who was the Pirates AAA team in 1977.
After being released by Pittsburgh, John took a teaching position at West High School. He became the Head Coach for the Girls Softball Team. Along with Gary Link as his Assistant Coach, they won the City League West Division Title in the mid 1980’s. He was also an Assistant Coach for the West Football Team. John continued to teach for 28 years in Columbus Public Schools.
Since his retirement, he and his wife, Susan, have traveled extensively. They have been from Yellowstone to the Maine coast and from Quebec City to Florida. He and Susan, whom he met while at Ohio University, have been married for 55 years. They have one daughter, Jody, who is a nurse. She and her late husband, Kenny, have two daughters, Aubrey and Hallie. Aubrey has her Master’s in Social Work and Hallie is currently working on her master’s at Simmons University in the Boston area. John is an avid golfer, a sport that now occupies most of his spare time.
Dan Martin, Class of 1972, nominated John.
