Joel Barlow Alum and Braves Pitcher Charlie Morton Throws 16 Pitches With Broken Leg

It was the second inning during Game 1 of the World Series between the Atlanta Braves and the Houston Astros. Atlanta pitcher Charlie Morton, a high school pitching phenom at Joel Barlow High in Redding, was on the mound.

Morton threw a 96 mph fastball to the Astro's Yuli Gurriel, who swung and hit the ball as it traveled at 104 mph directly back at Morton. It ricocheted off his right fibula and bounced to 1st baseman Freddie Freeman for an easy out. Morton showed no signs of pain and walked with his teammates into the dugout. After Atlanta's turn at bat, Charlie casually walked back out to the pitcher's mound and went back to work with a broken leg.

Mike Weiner was Charlie's catcher for two seasons at Joel Barlow, and this is what he told the Norwalk Hour:

“You would never know whether Charlie was hurt or not,” Last night, he just literally couldn’t go past that last pitch. I think if he could’ve physically gone through it, he would’ve. Mentally he could’ve went through it, but he literally physically couldn’t.”

After the game inside the training room at Minute Maid Park, friends of Morton's dropped by to say how sorry they were about his broken leg. Of course, his response was, "I'm sorry." But, if you watch the video after the ball struck him, it doesn't look like he was in any discomfort.

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Charlie Morton was one of those athletes who pushed his body to compete even if he was in pain until his body broke down. Think about it. This humble 37-year-old major league pitcher who has had more than his share of injuries throughout his major league career threw 16 pitches in the third inning and struck out Jose Altuve on practically one functional leg. And HE says, "I'm sorry." What a remarkable man!