Posted on 10/12/2020 8:47:56 AM PDT by shortstop
Baseball Hall of Famer Joe Morgan, a two-time World Series champion and two-time National League MVP All Star, died Sunday. He was 77. CBS Sports' Jim Bowden confirmed the news
Morgan played 22 MLB seasons, beginning his career with the Houston Astros (then the Colt .45s) in 1963. Morgan then made his way to the Cincinnati Reds, where he became a key member of the Big Red Machine, winning back-to-back World Series titles in 1975 and 1976. Morgan also won back-to-back NL MVP Awards both of those years.
Morgan was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 1990.
How sad. Rest in peace.
That 76 team was one of the greatest teams in major league baseball. It simply ran like a nuclear powered steam roller crushing every team they played. The Big Red Machine was me and my brothers teams growing up in the mountains if eastern Kentucky. If we were lucky Mom and Dad would save and we would go to one game a year in Cincinnati, one of the highlights of our summers. RIP Joe!
Then every November, I would take my allowance money from chores (yeah, we actually had to work for money from our parents in those days down to Scheels Hardware to buy as many baseballs as I could afford. That's when Scheels big seasonal sale stated and if you owned the baseball, you were assured of getting to pitch.
Then we would play Strat-O-Matic until the following spring.
RIP Joe Morgan. What a great ball player. And I loved him as a commentator. He was knowledgeable, honest and articulate.
Thank you. I’m fine, thank God. I wasn’t there as the patient.
Glad to hear that your health is fine. So if you were not a patient then you were a caregiver and my thoughts and Prayers are still with you.
As a spry young lad, I got to see the Big Red Machine in action. Joe Morgan was the heart and soul of the BRM.
Opening Day of baseball was ALWAYS at Cincinnati. I remember the parades leading up to the stadium and loved the elephants as they circled the inside of the stadium. That was the Official First Day of Spring for me.
Now it is the first day of Spring Training.
126 days away - https://www.springtrainingcountdown.com/
Once we moved from the Cincy area I became a Braves fan. I have baseballs from all three Braves stadiums.
Go Braves, beat the Dodgers! Chop On!!
Talked to Mr. Morgan in his restaurant in Oakland many years ago. Joe had class.
Thank you.
Yep, and the Reds gave up Lee May (1B) and Tommy Helms (2B) in return. I’d say the Reds got the better end of that deal.
During the heyday of the Big Red Machine, my father (who worked midnights) would announce as he came through the door...Reds won; Dodgers lost. Great way to start the day.
Chief Bender knew talent when he saw it.
Betcha can’t name 5 players from today’s game with the baseball IQ, character, grit & savvy as those!!
Helluva list...sad to see them go.
RIP gentlemen
I caught a foul ball from Joe Morgan during batting practice when I was about 10 years old. I started yelling excitedly and the whole team looked over at me to see what the commotion was. Ha ha.
RIP. He seemed like a good guy.
I always enjoyed his commentary on the Sunday Night Games, he was teaching baseball to the viewers.
Missed that one.
Tiger Stadium, Olympia - The Old Red Barn...
This is another reminder that our youth is temporary and adulthood can be borrowed time. As a little boy, my team was the 1970s Cincinnati Reds and I was raised nowhere near Ohio. I would try to pick up games on WLW through static and other interference just to listen to Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall’s calls even if it was just the last couple of innings.
My first memory was the 1970 World Series and even though Morgan was not part of that team, he joined the Reds two years later in what remains one of the most transforming trades in MLB annals. Jack Billingham, Cesar Geronimo developed into key components but Joe Morgan was the shining light.
His base hit in the ninth inning of what is arguably the most famous World Series every played in 1975 gave fans a thrill that was unequalled for many.
The Reds were a team when teams were built the old-fashioned way, trades and farm systems. Not big money purchases. Joe Morgan was the catalyst. Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, George Foster, Ken Griffey, Dave Concepcion, Geronimo and Morgan provided the best starting 8 of the time and perhaps post WW2.
But Morgan was something exceptional. He could humiliate opposition with his base running prowess. He could hit homers that looked as if more powerful men batted. He fielded with the best and yet with a tiny glove. The complete package.
Baseball then was entertainment. It was fun for little boys to emulate their heroes when playing the game themselves. Eventually more of that era will pass. We will each have those memories from our youngest days and our own mortality will come to light. Life is fleeting. We need to enjoy as much as we can.
Rest in peace, Joe. You helped make me a happy boy following the 1975 World Series when those things were important. Thanks for the memories.
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