Happy Birthday to the late and great Hall of Fame Second Baseman Joe Morgan. Morgan spent twenty-two seasons in the Major Leagues, notably for the Houston Colt .45s/Astros and Cincinnati Reds. But also for the San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, and Oakland Athletics. Before diving into his career, I want to remind everyone that Second Basemans have historically not been known for putting up substantial offensive numbers.

Career Statistics/Accolades (1963-1984):

.271 BA 2,517 HITS 268 HR 1,133 RBI 1,650 RUNS .392 OBP

  • 10x All-Star
  •  5x Gold-Glove
  •  2x MVP (1975 & 1976)
  •  2x World Series (1975 & 1976)
  •  Silver Slugger (1982)

As a Left-Handed hitter, it took until later on in his career for Morgan to display power. He came up in Houston as your typical top-of-the-order guy who had a great eye, great contact, and great in terms of baserunning. Career-wise Morgan drew 1,865 Walks to only 1,015 Strikeouts, recorded 689 Stolen Bases, eight years in a row stealing at least 40. Also, Morgan touched home plate, recording a Run at least 100 times in eight seasons. In 1972, when he got traded to the Reds, his career flourished as he would be a vital member of The Big Red Machine. In 1975-76, Morgan won the NL MVP in both years and earned a World Series ring as the Reds would win the World Series back-to-back years.

MVP(s)

1975: (146 Games)

.327 BA 163 HITS 17 HR 94 RBI .466 OBP, 107 RUNS

1976: (141 Games)

.320 BA 151 HITS 27 HR 111 RBI .444 OBP, 113 RUNS

Defensively, Morgan took home five Gold Glove awards, all of them in consecutive years. Over his 22-year career, Morgan spent 21,543.1 Innings at Second Base and had a lifetime Fielding Percentage of .981. For thirteen straight seasons, his Fielding Percentage was well above the league average for other Second Basemen’s.

Overall, only 16 times has a guy playing Second Base won an MVP Morgan and along with Rogers Hornsby, have done it twice. Morgan also has “Black-Bold Stats” in the double digits on the back of his baseball card. There is no debate that Joe Morgan is in the top 10 of all-time all-around Second Baseman; he has to be in the top-5. In 1990, in his first year of eligibility, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, where he wore a Red cap. His number #8 jersey has also been retired by the Reds. In 1999, The Sporting News came out with their list of 100 great ball players of all time, and Morgan was ranked #60.

References:

  1. Joe Morgan via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Morgan#
  2. Joe Morgan Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/morgajo02.shtml