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Had Our Phil Of Morgan

http://www.nypost.com/seven/07202007...l_mushnick.htm

Quote:

Sunday night on ESPN the Cardinals were beating the Phillies, 10-0, in the eighth inning.

That was before ESPN's pathetic ESPY Awards, but after ESPN's pathetic "Who's Now?" segment, and before and after ESPN's pathetic sudden enthusiasm for the Arena Football League, which until this year, when it became an ESPN property, ESPN ignored.

Cardinals-Phillies was part of ESPN's pathetic "Sunday Night Baseball" coverage. The Phillies were about to become the first Major League Baseball team to 10,000 losses. And Joe Morgan, ESPN's No. 1 baseball analyst, a fellow whose wisdom is often laced with convoluted, confounding and contradictory nonsense, was moved to tell a national audience about the significant role he played in Phillies history.

The year, Morgan told us, was 1964, that calamitous season when the Phillies blew a 61/2-game lead with 12 games left by losing 10 straight. Morgan said he made his major-league debut late in '64, against the Phillies. And it was in that game that his RBI single beat the Phillies, extending their infamous losing streak to eight or nine.

Morgan added that Phillies manager Gene Mauch was so upset he threw over the buffet table in the clubhouse, hollering that his club had just been beaten by "a Little Leaguer!"

Great story. But unless Morgan was confusing himself with Reds rookie infielder Chico Ruiz, it never happened. As several readers were moved to write, the Phillies played the Reds, Braves and Cardinals during that losing streak; Houston wasn't in the mix.

Furthermore, Morgan, though called up in 1964, did not have an RBI that season for Houston.

And he did not make his big-league debut in '64, either. That came Sept. 21, 1963, when he went 0-for-1, pinch-hitting against the Phillies. The next day, Morgan did have an RBI single to beat the Phillies, but those Phillies were well out of the race and not in the throes of a historic collapse; they'd actually won four of their previous five games.

Can you confuse such significant and presumably memorable facts about your career? It hardly seems possible, but I suppose you can.

The same bogus story appeared in a Baseball Digest story about Morgan that was published in 2000.

ESPN, through a spokesman yesterday, acknowledged that Morgan's biographical account Sunday was incorrect, that he likely confused his 1963 circumstances with the Phillies' 1964 circumstances. Morgan could not be reached for comment, but ESPN said it expects him to make a correction on his next broadcast, this Sunday.

Fair enough. Still, Morgan seems to be just one symptom of what ESPN has become, that no matter what you watch, listen to and read that carries the ESPN brand, ESPN should just tear it up and start over.

Re: Had Our Phil Of Morgan

Joe remembered the result (September GWRBI that probably led to Mauch's tirade) but missed the year 44 YEARS LATER?

waterboard him

Re: Had Our Phil Of Morgan

Quote:

Originally Posted by princeton (Post 1418462)

Joe remembered the result (September GWRBI that probably led to Mauch's tirade) but missed the year 44 YEARS LATER?

waterboard him

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the point of the story is that this never happened to Joe Morgan. When the GWRBI hit was made, Mauch didn't go nuts. It was during the Phils major losing streak that he threw the table and yelled that they got beat by a "Little Leaguer." Though that GWRBI hit was NOT Joe Morgan. Morgan had ZERO rbi's in the year of the Phil's great slump, therefore, he did not have a game winning hit against them to send Mauch nuts.

Joe inserted him into a story about someone else.

Re: Had Our Phil Of Morgan

Quote:

Originally Posted by AvesIce51 (Post 1418475)

Joe inserted him into a story about someone else.

Yep.

Either that, or Little Joe's starting to go senile.

I think it's just ego run amuck. (man, I love that word...)

The irony is that Joe Morgan could tell true baseball stories on himself from now until the cows come home. This was just stupid of him. He certainly would have remembered having a role in the epic Phillie's collapse of 1964, had he actually done so. And he would have been remembered for doing so, also.

It's almost the only thing Chico Ruiz was ever known for in baseball (other than pulling out a gun on Alex Johnson, and dying in a car crash before his time); why steal his thunder? And it was a steal of home plate, for the only run of the game, with Frank Robinson at bat, that set Mauch off.

Here's a good remembrance of 1964 and Ruiz's role: http://www.americanpopularculture.co...chico_ruiz.htm

Re: Had Our Phil Of Morgan

Quote:

Originally Posted by AvesIce51 (Post 1418475)

sounds to me like Joe got a GWRBI in 1963, after which Joe heard that Mauch threw a table and called him a "Little Leaguer". Very Mauchian

but since 44 years later Joe remembered the game as occurring in September of 1964 and not in Sept of 1963, we should pull out li'l Joe's fingernails.

Re: Had Our Phil Of Morgan

Quote:

Originally Posted by princeton (Post 1418479)

It was in 1963

Code:

Houston Colt .45s 2, Philadelphia Phillies 1



Day



Game Played on Sunday, September 22, 1963 (N) at Colt Stadium



PHI N    0  0  0    0  0  0    0  1  0  -   1  8  1

HOU N    0  0  0    0  0  0    0  0  2  -   2  8  0

COLT .45S 9TH: WINE REPLACED HOAK (PLAYING SS); AMARO CHANGED
POSITIONS (PLAYING 3B); Weekly singled to left; POINTER RAN FOR
WEEKLY; On a bunt Warwick forced Pointer (pitcher to
shortstop); Debut game for Aaron Pointer; Wynn walked
[Warwick to second]; Aspromonte singled to left [Warwick scored,
Wynn to second]; KLIPPSTEIN REPLACED SHORT (PITCHING); STAUB
BATTED FOR BATEMAN; Staub grounded out (first unassisted) [Wynn
to third, Aspromonte to second]; Morgan singled to right [Wynn
scored, Aspromonte to third]; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Phillies 1,
Colt .45s 2.

My favorite part of the rant is the attempt to align Morgan with the cheese that is known as ESPN, talk about biting the hand that feeds you. Let's skip the players who work there and go right to the executive producers and program directors.

They're the gun shooting loud blanks at the viewer, not Joe Morgan... who has seen a lot of baseball and played probably more

Re: Had Our Phil Of Morgan

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-...d=196309220HO1

looks like there was a big hit by a Little Leaguer to overcome a 1 run deficit in the bottom of the ninth. Phils blow a lead and lose to the ninth place team. I don't know why that would have bugged Mauch

WTG, li'l Joe

Re: Had Our Phil Of Morgan

Quote:

Originally Posted by princeton (Post 1418479)

I say shave his moustache and make him listen to Led Zeppelin "Coda" repeatedly.

Re: Had Our Phil Of Morgan

Phil Mushnick - the author of the article - is quite possibly the biggest tool on the planet. I could care less what he has to say about anything.

Re: Had Our Phil Of Morgan

Quote:

Originally Posted by Puffy (Post 1418487)

Phil Mushnick - the author of the article - is quite possibly the biggest tool on the planet. I could care less what he has to say about anything.

I dunno.

Carson Daly is a pretty massive tool.

Re: Had Our Phil Of Morgan

www.firejormorgan.com -- must read blog on inane sports commentary, particularly that of Mr. Morgan.

Re: Had Our Phil Of Morgan

Waite Hoyte would have been in trouble with this crowd.

Re: Had Our Phil Of Morgan

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedsManRick (Post 1418971)

www.firejormorgan.com -- must read blog on inane sports commentary, particularly that of Mr. Morgan.

Not to be picky, but it's www.firejoemorgan.com (joe instead of jor). I clicked on the link and got one of those advertisement type pages.

Re: Had Our Phil Of Morgan

Reading through the firejoemorgan site I found this off-topic, yet priceless gem. When discussing potenital future HOF's:

Quote:

Derek Jeter: Four rings say it all.

Really. That says it all. Really. Okay.

Well, congratulations, Ramiro Mendoza, Andy Pettitte, Tino Martinez, Bernie Williams, El Duque, Chuck Knoblauch, Gene Tenace, Dal Maxvill, Don Gullett, Bump Hadley, Luis Sojo, Mike Stanton, and Snuffy Stirnweiss -- you're in!

I knew there was a reason Krivsky has kept Stanton, it's because he has something in common with Jeter. That's definitely an interesting website, one with alot of Joe Morgan's analysis (or lack thereof) and some other stuff sprinkled in.