I think I’ve got something in my eye 😢Originally Posted by SunDeck
I think I’ve got something in my eye 😢
dubc47834 (10-13-2020),RedsfaninMT (10-12-2020)
dreghorntwo (10-12-2020)
Such sad news. One of the best players to ever don a Reds uniform. That run scoring single in the 9th of 1975 Game 7 may be the single biggest hit in franchise history. RIP Joe.
Kingspoint (10-12-2020)
How very sad. I never saw a more vital, exciting, smart player. He played the game in a way that made it beautiful. I got older today.
"Don't trust any statistics you did not fake yourself."--Winston Churchill
dreghorntwo (10-12-2020),Kingspoint (10-12-2020)
Wynn, Watson and Morgan - all team mates on the late 60s early 70s Astros.
Last edited by Rantly; 10-12-2020 at 03:49 PM.
Big Klu (10-12-2020),goreds2 (10-12-2020),Kingspoint (10-12-2020),M2 (10-12-2020)
I got to go to one game at Crosley Field. I was young and dumb and remember liking the cookie-cutter Riverfront Stadium more than Crosley ( Ugh!). I remember thinking the Reds would suck because they traded away my then favorite Lee May for some scrub named Joe Morgan (and a lot of other players involved too.)
I was a thirteen-year-old when Morgan hit that ball against the Sox in '75. I loved the Reds, and I think maybe only the '80 hockey team beating the Soviet Union can rival the loudness of the yell I unleashed. It was an even sweeter moment for me because my older brother was a huge Red Sox fan. No doubt I was obnoxious in my gloating. As many have pointed out, when Joe would get both feet on the turf, you knew he was about to be off to the races. It seemed to me he was always in the pitcher's head once he got on base.
I loved "little Joe!" This not only makes me sad, but reinforces that I'm no longer young.
Betterread (10-12-2020),cumberlandreds (10-12-2020),dreghorntwo (10-12-2020),goreds2 (10-12-2020),Kingspoint (10-12-2020)
A truly sad day. Morgan was a great player. He was perfect for his era in which he could his speed and base stealing abilities to the fullest. I had been saying for a long time we were lucky to have all of the great 8 with us. Now one of them is gone. It will never be the same when they have any reunions. The chicken flap is now gone and how many of us from that era imitated that? I know I did. He was the key to the BRM and the main ingredient in the that trade that transformed the BRM to true greatness. RIP Joe Morgan. Thank you for all of the pleasurable moments you gave during that wonderful time in my life.
Reds Fan Since 1971
dreghorntwo (10-12-2020),mth123 (10-12-2020),RedsfaninMT (10-12-2020)
Just checked, today is the 45th anniversary of Game 2 where Concepcion and Griffey played the heroes.
Side note about Joe Morgan, he was straight up robbed of Rookie of the Year in 1965. The award went to Jim Lefebvre because he was on the Dodgers. Morgan was vastly superior.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
Betterread (10-12-2020),goreds2 (10-12-2020),Kingspoint (10-12-2020),Number_Fourteen (10-12-2020),RedsBaron (10-12-2020)
In the last century of baseball, Rogers Hornsby, Charlie Gehringer and Jackie Robinson are arguably the only three second basemen worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Joe Morgan. Morgan is the only one to play after Robinson retired at the end of 1956.
If you had to construct a Hall of Fame among only Hall of Famers, Joe gets in. That is rare air indeed.
dreghorntwo (10-12-2020),Kingspoint (10-12-2020),mth123 (10-12-2020)
When "The Trade" was made, most Reds' fans were shocked, angry and puzzled, me included. I was 13 at the time and looking at stats, I just couldn't fathom it. Back then, the Home Run seemed like the most important part of baseball along with starting pitching and it seemed like we gave up offense to strengthen fielding and pitching a little. Denis Menke was getting old and had just a little more bat than Helms and Morgan's stats(obviously skewed by the Astrodome and the lack of talent he was surrounded by) just didn't add up to the Big Bopper. When I first saw the trade and started reading the names and saw "Cesar", I thought surely "Cedeno" would follow(making the trade seem more worth it) but when I saw "Geronimo" instead, I was disgusted. The name "Jack Billingham" didn't excite or satisfy me either.
Well, yeah, we were wrong. Morgan turned into one of the greatest players of all time, Billingham was so very important to the pitching rotation, Geronimo solidified the most important outfield position and Menke had a little left in the tank. lol, I became so impressed with that trade, I was sure that Armbrister was going to be the next Cedeno.
Anyway, that trade turned around what could've been a flash in the pan BRM from 1970 into a perennial contender. But it still didn't quite work to perfection until we kind of lucked into a replacement for Lee May's power in George Foster.
Joe Morgan is the greatest all-around player in Reds history imo. He excelled in all phases of the game, plus he was kind of the no-nonsense leader on the field that didn't rub some players the wrong way or have any toxic relationships. Bench was also a no-nonsense leader but he could rub teammates the wrong way.
RIP Joe Morgan. As fortunate as you were to wind up in Cincinnati, Cincinnati and Reds' fans were 1000 times more fortunate to have you here.
Bruce Berenyi (10-12-2020),cumberlandreds (10-13-2020),T Harper (10-12-2020)
When I was 4 or 5, living in New York, you were destined to be either a Yankee or Mets fan. Well, my Uncle was a relentless ball-breaker and he used to tease me nonstop about being a Mets fan. "You like Pepe Mangual - he's your favorite player" was one that always got to me. So I was kind of on path to being a Yankee fan. Til one day he really got on my nerves, like badly. So, the next day I turned on the TV and the Mets were playing the Reds. I knew nothing of the Reds or the Big Red Machine at that time, just that this Red team was playing the Mets. So I turned to my Mom and said this is my new favorite team. Joe Morgan happened to be on base at this exact moment. He proceeded to steal second and I turned again to my mom and said that is my new favorite player. That was in 1976. When I got to Little League I was a 2nd basemen because that's where Joe played.
RIP Little Joe
"I came here to kick ass and chew bubble gum... and I'm all out of bubble gum."
- - Rowdy Roddy Piper
"It takes a big man to admit when he is wrong. I am not a big man"
- - Fletch
cumberlandreds (10-13-2020),KronoRed (10-12-2020),M2 (10-12-2020),PTjvs (10-12-2020),redsmetz (10-12-2020),Revering4Blue (10-12-2020),The Operator (10-13-2020)
Nicely summed up! When Joe Rudi robbed Menke of a home run, I can remember saying "See? Stupid Trade!"
We were a good team and then we traded for Joe and we became a great team. Greatest trade in history? RIP.
cumberlandreds (10-13-2020),Redsfan6272 (10-12-2020),Revering4Blue (10-12-2020)
Man, 2020 really sucks. I remember being at a game maybe 75 or 76 and my family asked me when Joe came up to bat " What will Morgan do?". I said "hit a homerun". The very next pitch he hit a homerun. All the people around us looked at me with shock in thier eyes. I will never forget that. Now I know i feel old when our heros from the Big Red Machine start to pass on. Sigh what a sucky day
morgan was part of the colt45s all rookie team''1b staub
2b morgan'
ss jackson 3b vaughn
lf david cf wynn
rf pointer
c grote p dahl
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