Bio

Joe Leonard Morgan (born September 19, 1943) played with the Houston Astros until they traded Morgan to the Cincinnati Reds as part of a blockbuster multi-player deal on November 29, 1971, announced at baseball's winter meetings. While the Astros got power-hitting Lee May, the deal is now considered one of the most one-sided trades in baseball history. To this day it is considered an epoch-making deal for Cincinnati and one of the worst trades in Astros' history. Included in the deal to the Reds were CCsar Gerrnimo (who became their regular center fielder) and Jack Billingham, who soon joined the Reds pitching rotation as a leading starter, veteran infielder Dennis Menke, and journeyman outfielder Ed Armbrister. In addition to May, all star second baseman Tommy Helms and outfielder/pinch hitter Jimmy Stewart went to the Astros. The deal facilitated a shift in Reds team philosophy towards speed over power, with Morgan and outfielder Pete Rose now two key figures batting back-to-back. Morgan added unusual home run power (at that time) for a second baseman to outstanding speed on the basepaths and excellent defense.

After joining The Big Red Machine, Morgan's career reached a new level. This includes eight consecutive All-Star Game appearances (197221979) to go along with his 1966 and 1970 appearances with Houston.

Morgan, along with teammates Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Tony PPrez, and Dave Concepciin, led the Reds to consecutive championships in the World Series. He drove in the winning run in Game 7 of the 1975 World Series, now ranked as one of the greatest World Series of all time. Morgan was also the National League MVP in 1975 and 1976. He was the first second baseman in the history of the National League to win the MVP back to back.

Morgan was an extremely capable batterrespecially in clutch situations. While his lifetime average was only .271, he hit between .288 and .327 during his peak years with the Reds. Additionally, he drew many walks, resulting in an excellent .392 on-base percentage. He also hit 268 home runs to go with 449 doubles and 96 triples, excellent power for a middle infielder of his era, and was considered by some the finest base stealer of his generation (689 steals at greater than 80% success rate). Besides his prowess at the plate and on the bases, Morgan was an exceptional infielder, winning the Gold Glove Award in consecutive years from 1972 to 1976.

After his career ended, he was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1987, and his jersey number 8 was retired. He was honored by the Reds by throwing out the 1st pitch at the Reds 1st spring training game at Goodyear Ballpark (in Arizona) on March 5, 2010.

In 1980, he returned to Houston to help the young Astros win the NL West. The Astros then lost the National League Championship Series to the Philadelphia Phillies. Morgan went to the San Francisco Giants for the next two seasons. His home run in the last game of the 1982 season eliminated the Dodgers from the division race. He won the 1982 Willie Mac Award for his spirit and leadership. He then went to the Phillies, where he rejoined ex-teammates Pete Rose and Tony PPrez. After losing to the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series, Morgan finished his career with the Oakland Athletics.

Morgan was also a member of ESPN's lead baseball broadcast team alongside Jon Miller and Orel Hershiser. Besides teaming with Miller for Sunday Night Baseball telecasts, Morgan has also teamed with Miller for League Championship Series and World Series broadcasts on ESPN Radio. In 2006, he called the Little League World Series Championship with Brent Musburger and Orel Hershiser on ABC, replacing the recently fired Harold Reynolds. During the 2006 MLB playoffs, the network had Morgan, their lead baseball analyst, pull double duty by calling the first half of the MetssDodgers playoff game at Shea Stadium before traveling across town to call the YankeessTigers night game at Yankee Stadium.

He was also a broadcaster in the MLB 2K series from 2K Sports. Although Joe Morgan's partnership with Jon Miller began in 1990, it was not the first time that Morgan associated himself with ESPN, as from 1985 to 1988, Morgan called college baseball games for ESPN.

In his time at ESPN, Morgan had been a vocal critic of statistics-based analysis of baseball, sometimes called sabermetrics. Michael Lewis' book Moneyball, which describes Billy Beane's sabermetric-influenced approach to running the Oakland Athletics, is a particular target of Morgan's criticism. He has previously refused to read the book reasoning that statistics are not more helpful than observation.

In 2009, Sports Illustrated's Joe Posnanski spoke about the perceived disparity between Morgan's celebrated playing style and his on-air persona:

"The disconnect between Morgan the player and Morgan the announcer is one that IIm just not sure anyone has figured. Bill James tells a great story about how one time Jon Miller showed Morgan Billls New Historical Baseball Abstract, which has Morgan ranked as the best second baseman of all time, ahead of Rogers Hornsby. Well, Morgan starts griping that this was ridiculous, that Hornsby hit .358 in his career, and Morgan never hit .358, and so on. And there it was, perfectly aligneddJoe Morgan the announcer arguing against Joe Morgan the player."
In the wake of Joe Morgan deciding to take an official role with the Cincinnati Reds as a "special advisor to baseball operations", it was announced on November 8, 2010 that Mr. Morgan would not be returning for the 2011 season as an announcer on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball.

On April 21, 2010 it was announced that Morgan is returning to the Reds in the role of "special advisor to baseball operations." Morgan will work in both the baseball side and community outreach side for the Reds.[10]

Morgan stressed to Marty Brennaman during the April 21 radio broadcast that he will not be involved in trade decisions.