Rose's comment about Morgan showed his real value. You could hear the crowd noise rise with anticipation when Morgan came to bat in the late innings of a close game. I felt he could almost will himself to get a walk, at least, in those situations. And when he did get on base, it was exactly as Rose said: he was going to steal that base no matter what. For all the other things he could do on the field, that intimidation factor put the "Valuable" in Most Valuable Player for me.
What Sparky Anderson said was spot on Joe was the best second baseman of all-time. It's really not even close he was that good. He played 22 years his Stats just look them up. I'm only going to leave off Rogers Hornsby because he played before blacks were allowed to play not his fault. But the list is Jackie Robinson, Roberto Alomar Rod Carew Ryne Sandberg Lou Whitaker Davey Lopes Bill Mazeroski, I will throw Craig Biggio in there. All great players but no one matches humble Joe he made the big Red Machine go and go they did. Only Jackie Robinson instilled the fear pitchers and infielders had when Joe was on base. It was all eyes on him. And he still stole the damn base.
Rose's comment about Morgan showed his real value. You could hear the crowd noise rise with anticipation when Morgan came to bat in the late innings of a close game. I felt he could almost will himself to get a walk, at least, in those situations. And when he did get on base, it was exactly as Rose said: he was going to steal that base no matter what. For all the other things he could do on the field, that intimidation factor put the "Valuable" in Most Valuable Player for me.
Simply the best ever and my favorite since I was 8 years old.
Joe Morgan the spark plug of the big red machine.
My Baseball Hero. A great trade for the Reds. RIP Joe... we miss ya.
He's the best overall MLB player I ever watched, and likely will ever watch, R.I.P. "Lil' Joe"...
A main cog in the Big Red Machine
What Sparky Anderson said was spot on Joe was the best second baseman of all-time. It's really not even close he was that good. He played 22 years his Stats just look them up. I'm only going to leave off Rogers Hornsby because he played before blacks were allowed to play not his fault. But the list is Jackie Robinson, Roberto Alomar Rod Carew Ryne Sandberg Lou Whitaker Davey Lopes Bill Mazeroski, I will throw Craig Biggio in there. All great players but no one matches humble Joe he made the big Red Machine go and go they did. Only Jackie Robinson instilled the fear pitchers and infielders had when Joe was on base. It was all eyes on him. And he still stole the damn base.