Joe Morgan
⭐ Hall of Fame 1990
Born: 9/19/1943 in Bonham, TX, USA
Died: 10/11/2020 in Danville, CA, USA
MLB Debut: 1963-09-21 | Final Game: 1984-09-30
Bats: L | Throws: R | Height: 5'7" | Weight: 160 lbs
Full name: Joe Leonard Morgan
Biography
Joe Morgan, born in 1943, was a distinguished position player who enjoyed a prolific career in Major League Baseball from 1963 to 1984. Known for his exceptional combination of power and speed, Morgan played in 2,649 games, amassing 2,517 hits, 268 home runs, and 1,133 RBIs. His career batting average stood at .271, complemented by an impressive total of 689 stolen bases, which underscored his aggressive and dynamic playing style. A key member of the Cincinnati Reds during their dominance in the 1970s, Morgan was instrumental in the team's success, helping to secure two World Series championships in 1975 and 1976.
Morgan's contributions to the game extended beyond statistics. He was a ten-time All-Star and won the All-Star Game MVP award, showcasing his ability to perform on baseball's biggest stages. His accolades also included being named TSN Rookie Player of the Year and, later, his induction into the Hall of Fame in 1990, recognizing his impact on the game. Morgan's legacy is marked not only by his individual achievements but also by his role in the transformation of the second base position and his influence during an era characterized by the rise of power hitters and the evolving strategies of the game. His remarkable career continues to inspire future generations of baseball players.
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2649 | 9277 | 1650 | 2517 | 449 | 96 | 268 | 1133 | 689 | 1865 | 1015 | 0.271 | 0.392 | 0.427 | 0.819 | 39254.8 |
Season-by-Season Batting
| Year | Team | Lg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | HOU | NL | 8 | 25 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0.240 | 0.0 |
| 1964 | HOU | NL | 10 | 37 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 0.189 | 0.0 |
| 1965 | HOU | NL | 157 | 601 | 100 | 163 | 22 | 12 | 14 | 40 | 20 | 97 | 77 | 0.271 | 2167.8 |
| 1966 | HOU | NL | 122 | 425 | 60 | 121 | 14 | 8 | 5 | 42 | 11 | 89 | 43 | 0.285 | 1853.4 |
| 1967 | HOU | NL | 133 | 494 | 73 | 136 | 27 | 11 | 6 | 42 | 29 | 81 | 51 | 0.275 | 1979.4 |
| 1968 | HOU | NL | 10 | 20 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 0.250 | 0.0 |
| 1969 | HOU | NL | 147 | 535 | 94 | 126 | 18 | 5 | 15 | 43 | 49 | 110 | 74 | 0.236 | 1104.1 |
| 1970 | HOU | NL | 144 | 548 | 102 | 147 | 28 | 9 | 8 | 52 | 42 | 102 | 55 | 0.268 | 1385.3 |
| 1971 | HOU | NL | 160 | 583 | 87 | 149 | 27 | 11 | 13 | 56 | 40 | 88 | 52 | 0.256 | 1350.4 |
| 1972 | CIN | NL | 149 | 552 | 122 | 161 | 23 | 4 | 16 | 73 | 58 | 115 | 44 | 0.292 | 3602.3 |
| 1973 | CIN | NL | 157 | 576 | 116 | 167 | 35 | 2 | 26 | 82 | 67 | 111 | 61 | 0.290 | 3619.7 |
| 1974 | CIN | NL | 149 | 512 | 107 | 150 | 31 | 3 | 22 | 67 | 58 | 120 | 69 | 0.293 | 3870.5 |
| 1975 | CIN | NL | 146 | 498 | 107 | 163 | 27 | 6 | 17 | 94 | 67 | 132 | 52 | 0.327 | 4648.2 |
| 1976 | CIN | NL | 141 | 472 | 113 | 151 | 30 | 5 | 27 | 111 | 60 | 114 | 41 | 0.320 | 4965.9 |
| 1977 | CIN | NL | 153 | 521 | 113 | 150 | 21 | 6 | 22 | 78 | 49 | 117 | 58 | 0.288 | 2965.3 |
| 1978 | CIN | NL | 132 | 441 | 68 | 104 | 27 | 0 | 13 | 75 | 19 | 79 | 40 | 0.236 | 515.6 |
| 1979 | CIN | NL | 127 | 436 | 70 | 109 | 26 | 1 | 9 | 32 | 28 | 93 | 45 | 0.250 | 700.5 |
| 1980 | HOU | NL | 141 | 461 | 66 | 112 | 17 | 5 | 11 | 49 | 24 | 93 | 47 | 0.243 | 661.2 |
| 1981 | SFG | NL | 90 | 308 | 47 | 74 | 16 | 1 | 8 | 31 | 14 | 66 | 37 | 0.240 | 720.2 |
| 1982 | SFG | NL | 134 | 463 | 68 | 134 | 19 | 4 | 14 | 61 | 24 | 85 | 60 | 0.289 | 1972.4 |
| 1983 | PHI | NL | 123 | 404 | 72 | 93 | 20 | 1 | 16 | 59 | 18 | 89 | 54 | 0.230 | 966.7 |
| 1984 | OAK | AL | 116 | 365 | 50 | 89 | 21 | 0 | 6 | 43 | 8 | 66 | 39 | 0.244 | 206.0 |
Postseason Statistics
Playoff Career Batting
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 181 | 26 | 33 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 37 | 19 | 0.182 |
Playoff Batting by Year
| Year | Round | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | NLCS | PHI | 4 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0.067 |
| 1983 | WS | PHI | 5 | 19 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0.263 |
| 1980 | NLCS | HOU | 4 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0.154 |
| 1979 | NLCS | CIN | 3 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0.000 |
| 1976 | NLCS | CIN | 3 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0.000 |
| 1976 | WS | CIN | 4 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0.333 |
| 1975 | WS | CIN | 7 | 27 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0.259 |
| 1975 | NLCS | CIN | 3 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0.273 |
| 1973 | NLCS | CIN | 5 | 20 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0.100 |
| 1972 | NLCS | CIN | 5 | 19 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0.263 |
| 1972 | WS | CIN | 7 | 24 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 0.125 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2B | 2527 | 2472 | 5742 | 6967 | 244 | 1505 |
| 3B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| OF | 16 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | HOU | 2B | 7 | 6 | 15 | 15 | 3 | 2 |
| 1964 | HOU | 2B | 10 | 10 | 31 | 25 | 3 | 4 |
| 1965 | HOU | 2B | 157 | 155 | 348 | 492 | 27 | 82 |
| 1966 | HOU | 2B | 117 | 117 | 256 | 316 | 21 | 61 |
| 1967 | HOU | 2B | 130 | 126 | 297 | 344 | 14 | 67 |
| 1967 | HOU | OF | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1968 | HOU | 2B | 5 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
| 1968 | HOU | OF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1969 | HOU | 2B | 132 | 131 | 303 | 328 | 18 | 79 |
| 1969 | HOU | OF | 14 | 13 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1970 | HOU | 2B | 142 | 141 | 349 | 430 | 17 | 98 |
| 1971 | HOU | 2B | 157 | 153 | 336 | 482 | 12 | 93 |
| 1972 | CIN | 2B | 149 | 148 | 370 | 436 | 8 | 92 |
| 1973 | CIN | 2B | 154 | 151 | 417 | 440 | 9 | 106 |
| 1974 | CIN | 2B | 142 | 140 | 344 | 385 | 13 | 92 |
| 1975 | CIN | 2B | 142 | 141 | 356 | 425 | 11 | 96 |
| 1976 | CIN | 2B | 133 | 131 | 342 | 335 | 13 | 85 |
| 1977 | CIN | 2B | 151 | 147 | 351 | 359 | 5 | 100 |
| 1978 | CIN | 2B | 124 | 120 | 252 | 290 | 11 | 49 |
| 1979 | CIN | 2B | 121 | 120 | 259 | 329 | 12 | 74 |
| 1980 | HOU | 2B | 130 | 123 | 244 | 348 | 7 | 68 |
| 1981 | SFN | 2B | 87 | 84 | 177 | 258 | 4 | 61 |
| 1982 | SFN | 2B | 120 | 117 | 254 | 364 | 7 | 69 |
| 1982 | SFN | 3B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 1983 | PHI | 2B | 117 | 109 | 231 | 331 | 17 | 63 |
| 1984 | OAK | 2B | 100 | 97 | 201 | 229 | 10 | 62 |
Career Games by Position
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Second Base | 2526 |
| Third Base | 3 |
| Left Field | 14 |
| Center Field | 2 |
| Designated Hitter | 5 |
Awards & Honors
| Year | Award | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Player of the Week | Week of 1983-09-23 |
| 1982 | Silver Slugger | 2B |
| 1982 | TSN Comeback Player of the Year | |
| 1977 | Gold Glove | 2B |
| 1977 | TSN All-Star | 2B |
| 1976 | Gold Glove | 2B |
| 1976 | Most Valuable Player | |
| 1976 | Player of the Month | August |
| 1976 | TSN All-Star | 2B |
| 1976 | TSN Major League Player of the Year | |
| 1975 | Gold Glove | 2B |
| 1975 | Most Valuable Player | |
| 1975 | Player of the Month | June |
| 1975 | Player of the Month | April |
| 1975 | Player of the Week | Week of 1975-06-27 |
| 1975 | TSN All-Star | 2B |
| 1975 | TSN Major League Player of the Year | |
| 1975 | TSN Player of the Year | |
| 1974 | Gold Glove | 2B |
| 1974 | TSN All-Star | 2B |
| 1973 | Gold Glove | 2B |
| 1973 | Player of the Week | Week of 1973-08-24 |
| 1972 | All-Star Game MVP | |
| 1972 | TSN All-Star | 2B |
| 1965 | TSN Rookie Player of the Year |
College History
| School Name | City | State | Years Attended |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merritt College | Oakland | CA | 1962 |
Award Voting History
| Year | Award | League | Finish | Points Won | Points Max | Votes First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 16th | 17.0 | 336 | 0 |
| 1976 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 1st | 311.0 | 336 | 19 |
| 1975 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 1st | 321.0 | 336 | 21 |
| 1974 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 8th | 72.0 | 336 | 0 |
| 1973 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 4th | 102.0 | 336 | 1 |
| 1972 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 4th | 197.0 | 336 | 5 |
| 1965 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 31th | 1.0 | 280 | 0 |
| 1965 | Rookie of the Year | NL | 2nd | 4.0 | 20 | 4 |