The baseball world lost yet another icon on Sunday, as another Hall of Famer Joe Morgan passed away. According to the New York Daily News, Morgan had been suffering from a form of polyneuropathy, a nerve condition.
Unfortunately this has been a year shaped by the death of baseball legends, as Al Kaline, Tom Seaver, Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Whitey Ford all previously passing away before Morgan.
Morgan’s career accolades stack up with the best of them, as he was one of the greatest second baseman of all-time. After spending the first nine years of his career with the Houston Astros, Morgan was traded to the Cincinnati Reds prior to the 1972 season. He would go on to be the leader of “The Big Red Machine”, which was one of the greatest teams ever constructed.
The Reds won back-to-back World Series championships in 1975 and 1976, years in which Morgan also won the NL MVP. Morgan was an All-Star in each of his eight seasons in Cincinnati, while also taking home five Gold Gloves. Morgan finished his career playing stints with the Astros, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies and the Oakland Athletics.
When Morgan retired after his 22-year big league career, he had amassed 2,517 hits, 268 HR, 1,133 RBI and 1,650 runs. Morgan also stole 689 bases, which is the 11-most all-time.
Following his playing career, Morgan went on to be an outstanding broadcaster, working for the Reds, Giants, ESPN and NBC. Most recently Morgan was hosting a nationally-syndicated radio show on Sports USA. Morgan became a first-ballot Hall of Famer back in 1990, when he was inducted alongside Jim Palmer.
Rest in peace to one of the greatest players and personalities the game has ever seen.
