Research Enhances Associated Content Contributor's Appreciation of Joe Morgan's Playing Career in Major League Baseball

This article is about the effect portion of a cause-and-effect relationship. The effect, which came as a surprise to me, was the strength of Joe Morgan's career statistics versus those of the bulk of fellow second basemen enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum (HOF) in Cooperstown, NY.

I published the "cause" article -- "Jeff Kent Should Be Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame" -- on www.associatedcontent.com on September 23, 2009.

Kent will appear on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time in 2014 after the expiration of the five-year waiting period. He retired at the end of the 2008 season.

I arrived at my conclusion that Kent should be elected between 2016 and 2021, his third to eighth years of eligibility, after comparing his career statistics in 10 categories -- nine batting and one fielding -- with 15 of the 18 players in the HOF listed as a second baseman.

I compared Kent's total in batting average, runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI, stolen bases, walks and fielding percentage with those of Eddie Collins Sr., Bobby Doerr, Johnny Evers, Nellie Fox, Frankie Frisch, Charlie Gehringer, Billy Herman, Rogers Hornsby, Nap Lajoie, Tony Lazzeri, Bill Mazeroski, Bid McPhee, Morgan, Ryne Sandberg and Red Schoendienst.

I ranked the players in each category, with the leader receiving 16 points and the player in last place receiving 1 point.

I did not include in my comparison three members of the HOF who are listed as second baseman. In my estimation, Rod Carew and Jackie Robinson did not spend enough time playing second base. And Frank Grant played only in the Negro League, not Major League Baseball.

For the record, Kent ranked seventh out of the 16 players. Thus, I concluded that it's only a matter of time before he is inducted into the HOF.

But where Morgan ended up in my rankings -- fifth -- raised my eyebrows. He trailed Collins, Gehringer, Hornsby and Lajoie. And he finished ahead of Frankie Frisch, who was sixth.

I watched my first Major League Baseball game on television in 1965 -- a win by the Minnesota Twins over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series.

For Morgan, 1965 was his first full season in Major League Baseball. He played in 157 games for the Houston Astros after playing in a handful of games for the Houston Colt 45's in both 1963 and 1964.

Thus, I was aware of Morgan for the bulk of his 22-season career, which ended in 1984 with the Oakland Athletics.

Morgan, of course, achieved his greatest success with the Cincinnati Reds. He was a key player on the "Big Red Machine," which won the World Series in 1975 and 1976. At the end of both seasons, Morgan was named the Most Valuable Player in the National League.

Morgan played for the Reds from 1972-79. In that time, the Reds just missed winning one other World Series, losing in seven games in 1972 to the Oakland Athletics.

And the Reds also just missed advancing to another World Series, losing the National League Championship Series in 1973 to the New York Mets in five games (the maximum).

(No article about Morgan would be complete without mentioning the blockbuster trade in the 1971-72 off-season that brought him to Cincinnati. Morgan, Jack Billingham, Cesar Geronimo and Ed Armbrister were acquired by the Reds from the Astros for Lee May, Tommy Helms and Jimmy Stewart.

For the Reds, Morgan became the starting second baseman; Billingham became a starting pitcher; Geronimo became the starting center fielder; and Armbrister became a reserve outfielder. For the Astros, May became the starting first baseman; Helms became the starting second baseman; and Stewart became a reserve fielder.

I was aware of the trade when it occurred. Why was Morgan traded after seven full seasons with the Astros? He turned 28 years of age during the 1971 season, had played twice in the All-Star Game and was in the prime of his career.

At the time of the trade, I was just 13 years old. I knew that the trade involed the starting second basemen on both teams. I also knew that Helms was the National League's Gold Glove second basemen in 1971.

Many years later, I learned that race may have been a factor in Morgan's departure from Houston. Morgan is black. And his last manager in Houston, Harry Walker, now deceased, was white.

The trade turned out to be a bonanza for the Reds. And Morgan took full advantage of the opportunity, elevating his career to a new level.

In Cincinnati, Morgan had the luxury of playing with three other players who now are enshrined with him in the HOF.

During all eight of Morgan's seasons in Cincinnati, Johnny Bench was the Reds' starting catcher. And Pete Rose was a starting fielder -- at third base from 1972-74 and in left field from 1975-79.

Tony Perez was a teammate in Morgan's first five seasons in Cincinnati. Perez was the Reds' starting first baseman from 1972-76 before being traded to the Montreal Expos.)

I also stayed aware of Morgan because he played in 1981 and 1982 for my favorite Major League Baseball team -- the San Francisco Giants -- and for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1983.

For the Giants, 1982 was the franchise's 100^th season. After finishing just one game over .500 in 1981, which was interrupted by a players' strike, the Giants gave their fans a stretch drive to remember in 1982.

Entering August, the Giants were four games under .500 -- a record of 48-52 -- and 14 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League's Western Division. But the Giants went 38-21 in their next 59 games to pull into a second-place tie with the Dodgers, one game behind the Braves.

In the final series of the regular season, the Giants hosted the Dodgers at Candlestick Park. The Dodgers won the games played on Friday night and Saturday afternoon to eliminate the Giants.

But the Giants deprived the Dodgers of the division championship by winning the Sunday afternoon finale, 5-3. Morgan delivered the big hit, a three-run home run to right field.in the eighth inning.

The Phillies are the closest National League team to central New Jersey, which is where I was born and where I was living in 1983.

In December 1982, Morgan joined the Phillies as part of a trade with the Giants. For the 1983 season, Morgan was reunited with two of his former teammates on the Big Red Machine, Perez and Rose.

In 1983, during which Morgan turned 40 years of age, had the lowest batting average (.230) and the lowest fielding percentage (.971) of any full season in his career. But he contributed on the field and in the clubhouse to what turned out to be a memorable season for the Phillies.

In the 117 games in which he played in the regular season, Morgan had only 93 hits. But he made them count, driving in 59 runs.

Of the 93 hits, 37 went for extra bases -- 16 home runs, one triple and 20 doubles. And Morgan had his usual high number of walks -- 89.

Once he was on base, Morgan put pressure on the defense by stealing 18 bases in 20 attempts, a success rate of 90 percent. And he scored a high number of runs -- 72.

In addition, Morgan provided veteran leadership as the Phillies finished strong to earn a berth in the post-season.

Entering September, the National League's Eastern Division was a race between four teams that had been mediocre in the first five months of the season. Just 2.5 games separated the teams in first place and fourth place.

The Pittsburgh Pirates entered play on September 1 in first place with a record of 68-63. The Philliles were one game behind at 67-64. Then came the Montreal Expos (66-64) and the St. Louis Cardinals (65-65).

Of the four teams, the Phillies had the best finish by far, winning 23 of their final 31 games to finish 90-72 and win the division by six games. The Pirates, who finished second, went 16-15 down the stretch. Montreal and St. Louis went 16-16 and 14-18, respectively.

The Phillies came up big in head-to-head games against the other contenders. They won all six games against the Cardinals (three in Philadelphia and three in St. Louis). They also took four of five from the Expos (two of three in Philadelphia and both games in a two-game series in Montreal) and four of six from the Pirates (two of three in Pittsburgh and two of three in Philadelphia to conclude the season).

The Phillies then defeated the Dodgers, three games to one, in the National League Championship Series before falling to the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series, four games to one.

Upon his retirement after the 1984 season, I thought Morgan had been one of the top players in Major League Baseball in the 1970s. When Morgan was elected to the HOF in his first year of eligibility -- 1990, I believed he definitely deserved the honor.

But it wasn't until I conducted the research on Kent that I came to understand how great Morgan was among the bulk of second basemen with him in the HOF.

My research has Collins, Gehringer and Hornsby, in order, bunched at the top. Morgan is fifth, second in the second group with 108 points, just two behind Lajoie and six ahead of Frisch.

Without Kent in the comparison, Morgan is fifth among the 15 HOF second basemen in my comparison with 102 points. He trailed Lajoie by one point and was five points ahead of Frisch.

Why did Morgan finish fifth in my comparison? On offense, he had an enviable combination of speed and power. Plus he had a great awareness of the strike zone, which enabled him to draw a high number of walks.

In making my comparison, I used the career statistics for each player in each batting category, regardless of the defensive position he was playing at the time.

Morgan is third among the HOF second basemen in my comparison in home runs with 268. He also is first in walks (1,865), second in stolen bases (689) and fourth in runs (1,650).

If total bases and on-base percentage had been batting categories in my comparison, Morgan would have been high on the list in those as well.

In addition, Morgan was a strong fielder with good range. He was the National League's Gold Glove second baseman five seasons in a row -- 1973-77.

In my comparison, Morgan was fifth in fielding percentage (.981). (I used the fielding percentage at all positions for each player.)

On his page on www.baseball-reference.com, Morgan's height and playing weight are listed as 5-foot-7 and 160 pounds, respectively. But despite his small size for a Major League Baseball player, Morgan looms large even in company as elite as the bulk of the second basemen enshrined in the HOF.

Due to my research on Kent, I now know how great Morgan was during his playing career.

My rankings are below. I believe that it is valid to compare statistics of players from different era because the rules of baseball have been the same for more than 100 years. So, too, have the vast majority of statistical categories. (The category for relief pitchers -- saves -- is a notable exception.)

Feel free to leave a comment as to whether you agree with my conclusions regarding Morgan (and Kent). All opinions are welcome.

Overall

123.5 Eddie Collins Sr.

123 Charlie Gehringer

122 Rogers Hornsby

110 Nap Lajoie

108 Joe Morgan (fith place)

102 Frankie Frisch

97 Jeff Kent (seventh place)

85 Ryne Sandberg

81 Bid McPhee

73.5 Bobby Doerr

71 Tony Lazzeri

66.5 Nellie Fox

65 Red Schoendienst

62.5 Billy Herman

38 Bill Mazeroski

31 Johnny Evers

Batting Average

.358 Hornsby

.339 Lajoie

.333 Collins

.320 Gehringer

.316 Frisch

.304 Herman

.292 Lazzeri

.290 Kent (9 points)

.289 Schoendienst

.288 Doerr

.288 Fox

.285 Sandberg

.281 McPhee

.271 Morgan (3 points)

.270 Evers

.260 Mazeroski

Runs

1,820 Collins

1,774 Gehringer

1,674 McPhee

1,650 Morgan (13 points)

1,579 Hornsby

1,532 Frisch

1,506 Lajoie

1,320 Kent (9 points)

1,318 Sandberg

1,279 Fox

1,223 Schoendienst

1,163 Herman

1,094 Doerr

986 Lazzeri

919 Evers

769 Mazeroski

Hits

3,314 Collins

3,252 Lajoie

2,930 Hornsby

2,880 Frisch

2,839 Gehringer

2,663 Fox

2,517 Morgan (10 points)

2,461 Kent (9 points)

2,449 Schoendienst

2,386 Sandberg

2,345 Herman

2,342 McPhee

2,042 Doerr

2,016 Mazeroski

1,840 Lazzeri

1,659 Evers

Doubles

657 Lajoie

574 Gehringer

560 Kent (14 points)

541 Hornsby

486 Herman

466 Frisch

449 Morgan (10 points)

438 Collins

427 Schoendienst

403 Sandberg

381 Doerr

355 Fox

334 Lazzeri

303 McPhee

294 Mazeroski

216 Evers

Triples

188 McPhee

186 Collins

169 Hornsby

163 Lajoie

146 Gehringer

138 Frisch

115 Lazzeri

112 Fox

96 Morgan (8 points)

89 Doerr

82 Herman

78 Schoendienst

76 Sandberg

70 Evers

62 Mazeroski

47 Kent (1 point)

Home Runs

377 Kent (16 points)

301 Hornsby

282 Sandberg

268 Morgan (13 points)

223 Doerr

184 Gehringer

178 Lazzeri

138 Mazeroski

105 Frisch

84 Schoendienst

82 Lajoie

53 McPhee

47 Collins

47 Herman

35 Fox

12 Evers

RBI

1,599 Lajoie

1,584 Hornsby

1,518 Kent (14 points)

1,427 Gehringer

1,300 Collins

1,247 Doerr

1,244 Frisch

1,191 Lazzeri

1,133 Morgan (8 points)

1,067 McPhee

1.061 Sandberg

853 Mazeroski

839 Herman

790 Fox

773 Schoendienst

538 Evers

Stolen Bases

744 Collins

689 Morgan (15 points)

568 McPhee

419 Frisch

380 Lajoie

344 Sandberg

324 Evers

181 Gehringer

148 Lazzeri

135 Hornsby

94 Kent (6 points)

89 Schoendienst

76 Fox

67 Herman

54 Doerr

27 Mazeroski

Walks

1,865 Morgan (16 points)

1,499 Collins

1,186 Gehringer

1,038 Hornsby

981 McPhee

869 Lazzeri

809 Doerr

801 Kent (9 points)

778 Evers

761 Sandberg

737 Herman

728 Frisch

719 Fox

606 Schoendienst

516 Lajoie

447 Mazeroski

Fielding Percentage (All Positions)

.989 Sandberg

.984 Fox

.983 Mazeroski

.982 Schoendienst

.981 Morgan (2B: .981) (12 points)

.980 Doerr

.978 Kent (2B: .980) (10 points)

.976 Gehringer

.970 Frisch

.969 Collins

.968 Herman

.967 Lajoie

.966 Lazzeri

.958 Hornsby

.953 Evers

.944 McPhee