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Joe Morgan, an Oakland kid who grew up to become perhaps the best second baseman to ever play baseball and then forged a second life as a renowned broadcaster, died Sunday at his Danville home. He was 77.
The two-time World Series champ, two-time MVP and 10-time All-Star had suffered from a nerve condition, a form of polyneuropathy, his family said in a statement Monday.
Tributes for Morgan, who was immortalized with the Big Red Machine teams of the ’70s that won the ’75 and ’76 titles, immediately poured in from a public that knew him as a 22-year MLB star then a legendary baseball broadcaster, with a career with ESPN that began in 1985.
“Major League Baseball is deeply saddened by the death of Joe Morgan, one of the best five-tool players our game has ever known and a symbol of all-around excellence,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement of the 5-foot-7 Morgan, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990. “Joe often reminded baseball fans that the player smallest in stature on the field could be the most impactful. On a Big Red Machine roster stocked with greats, Joe earned National League MVP honors during both of Cincinnati’s World Series Championship seasons of 1975 and 1976.
“Joe was a close friend and an advisor to me, and I welcomed his perspective on numerous issues in recent years. He was a true gentleman who cared about our game and the values for which it stands. Those who knew him – whether as a Sunday Night Baseball broadcaster, a Hall of Fame board member or simply as one of the legends of our National Pastime — are all the better for it.”
Morgan’s career, which began in Houston in 1963, moved to Cincinnati in ’72 then back to Houston in ’80, took him to San Francisco in ’81-82 and Oakland in ’84, his last year. He was the ’82 Willie Mac Award winner, the third ever, after a season in which he won the Silver Slugger.
“Joe had a long and distinguished career on the field, in the broadcast booth and in the community and his passing leaves a hole in the unique fabric of our great game,” Giants CEO Larry Baer said in a statement. “Our condolences go out to the Morgan family for their tremendous loss and we extend our thoughts to Joe’s teammates, his friends, and to all those touched by his passing.”
Morgan joins a too-long list of Hall of Famers lost this year, which includes Lou Brock, Whitey Ford, Tom Seaver, Bob Gibson and Al Kaline.