Joe Morgan (manager)

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Joseph Michael Morgan (born November 19, 1930 in Walpole, Massachusetts) is a former infielder, manager, coach and scout in Major League Baseball.

Morgan attended Boston College, where he played baseball and varsity hockey, and signed his first baseball contract with the hometown Boston Braves of the National League. When he returned from military service and a long stint in the minor leagues, the team had become the Milwaukee Braves. Morgan, a lefthanded-hitting middle infielder and third baseman, put up several strong seasons at the AA and AAA levels. But he could not crack the Braves' lineup, nor those of the Philadelphia Phillies, Kansas City Athletics, Cleveland Indians and St. Louis Cardinals. In parts of four major league seasons, he appeared in just 88 games and batted only .193.

In 1966, Morgan became a manager in the farm system of the Pittsburgh Pirates, rising in 1970 to the AAA level, and served as a Pittsburgh coach under Bill Virdon in 1972. In 1973, Morgan's Charleston Charlies won 85 games and the division title, but lost the finals of the International League playoffs to the Pawtucket Red Sox in five games.

Morgan switched to Pawtucket, and the Boston Red Sox organization, the following season. He led the PawSox for nine years (1974-82); the longest-tenured manager in the franchise's history, Morgan won 601 games, losing 658 (.477) and was the Pawtucket skipper during its famous 33-inning game against Rochester in 1981. He won the International League Manager of the Year award in 1977. After he left Pawtucket, the parent Red Sox made him a scout (1983-84) before he was finally invited to return to the majors as a Boston coach in 1985. Morgan coached at first base in '85 and in the bullpen during the Sox' 1986 pennant-winning season, before replacing Rene Lachemann as Boston's third-base coach in 1987.

In 1988, a talented Boston team was stumbling at .500 under manager John McNamara, leading the ownership to fire him during the All-Star break. They named Morgan acting manager and began negotiations with high profile candidates, such as Joe Torre and Lou Piniella, who were under contract to other organizations. The Red Sox promptly won their first 12 games under Morgan - a period dubbed by the press as Morgan Magic - and the team named him as their regular field boss. The 1988 Red Sox won the AL East, but were swept by the Oakland Athletics in the American League Championship Series; two years later, the 1990 Sox repeated history, winning their division but bowing in four straight to the A's in the playoffs. Morgan holds the record for managing a team to eight straight post-season losses.

Despite the playoff setbacks, Morgan was a highly popular figure in Boston as a "native son," a former hockey player, and a blue-collar hero. He was called "Turnpike Joe" in tribute to the offseason job he held for many years to supplement his minor league pay: driving a snowplow on the Massachusetts Turnpike. His phrases such as "Roger spun another beauty" (describing one of many stellar outings by his star pitcher, Roger Clemens) or the often-repeated "Six, two and even" became part of New England folklore.

In 1991, Morgan guided a flawed Boston team to a distant second-place finish in the AL East. Although he had one year remaining on his contract, he was fired at season's end in favor of Butch Hobson. "This team just isn't that good," Morgan warned in his parting comments. He was right; under Hobson, the 1992 Red Sox finished last in the AL East.

Morgan's final major league managerial totals: 301-262 (.535) over 3½ years, all with the Red Sox. He was named to the team's Hall of Fame in 2006.

[edit] External link

• Baseball-Reference.com - career playing statistics and managing record

Preceded by: Darrell Johnson	Pawtucket Red Sox manager 1974–1982	Succeeded by: Tony Torchia
Preceded by: John McNamara	Boston Red Sox manager 1988–1991	Succeeded by: Butch Hobson