Joe Morgan’s baseball life stretched from a brief run as a Cleveland infielder to a jolt of managerial magic in Boston, and the former Guardians player died Saturday at 95.
Morgan’s path to the majors took time. His big league debut didn’t come until he was 28 because of military service, and Cleveland bought him from Philadelphia during the 1960 season. He logged 22 games for the club that year and added four more appearances in 1961.
In Cleveland, Morgan put together a .281 batting average and .780 OPS, along with his only two major league home runs in 65 plate appearances for the franchise. The Indians traded him to the St.
Louis Cardinals for outfielder Bob Nieman during the 1961 campaign, and Morgan finished his playing career with three games for St. Louis in 1964, the season the Cardinals won the World Series.
His post-playing career took a different turn. Morgan got into managing in the Pittsburgh Pirates system in 1966, then joined the Boston organization in 1974. After spending a couple of seasons as a scout, he moved onto the Red Sox coaching staff and was working as third-base coach when he replaced John McNamara during the 1988 season, with Boston struggling at the All-Star break.
What followed was the stretch that made Morgan memorable in Boston. He won his first 12 games as a major league manager and 19 of his first 20, a burst that powered the Red Sox to the AL East title. Boston then reached the AL Championship Series before being swept by the Oakland A’s.
Morgan went on to manage the Red Sox for three more seasons, and that remained his only major league managerial job. ESPN noted that “Joe Morgan, the former Boston manager who inspired a magical in-season turnaround of its 1988 team, died Saturday, the Red Sox announced.
He was 95. Morgan, an infielder, also played 88 games in the majors, with stints with the Milwaukee Braves, Kansas City Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies (1960), Cleveland (1960-61), and St.
Louis Cardinals (1964),”
The source also noted that McNamara later became Cleveland manager in 1990 before being fired during the following season.
Morgan, who gave much of his life to baseball, will be remembered by Cleveland fans.
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