Joe Morgan -- sill popular, and still watching.
No matter how the Red Sox finish up their surprising season, they will be hard-pressed to top the summer of 1988 for excitement. Those of us who watched 25 years ago as the Sox rebounded from a lackluster 43-42 start to go on the hottest stretch in team history will never forget the summer of Morgan's Magic.
Recently
I had a chance to sit down with the architect of that incredible
turnaround, former Red Sox manager and lifelong Walpole, Mass.
resident Joe Morgan. He's been removed from the game at the big
league level for more than two decades, since his very unpopular
firing by Sox ownership after the 1991 season, but at
age 83 he still has his sharp mind, quick wit, and the good sense
that helped him win a record 12 straight games to start his
managerial career.
The streak eventually reached 19 wins of his first 20 contests, which launched Boston into first place and to an improbable AL East title. Joe won another East crown in 1990, but the Sox were swept in the ALCS by the Oakland A's both years, who he admits now “were just a better team than us.” A second-place finish in 1991 led to his firing, after which Morgan warned that "these guys aren't as good as you think." He was right; the '92 Sox finished last under manager Butch Hobson.
Back in '88, the Pride of Walpole was in the zone.
These days Joe
gets to a handful of Red Sox games at Fenway each season, and watches
the rest of them in the basement of the modest ranch house he's
shared with his wife, Dottie, since Ted Williams roamed left field at Fenway. Morgan has enjoyed watching the
current Sox club exceed all expectations, and says it reminds him (gulp) of the 1986 team that racked up a number of weird, early-season
victories en route to the AL pennant and an ill-fated World Series against the Mets.
Remember, they did go 95-65.
He was a coach on that club under John MacNamara, and he
remembers saying early on, “Mac, if we're winning games like this now, we're
going to have a hell of a year.' And we did.”
Morgan isn't sure what will become of the 2013 Red Sox, but had some
insights to offer:
On
whether Clay Buchholz can come back
"I'm
not counting on him, for one reason. Even if he comes back, you don't
know if he is going to be successful right away. It's almost
September, and this crazy thing he's got... He's had more problems.
Every year it's something – stomach ache, back ache."
On
Jon Lester's inconsistencies
"He
doesn't get ahead of the hitters enough – that's one thing. I
thought he started throwing too many cutters, and he lost that real
good curve he used to have. He got to the point where he was trying
to nit-pick all the time. Get ahead of the guys! If you send ten men
to the plate in the big leagues today, maybe three of them will swing
at the first pitch. So throw the damn thing in there with a little
heat, and get ahead of them!"
On
which current Sox pitcher would start a must-win game for him, if
Buchholz wasn't available
"I
haven't seen enough of [Jake] Peavy, but I'd be leaning toward him. Lester
has been so inconsistent."
Morgan's must-win starter -- for now.
On popular infielder Jose Iglesias,
traded after a surprisingly hot start at the plate
"I had not seen him
play at all before this year. I
watched him a lot in spring training, and I came away with one thing
about him: he had enough bat speed to be a decent hitter and play in
the big leagues every day. I still think that.
"I
was little shocked by it [the trade].
But then you figure you've got [Xander] Bogaerts coming up, and
[Stephen] Drew – a good fielder – who is going to be here the
rest of the year. Plus you've got Middlebrooks is coming back at third, which is
good."
On walk-off hits
"Those guys should be careful. They keep celebrating like that and somebody is going to get hurt. I notice that some guys now are doing a little stutter-step before they get smacked around, so nobody steps on their feet."
On walk-off hits
"Those guys should be careful. They keep celebrating like that and somebody is going to get hurt. I notice that some guys now are doing a little stutter-step before they get smacked around, so nobody steps on their feet."
Better be careful...
On David Ortiz's comeback from injury
"Oh
yeah, that showed me something, I was surprised his ankle was still hurting him when the season
started, after all those months. He
looked really doubtful. They pitch around him all right, but he's
still got it going. Incredible."
On
the “Morgan's Magic” reunion this year at
Fenway
"Those
guys who came back really had a great time. It was fun seeing them
too. Big Lee Smith – he's a character. I like him a lot. Oil Can,
Dewey, all of them. They were all glad they came, and so was I."
Morgan had a blast at his reunion.
How
about your first pitch (or pitches) to current manager John Farrell?
"I've
been having trouble with my right [throwing] arm, so I've had to use
my left arm to raise it above my head. My son Billy told me to go
sidearm – just sling it up there sidearm. Well I went about a mile
left of John with that throw, so I said, 'Give me another one of
those things.' This time I raised my arm up with the left hand, and I
got it in there."
Does
it feel like 25 years since 1988?
"No,
but I've been lucky. I hear guys talking about the “golden years,”
and they're sick all the time, or their wives are sick. I've had 25
great years.
"The
thing was, I knew when my days with the Red Sox were over, that was
it. I was going to
roam around, not take another baseball job, and have fun in this
life. I told [then-Red Sox president] John Harrington that if they didn't fire
me, it was probably going to be my last year anyway. Planes, hotels,
I had enough of that routine. There are only so many years you have
left, and you want to enjoy them.
"Some
guys [who retire] complain they have nothing to do. I have plenty
to do. Gardening, golfing,
seeing the kids and grandkids, going to the Kentucky Derby, whatever. I golf about
two or three times a week, with whomever shows up. And of course I
watch the ballgames."
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