what is Joe Morgan's problem??

[Mplssoxfan]

Morgan was definitely impressive in his prime, but was not exactly great before/after. He didn't really hit his prime until 29, and kept playing into his early 40's despite the fact that his last several years were pretty bad. I find it hard to believe that He improved that much between 71 and 72, so I'm more inclined to believe that playing with the likes of Rose and Bench really helped him out. His three years before joining the Reds he hit .236, .268, .256. His first three years on the Reds he hit .292, .290, and .293. He always walked a lot and had decent speed, but without those 6 years with the Reds his numbers look pedestrian, somewhat like Luis Aparicio's with more walks, and he got in based on his superior defense and speed.

 

BTW, Hornsby was the man. A qestion about your list: no Rod Carew? He's got quite a few batting titles.

 

Morgan played the first nine years of his career (well, he played a total of 18 games in '63 and '64, so maybe I should say first seven years) in the worst two hitter's parks in the majors. The Astrodome, from the time it opened until about 1969, was the worst park for hitters in the history of baseball. This was also a time when conditions greatly favored the pitchers. Riverfront wasn't a great park for hitters, either -- it was probably about average. If he had played in a hitter's paradise, such as Atlanta-Fulton County or Jarry Park, his numbers would have looked a lot better.

 

The guy had back-to back MVP seasons in '75 and '76. I think he helped the Reds more than they helped him.

[ZoomSlowik]

Morgan wasn't exactly a power hitter, so I doubt that the park had that great an impact on his performance. I don't think there are too many places that have a 30 point impact on one's batting average.

[hammerhead johnson]

A question about your list: no Rod Carew? He's got quite a few batting titles.

 

I thought about it, but Rod played the majority of his games at 1B, so I didn't include him in this list.

[SouthsideNorthsideFan]

Yep.  I'm a huge, huge Biggio fan but Alomar was much better defensively and also better offensively, but not by as wide a margin.

 

Not better offensively; he fell off the table, hard, about 3-4 years ago.

Biggio's still producing in the clutch for the stros.

 

Had Alomar not fallen so quickly, he probably could have been in the top 3 IMO.