Joe Morgan, the ultimate baseball lifer who realized his dream of managing his hometown Red Sox and made history while he did it, died on Saturday at the age of 95.
After decades of working under the radar in the sport he loved so much, Morgan suddenly moved from his post as third-base coach for the Red Sox to interim manager just following the 1988 All-Star break. He was 57 years old at the time.
The interim tag didn’t last long and Morgan -- not to be confused with the Hall of Fame second baseman with the same name -- would carve out his own niche and become part of Red Sox folklore.
“Joe Morgan holds a special place in Red Sox history,” Red Sox principal owner John Henry said in a statement. “When he took over in 1988, he changed the course of a season and created one of the most memorable chapters in the history of this club. The two division titles that followed only strengthened a bond with Red Sox fans that endured for the rest of his life. We extend our deepest condolences to his family and all who loved him.”
John McNamara had led the club to the World Series in 1986, losing to the Mets in seven games. After a 78-84 finish in ’87, McNamara’s Sox were 43-42 at the ’88 All-Star break and nine games back in the American League East. With a star-studded cast that included future Hall of Famers Wade Boggs, Jim Rice, Dwight Evans and Lee Smith, an in-his-prime Roger Clemens and an emerging young core that included Mike Greenwell and Ellis Burks, Boston’s front office expected more.
General manager Lou Gorman dismissed McNamara and turned to Morgan temporarily as he looked for a permanent successor. Joe Torre was one of the candidates Gorman interviewed.
But something funny happened when Morgan took the helm of a roster with several homegrown players he had managed during his time at Triple-A Pawtucket: The Red Sox kept winning and winning and winning and winning.
Morgan won his first 12 games as the Boston manager, 19 of the first 20 and 24 in a row at Fenway Park.
“That will never happen again with an interim manager,” Morgan once said matter-of-factly in an interview with MLB.com.
That period of Red Sox history will forever be known as “Morgan’s Magic.”
Included in the unlikely surge were wild comebacks and one memorable confrontation between Morgan and Rice. In a game against the Twins on July 20, Morgan -- in need of a bunt -- had Spike Owen pinch-hit for the team captain and eventual Hall of Famer.
Rice was upset with Morgan and got confrontational with his manager as he returned to the dugout. Morgan famously shouted at him, “I’m the manager of this nine!”
The Red Sox rallied to win the game with a four-run bottom of the 10th, completed with a walk-off, three-run homer by Todd Benzinger around Pesky’s Pole in right.
When the 19-1 stretch came to an end, Boston immediately lost the first four games of a critical five-game series in Detroit against the Tigers.
Rather than panic over losing a series that threatened to take the Red Sox out of contention just after they had fought their way back in, Morgan uttered this prophetic line: “[Bruce] Hurst will spin a beauty and we'll leave here three games out.”
That they did, with Hurst pitching a 10-inning shutout -- to date, the last shutout of more than nine innings by a Red Sox pitcher – in a 3-0 win for Boston.
Morgan’s Sox finished 89-73 and won the AL East by a game over the Tigers. The joyride ended when a powerhouse Oakland Athletics squad swept the Red Sox in four games in the ALCS.
“‘Morgan Magic’ is forever part of Red Sox lore,” said Red Sox chairman Tom Werner. “Joe took over in 1988 and gave New England a summer it would never forget. How fitting that, in his final season watching the Red Sox, he saw another team respond to adversity with a remarkable run of its own. Joe gave us one of the great chapters in this club’s history, and we will always remember him for it. Our hearts are with his family.”
The Red Sox deployed Morgan as their manager another three seasons, winning the AL East again in ’90, and again getting swept by the A’s in the ALCS.
Following the ’91 season, many were surprised that the Red Sox fired Morgan after an 84-78 campaign, especially the way the club had charged back into the pennant race, going from 11 1/2 games back on Aug. 7 to a half-game out on Sept. 21. If Boston had stayed on that tear and gone to the playoffs, it might have become known as Morgan Magic, the sequel. Instead, the Sox lost 11 of their last 14 games and Gorman hired Butch Hobson to replace Morgan. Gorman said at the time that his fear that another team would scoop up Hobson was the impetus behind dismissing Morgan.
The day Morgan was let go, he made another one of his memorable statements.
“This team isn’t as good as people think it is,” Morgan said.
Morgan again proved to be prophetic: The Red Sox finished under .500 the next three seasons under Hobson.
In all, Morgan went 301-262 as Boston’s manager. It would be his only Major League managerial stint.
As a manager, Morgan was known for playing hunches at a time data was just coming into the forefront for other skippers such as Tony La Russa and Davey Johnson. He was also known for folksy sayings. Morgan would often say, “6-2 and even.” Nobody really knew what it meant, but it was part of his charm.
“He was a big part of my life and will be missed," Boggs said in a statement. "Not only in Triple-A, but in the big leagues, too. I don’t think he got enough credit for how baseball-smart he was. He played baseball hunches instead of statistics. He will always be one of my favorites.”
Not long before reaching his pinnacle of managing the Red Sox, Morgan did much less glamorous things to supplement his income, such as driving a snowplow on the Massachusetts Turnpike.
The pride of Walpole, Mass., Morgan lived in that Boston suburb for his entire life. Years after his retirement, he would frequently attend Walpole High School football games, just blending into the crowd.
“He was one of a kind," Red Sox broadcaster Joe Castiglione said. "One of my best friends for 41 years. A great baseball mind with incredible intuition. He would have never needed analytics. A very loyal friend and a great storyteller. He will be missed.”
Joseph Michael Morgan was born on Nov. 19, 1930, in Walpole. After playing baseball and hockey at Boston College, Morgan appeared in 88 games over four Major League seasons spread out from 1959-64 for the Milwaukee Braves, Kansas City Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Indians and St. Louis Cardinals. He was a career .193 hitter with two homers and 10 RBIs.
Just two years after his playing career ended, Morgan found his true calling -- coaching. He started as a manager in the Pirates organization before he took his natural path to the Red Sox, managing Pawtucket from 1974-82.
During that time, Morgan oversaw the development of many players who would become key to the team’s future, including Boggs, Rice, Fred Lynn, Oil Can Boyd, Hurst and Marty Barrett.
For all that Morgan gave to the game, that surreal ride he led the Red Sox on in ’88 will always stand out.
“A new face, a new style of doing things really made a difference,” Boyd said in 2013 during a ceremony at Fenway Park for Morgan. “When Joe came in, he did a really good job and we ended up winning a lot of ballgames that put us back into first place.”