Morgan stood tall and weighed during his active career. When he finally made Major League Baseball at age 28 in, after military service and a long stint in the minor leagues, his parent team had become the Milwaukee Braves. A left-handed-hitting second baseman, third baseman and outfielder, Morgan put up several strong seasons at the Double-A and Triple-A levels, and batted over the.300 mark three times. 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, collected 36 hits, and batted only.193. His two MLB home runs came during his stint with the 1960 Indians within a two-week period, as he hit solo blasts off Chuck Estrada August 30 and Ted Sadowski on September 10. In the latter contest, Morgan's three hits and two runs scored powered the Indians to a 5–4 victory over the Washington Senators. In 13 seasons in the minor leagues, Morgan racked up 1,353 hits and compiled a lifetime batting mark of.278. He was named Most Valuable Player of the Triple-A International League in 1964 after batting.290 with 16 home runs for the Jacksonville Suns.
Morgan switched to Pawtucket, and joined the Boston Red Sox organization, the following season. He led the PawSox—located 24 miles from his Walpole hometown—for nine years, the longest-tenured manager in the franchise's history. Morgan won 601 games, losing 658 and was the Pawtucket skipper during its famous 33-inning game against Rochester in, though he was ejected in the 22nd. He won the International League Manager of the Year award in 1977.
Boston Red Sox
The parent Red Sox reassigned Morgan after the 1982 season, making him a scout for 1983–84 before he was finally invited to return to the Majors as Boston's first-base coach in. He worked as the team's bullpen coach during the Red Sox' pennant-winning season, then replaced Rene Lachemann as Boston's third-base coach in. In, 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 July 14 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 permanent 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. In, 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 big league managerial totals: 301–262 over 3½ years, all with the Red Sox. His record as a minor league manager over 16 seasons was 1,140 victories and 1,102 defeats with one league championship.
Popularity
Despite the playoff setbacks, Morgan was a highly popular figure in and around the Boston area as a "native son", a former hockey player and blue-collar hero. He was called "Walpole Joe" and "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 became part of New England folklore, such as "Roger spun another beauty", "I manage this nine!" and "Six, two and even" . In 2006, he was named to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame and the Walpole High School Hockey Hall of Fame. Morgan was inducted into the International League Hall of Fame in 2008. On July 30, 2013, the Red Sox honored him with "Joe Morgan Night" at Fenway Park, with Clemens among the former players participating in the festivities.
