Page 10 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2020 The greatest second baseman in MLB history L By The Old Sachem, Bill Stewart ast week I honored one of the greatest policemen that ever served in Saugus, John Naglieri, and men~ LETTER TO THE EDITOR ~ Congressman Moulton urges residents to stay away from Salem this weekend Dear Editor: We have done so much work to fight the pandemic and bring it down from its peak. We cannot afford to sacrifice those gains now. The longer this virus drags on, the longer people and businesses will suffer. As Salem’s Mayor Kim Driscoll has said, this is not the year to come to Salem. Please spread the word if you know anyone thinking about visiting: there’s no parking and it’s not going to be the fun time you’re expecting. Come shop, dine or visit Salem another weekend. That’s not to say it’s unsafe to celebrate Halloween. The best tip I’ve heard is from a 9-year-old who wrote Governor Baker asking that people hand out king size bars to avoid the risk of kids rooting through a bucket of fun size candy. For as long as this virus keeps affecting us, my team and I will continue updating our coronavirus resource website to keep you informed. We also maintain a regular reading list of top studies and news stories on the virus. You can always get the latest information on the virus from the Massachusetts’ Stop the Spread website. Sincerely, Seth Moulton Congressman tioned my son Mike as a retired Saugus policeman and my grandson, Will’s son Michael, a policeman in Watertown. My wife criticized me for forgetting all the other members of our family who have done or are now doing public service. So now I will update the public service of my family. Starting with policemen, there is Frank McKinnon, husband of my daughter Ellen, who serves in Saugus, and served in the US Army in Afghanistan, along with Bill Kirkland, son-in-law of my son Bob, in Colorado, who also served in Afghanistan. My youngest son, Charlie, is a firefighter and EMT in Cambridge and served in the Marines. My brother Jim served in the Navy, and my Uncle Jim served in the US Army in the Battle of the Bulge in Europe in the second World War. I served in the US Army in Japan. My daughter, Ellen, is a lab technician for Lahey Hospital, and she and my wife were elected and served in the Saugus Town Meeting. Ellen’s daughter, Brooke, is a nurse in Brigham Hospital in Boston. My son Tom is a manager for the Social Security Administration and served in Saugus Town Meeting and in the Saugus School Committee. The last area of public service by the family is in education. My son Bob and Ellen’s son Grant are teachers in Aspen, Colorado; Tom’s daughter, Alison, is a teacher in North Reading, and my son Mike’s daughter Kiley and her partner Samantha are teachers in the Boston School system. I retired after 20 plus years as an Adjunct Professor at Bunker Hill Community College. I have been elected to Town Meeting over a span of 20 years and served as a School Committeeman and Chairman of the Saugus Housing Authority. Public service is a very honored function in the Stewart family. Now we get to the sports section of the week’s column. Joe Morgan was a baseball Hall of Famer who played in the major leagues for Houston, Cincinnati, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Oakland. Morgan was born September 19, 1943, in Bonham, Texas, and died October 11, 2020, in Danville, California. When he was five years old, the family moved to Oakland. His baseball career began as a standout infielder at Castlemont High School but did not receive any interest by professional baseball teams. He went on to play for Oakland City College and was signed by the Houston Colt .45s, the forerunner of the Astros. He played in the majors for 21 seasons, mostly for the Cincinnati Reds, and was the second baseman for the World Champions Reds in 1975 and 76. As a player his nickname was “Little Joe” – he stood only 5 feet 7 inches. He had trouble as a batter early in his career; his back elbow was kept too low. Nellie Fox, a teammate, suggested that Joe should flap his back arm like a chicken to keep his elbow up. He played 10 seasons for Houston and was twice selected for the All-Star team. He was traded to the Reds in November 1971 in a blockbuster deal where the Astros gave up five players to the Reds while the Astros gave up three, including All-Star second baseman Tommie Helms. With the Reds, Morgan had eight consecutive All-Star appearances in addition to the two he had with the Astros. He, along with Pete Rose at the top of the order, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez and Dave Concepcion presented problems to the opponents. Morgan became a power hitter with the Reds. In the 1975 World Series, he drove in Ken Griffey for the winning run in game seven for the championship. He was selected as the National League MVP in 1975 and 76. Although his batting average in the major leagues varied between .236 and .327, and because of a large amount of bases on balls, his on-base percentage was .392. Morgan had 2,517 hits, 449 doubles, 96 triples, 268 home runs, 1,133 runs batted in, 689 stolen bases and 1,865 walks. Morgan became a free agent for the 1980 season and was a member of the Astro team that won the National League title for the NL West. He next appeared with the San Francisco Giants for two seasons. His next team was the Philadelphia Phillies, where he joined ex-teammates Pete Rose and Tony Perez. He was with the Phillies when they lost the World Series to the Baltimore Orioles and finished his playing days with the Oakland Athletics. Cincinnati dedicated a statue for Morgan in 2013 at the Great American Ball Park. They had previously named him to the Cincinnati Hall of Fame in 1987. In the “New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract,” Bill James named Morgan the best second baseman in MLB history ahead of #2 Eddie Collins and #3 Rogers Hornsby. In 1999 Morgan was ranked Number 60 on the Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players and was nominated as a finalist for the MLB All-Century Team. He became a broadcaster for the Reds in 1985 and in 1986 began a nine-year run as a broadcaster for the San Francisco Giants, and then one year with Oakland. He was hired by ESPN in 1986 to broadcast Monday Night Baseball and the College World Series. He broadcast for ABC Sports in 1988 and 89, NBC Sports in 1994 to 2000. During his time with NBC he was part of the team that called three World Series, four AllStar games, three American League Championship Series and three National League Championships. At ESPN he broadcast Sunday Night Baseball, three league championship series, and World Series Championships. In 2006 he called the Little League World Series with Brent Musburger and Orel Hershiser and called some MLB games during the season. In 2015 he was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, which developed into leukemia, and received a bone transplant from one of his daughters. He died at home in 2020, the greatest second baseman in MLB history. For Advertising with Results, call The Advocate Newspapers at 617-387-2200 or Info@advocatenews.net
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