SkyKing162: Meet Joe Morgan, Hall-of-Famer

And, if he could…Stevie Ridzik says hello.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve dissected the careers of two pairs of famously joined middle infielders — first Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker, then Ozzie Smith and Mark Belanger. Everyone except Belanger provided surprisingly similar career value, right at the point where most people make the cut-off for Hall of Fame election. As a comparison, and as a way to honor Fire Joe Morgan’s recent Scooby-Doo moment, here’s what the career of an all-time great, sure-fire Hall of Fame second baseman looks like.

The stathead cliche about Joe Morgan is that he himself doesn’t understand what made him a terrific player. His career batting average of .271 is pedestrian, he only hit 268 career homers with a seasonal high of 27, and he posted a 100 RBI season only once in 22 years.

But if you look at the new age stats, made famous in Billy Beane’s book Moneyball (available at your local library), the greatness comes to light:

...Outside of Morgan’s best five seasons, his career looks similar to Whitaker’s, Trammell’s, and Ozzie’s, a testament of the longevity of all four players. But those five seasons all dwarfed anything put up by the other three. In fact, Morgan’s 1976 was more valuable than ARod’s 2007. Morgan totalled 84 career wins above replacement, well ahead of Whitaker’s 66, Ozzie’s 59, or Trammell’s 55. For a low-average, no-power middle infielder, he sure knew how to play baseball.