Questions May Be Asked Of Him, But Joe Morgan Still Isn't Giving Straight Answers

Last week when we caught up with Joe Morgan he was defending Ryan Howard (again) from the attacks of the United States citizenry. By "attacks" I mean "a question was asked about Ryan Howard" and by "defending" I mean "Joe started on a rant about how Ryan Howard is undervalued and no one gives him respect" or something to that effect. Last week in his chat Joe also informed us that the criteria for whether a player deserves to be in the 2010 All-Star Game should also be based on that player's career numbers or based on what he has done overall in his career. This week Joe writes some actual coherent thoughts, but don't be fooled, there is still idiocy in this week's chat. This week we get the Imposter Joe Morgan and the real Joe Morgan switching off answering questions...or evading questions as the case may be.

JM: Baseball and the sports world lost a great man today in George Steinbrenner. I had the honor of knowing him personally and not just the newspaper accounts of who he was. The George Steinbrenner that I knew was not only a great owner, but a great caring individual.

(George Steinbrenner on Monday) "I think I care to fire Billy Martin today."

(George Steinbrenner on Friday) "I think I care to re-hire Billy Martin today."

(George Steinbrenner looking at the free agent market) "Today, I care to sign the most expensive free agent available."

(George Steinbrenner upon hearing Aaron Boone got hurt playing pick-up basketball) "I care to trade for the best shortstop in the majors and then make him a third baseman."

(George Steinbrenner looking at each team's finances) "I care to make the Yankees an incredibly profitable team and use smart business sense to do this so that other teams can cry and whine about how we spend so much money on players, but they are really angry their business model sucks compared to ours."

George Steinbrenner, above all else, cared. Of course I only know him from the newspaper accounts of him, so I have no standing to judge him according to Joe Morgan.

We served on the hall of fame board togeter and we exchanged letters through the years when big events would happen in our lives.

Realy? You served on the bored togeter?

(Joe writing a letter to George Steinbrenner)

"Dear George,

I have news that my wife is pregnant again. We are very happy and my youngest daughter is thrilled as well. We also just purchased a new home. Life is good for me. I hope all is well for you!

Much Consistency,
Joe Morgan

(George Steinbrenner receiving the letter and asking his General Manager about it) "Joe Morgan wrote me another letter. Are we interested in signing him as a free agent?"

(GM back to Steinbrenner) "We have Willie Randolph, we don't need Morgan."

(Steinbrenner ripping up Morgan's letter and throwing it away) "Send him back a form letter. I don't have time for this shit."

(Joe Morgan upon reading the form letter from George Steinbrenner)

"Dear Joe,

Thanks for your interest in the Yankees. We are excited to have fans like you. I, and the Yankees organization, appreciate your support and hope to see you soon at the ball park."

Sincerely,
George Steinbrenner

(Joe extremely happy after reading the letter) "This man is a class act."

One of the most comforting letters that I received when my father passed away came from George Steinbrenner and I will always remember him in that way.

(Steinbrenner's letter to Joe)

"Dear Joe,

Thank you for writing us again. We always love hearing from people like you. Included in this letter are coupons for free parking to two Yankees games and a coupon for $2 off a hot dog at our concession stand. Your support means everything to the Yankees and people like you are the reason we are as successful as we are."

Sincerely,
George Steinbrenner

(Joe begins tearing up after reading the letter) "This man gets me and understands what I am about."

Nick (NJ)

Hey joe what was it like being called up to the plate by Bob Sheppard

Bob Sheppard was the longtime PA announcer for the Yankees and he died on July 11 of this year...just for anyone who didn't know this I thought I would give a little background.

JM: I'm sure I did, I played in the World Series there and the all-star game there and when I played for the A's.

Joe obviously doesn't remember Bob Sheppard. Also, the question wasn't whether Joe WAS called to the plate by Sheppard, but how it felt to be called to the plate. So double fail on this question for Joe.

I remember the distinct voice. I know him more as a fellow broadcaster.

Oh no. Bob Sheppard is not a fellow broadcaster with Joe Morgan just like Miley Cyrus isn't a fellow singer along with Mariah Carey. Bob Sheppard is a broadcasting legend and Joe Morgan is a baseball legend. Joe Morgan is not a broadcasting legend and he certainly is not, nor was he ever, a PA announcer.

When I went to Yankee Stadium we sat and talked for a while. I never knew him as a player.

So Joe Morgan never heard his name announced by Bob Sheppard even though he played in the American League for a while and played the Yankees in the World Series in 1976?

I think I am coming to know Joe Morgan better and better through his chats. I am starting to think he just sleep walks his way through life and is just sort of indifferent to many things around him. That's why he has to actually watch a team play to evaluate that team's players and can't comment on many other questions he is asked. He doesn't actively search or try to remember anything. He just kind of exists and deals with what he directly has to deal with at that moment.

He's like Forrest Gump in some ways. So from now on I will picture him reading his chat answers aloud in the voice of Forrest Gump. I shall enjoy this.

Shawn (Vermont)

Did you ever tease George about how you garnered your '76 title vs. his yanks?

JM: No, I didn't tease him about losing. The one thing I will tell you that when I left the Reds in 1980, one of the first calls I received was from George, asking me if I wanted to come to New York and play for the Yankees.

This must have thrilled Willie Randolph who was 25 years old and coming off a .270/.374/.368 year and eventually had a year in 1980 that involved him hitting .294/.427/.407, 133 OPS+, with 119 walks, 45 strikeouts, and 30 steals. It's probably a good thing for the Yankees that Joe didn't sign with the Yankees.

My answer was when I was younger and a better player, I would have taken him up on the offer, but at that stage of my career, it wasn't the right spot for me. We laughed about that over the years.

That's not really funny. I am not sure how Joe turning down Steinbrenner's offer to play for the Yankees is funny...of course I have only read the newspaper accounts of Steinbrenner's personality. Maybe Steinbrenner was wearing clown makeup and a nose that sounded like a horn when you squeezed it as he made the original offer in 1980 to Joe.

Ken (PA)

Mr. Morgan, nice job with the HR Derby last night. My question to you is how come none of the big time sluggers like Ryan Howard backed out of the event? Shouldn't the players feel a certain responsibility to be in it? I mean Howard is a lock for 40 HRs and over 120 RBI each year, he's also a former ROTY and MVP winner and lead his team into 2 WS. Fans want to see him in it instead of someone like Chris Young, Corey Hart or Nick Swisher, who aren't big HR hitters or award winners like a Howard. Your thoughts?

This may be the biggest JoeBait question ever asked. Ever.

It has a compliment to Ryan Howard, a discussion of Howard's HR and RBI numbers, a mention that Howard has a won a RoY, MVP, and led his team to 2 World Series. He also compares Howard to other players and says they aren't "award winners" like Howard. This question is what Joe Morgan is all about.

JM: I agree with you 100%.

JoeBait successful.

Players are afraid that it will effect the second half of their season. I don't see it that way. It's one day of home runs and then you get back to normal.

The reality may be that you hit home runs for one day and then you back to normal, but the perception of the players is that this isn't true. Some players have struggled to hit home runs in the past after competing in the derby, so though there may be no data that suggests players who hit in the Home Run Derby over All-Star weekend struggle to hit home runs in the second half of the season players may believe this is the case anyway.

Not to mention some players may not want to give up a Monday night before the All-Star Game to hit home runs for free.

I believe, as you do, that they owe something to the game and to the fans.

I don't believe the players owe the fans anything. The Home Run Derby is tedious and extra-long in my opinion. It could be cut in half and there wouldn't be any loss of interest on my part. There's only so much batting practice I can watch before I get bored. So I don't think the players owe the fans anything to be honest.

Josh S. (Philly)

If you were the phillies GM, who would you re-sign at the end of the year: Rollins or Werth?

The odds of getting a real answer to this question? 9.43%

JM: Well, I think if they're going to have a good team, they're going to need both. They provide different things.

The question was which of the two players would Joe re-sign if he were the Phillies General Manager. Obviously the Phillies would love to keep both players, but let's pretend they have the option to keep one and this person would like to know which player Joe would keep. It's a multiple choice question with two potential answers. Joe should just pick one, explain why, and move on...but he can't do this.

Rollins was the MVP a few years ago and he was the catalyst to their team winning the championship. Werth is a very good player and he fits in well in Philadelphia. It's always harder to find a shorttstop that can perform and help your team offensively and defensively than to find an outfielder that produces runs.

Is that an actual, sort of, somewhat, resembling something that could be an answer? Joe Morgan says to keep the shorttttstop and get rid of the outfielder that drives in runs. We could argue about this decision, especially given the fact I am not a huge Jimmy Rollins fan, but we got an answer from Joe, kind of, so it's best to move on while we are still ahead.

Tito (Brooklyn)

Hi Joe, how much "potential" do you think Matt Kemp has? What can he do to concetrate harder to prevent mental mistakes?

I don't want to sound cocky, but I think our good friend Tito (who appears in Joe's chat every week) reads BotB. I have emphasized that Joe didn't understand the idea of potential when talking about Robinson Cano and Tito baits Joe with a question about that here.

JM: Matt Kemp got off to a great start last year and he showed all of his tools. He can run, hit, throw, everything on the field. Because he didn't play baseball at an early age - he played basketball - he's still learning the game.

Is this the part where I make a joke about Matt Kemp showing all of his "tools" in high school when he was accused of raping a girl? I probably shouldn't do that.

I know Kemp did play basketball in high school, but I am not sure if he is really still learning the game of baseball at the age of 25. For a guy who was just learning the game, he sure was drafted pretty high (in the 6th round of the 2003 draft).

The last couple of weeks he's been playing well. He has unlimited potential.

I guess over the past three weeks Joe Morgan has looked up the definition of "potential" and decided that Matt Kemp has an unlimited amount of it. There is still no word on Robinson Cano and what his potential may be.

Hunter (New Jersey)

Joe, do you think the Mets and Braves should watch out for the Phillies since they are heating up and a second half team?

JM: I don't think that's the reason you start to worry about them. You worry about them because they've won 2 NL titles in a row.

That's pretty much what Hunter said, except Joe rephrased what he said to make it sound more idiotic. The Phillies have heated up in the second half over the past couple of years so the reason the Mets and the Braves should worry about them. Neither team should worry about the Phillies because in the past the Phillies have made the World Series. The mere fact any team made the World Series doesn't determine future success in July, August, September, while the fact a team has played well in the second half over the last 2-3 years does possibly determine future success in July, August, September.

And Ryan Howard usually is a second half player.

It all boils down to Ryan Howard. No matter whether the Phillies get Chase Utley or any of their other injured players back, it is Ryan Howard that makes the difference for the Phillies. Joe Morgan (hearts) Ryan Howard.

victor (monroe,la)

joe do you think the n.l.central will go down to the last day?

JM: I actually believe that either the Cardinals or Reds are going to get hot. If you look at the Cardinals, people thought they'd run away with it in the first place. At any time they can get hot. Those two teams are the ones you have to look out for. Teams like the Cubs still have a chance. It's a long season. The Brewers too.

So Joe thinks the Cardinals or the Reds are going to win the NL Central this year, or at least will get hot enough to win the NL Central? But he also thinks the Cubs and Brewers could win the division as well. So not only did he fail to answer the question posed, but he also has stated four of the six teams in the NL Central could win the division. We are all now dumber than we were before this question was asked.

Tito (Brooklyn)

Joe, do you think the AL all-star team is better equipped to win with small ball since they have guys like Ichiro and Jeter and Crawford?

I am pretty sure this is another JoeBait question.

JM: They definitely can play small ball. But they also have Miguel Cabrera, David Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez. They have power as well. They're a well rounded ball club.

It's good to hear the American League All-Star team is a well rounded ball club. I would hope the best players from 14 teams would form a well rounded baseball team. If not, this has the chance to be the worst AL All-Star team in the history of the All-Star Game.

Tito (Brooklyn)

Joe, who do you think is the best overall CF in the NL?

Really, this is a simple answer. The best OVERALL centerfielder in the National League, who is it? Joe screws the answer up.

JM: Well, I guess the question would be defensively or offensively?

OVERALL! What player is the best CF when factoring in everything, including offense and defense. This isn't a difficult question. Just know the definition of "overall" and then pick a CF who plays in the National League. Pick Matt Kemp or any name of a player that plays CF currently in the National League. There are sixteen choices. Pick one.

CF in the NL, you have Shane Victorino is a good defensive OF. Matt Kemp as well.

Is Joe avoiding the question or does he really not know how to judge a player "overall?"

That's an interesting question, because I don't think there are a lot of great CFs in the NL. Those are two that are exceptional. Drew Stubbs has a chance to be a good CF.

So there aren't a lot of great CFs in the NL, but Joe just named three of them off the top of his head? How about Colby Rasmus? Those four guys all are fairly young players still...but Joe doesn't think the NL has a lot of great CFs, which doesn't even matter since Joe wasn't asked how many great CF's there were in the NL, but which CF in the National League is the best overall.

Tito (Brooklyn)

Joe, why do you think Matt Wieters has struggled this year? What can he do to be more consistent at the plate, like Buster Posey or Carlos Santana are?

Another JoeBait question from Tito.

JM: Remember last year when he came up, he was heralded as the next Johnny Bench. He got off to the great start. But you still have to learn how to play in the major leagues.

Based on this comment I can conclude Joe Morgan will never like Matt Wieters because someone, somewhere compared him to Johnny Bench and no player in the history of baseball will ever be as good of a catcher as Johnny Bench. Joe resents Wieters being compared to Bench and will never like him...until he wins a MVP and a World Series title. At that point, Joe Morgan will love him, but still not compare him to Johnny Bench.

nino (new york city)

was the boss the greatest owner in sports?

JM: I can't say that, because I don't all of the owners in the other sports.

Your opinion. That is all Nino is asking for. It is not like if Joe Morgan says George Steinbrenner is the greatest owner in sports then he will be mocked for years by others who believe his opinion is stupid. It's an opinion, that is all it is. Why can't Joe just give one?

I think burritos are the greatest Mexican food and I haven't eaten every single type of Mexican food. I can have the opinion burritos are so great because it is my fucking opinion. I am not using my opinion as the basis for all facts upon the fate of the human race will be decided. I sometimes think Joe believes that if he gives his opinion, others will immediately see it as fact for some reason and mock Joe for being wrong.

He was a great baseball owner because he pushed the other owners to be better. He pushed his players to the limit.

He pushed everyone to the limit at some point.

He was one of my favorites.

Then just say he was the best owner in sports!

I don't think we'll see another owner like George Steinbrenner. I don't think the times, the players would allow an owner to be as involved as he was.

I am not sure if Joe is talking about in baseball or sports in general. In baseball, he may be correct, though Jeffrey Loria would be offended because he thinks he can run a baseball team. He's like an incredibly incompetent version of George Steinbrenner.

If Joe is talking about in all sports he is completely incorrect. Dan Snyder and Jerry Jones have a lot of say in what happens involving roster decisions on their teams.

Most of the owners now are letting their baseball people run their teams. I don't think we'll see anyone like him again.

Jeffrey Loria doesn't let the baseball people run his team, Peter Angelos has meddled in the past, and the owners of other baseball teams have say-so in how the team is run, even if they aren't as involved publicly as George Steinbrenner was. So we may see another Steinbrenner sometime int he future and I think it is funny that Joe Morgan, who is afraid to give an opinion on the best overall CF in the NL, is perfectly fine with giving an opinion there will never be another George Steinbrenner.

It's like he only feels comfortable giving an opinion on players or managers from his own era. If Joe doesn't personally know someone, he can't rank that person or tell you anything of interest about that person...or at least he refuses to do so.

Buzzmaster: Thanks Joe!

We'll see you next week Joe. Hopefully Joe will have nightmares about his childhood traumatic visits from the Inconsistency Monster and have a "consistent" filled chat next week.