Everything you said is true to me and in my mind about Joe Morgan. I find him such a narrow minded individual. I know he was a ML ball player, but does he really deserve to be in the HOF? He obviously wears that honor as a part of his personality, and preens when Jon Miller invariably mentions his membership in that hallowed gallery.

I just don’t know. Back then 2nd basemen weren’t supposed to do much offensively, and Morgan set the career record for HR”s over 2nd basemen who came before him, but Sandberg broke his record in a relatively short period of time after he set it. I always figured he was very upset about that and that Howard Johnson broke his 1 season record for HR’s too. I foget how many HR’s it was, but it was over 40. Infielders were beginning to really hit the ball for doubles and hr’s!

So, as my esteemed and aforementioned writer documented, why did “Mr. Joe Morgan, VP to the HOF, not show up for Ryan Sandberg’s induction to the HOF?

I watch it every year, and evey year Joe’s there and during the last one he was seated at the end of a row of seats near the podium. He made a point of shaking hands with most everyone that left the podium. Yet, he couldn’t be there when the “greatest 2nd baseman,” Ryan Sandberg, got in? Sandberg is so humble by comparison, rarely even coming out in public, let alone spouting his brand of baseball every Sunday for ?decades!

Tim McCarver is another one who needs to go. I won’t even go into that right now… Sutcliffe is another one who should be fired. They just over, over analyzed every little thing that happens on the field. And call me NOT politically correct, but Sut stutters, which is not very endearing and certaininly not conducive to effective broadcasting. Give it up Sutcliffe!!! Sorry about that cancer. I had it and you can beat it too. Just quit giving me a headache with your whining style of broadcasting!

If that isn’t enough, then there’s people like Steve Philips who want to tell you how friggin’ smart they are at knowing the “behind the scenes” baseball trades, etc. Unless you’re in a virtual baseball league, who gives a crap?!!!

Sorry, I just want to watch the GD game, folks!!! And would you please put the center field camera just off the pitchers shoulder, so that I can at least have some idea if the ump was right? Right now the site pic is about 5-6 feet to the right shoulder of the pitcher. And why don’t they routinely show pitches from behind the plate. Huh? You get the true break and speed of the pitches (like the catcher and umpire). Plus, if the guy hits it you can see immediately where it’s going, and also see the runner as they break for the next base. Too simple I suppose.

Why do we have to get a distorted view of every pitch? I used to be a pitcher and I know this is not what it looks like. It’s a whole lot closer than what the cameras portray.

If they’d move the cameras closer to the pitcher and the action it would really show what’s going on. It’s pretty anticeptic right now. I’m quite sure most people don’t know what a good fastball looks like as it sings by!

Thanks for your indulgence, Lamar

To me, Joe Morgan is a mostly humorless individual who completely over analyzes every controversial play in every game he broacasts for ESPN.

I also think he is entirely too critical of the fielding plays made or mislpayed by the fielders. Sometimes, he carries over some relatively nondescript movement or error by a fielder, usually a middle in-fielder, to the next inning. He’s always indulged by the network crew to continually show, over and over, his point of view. I find him dull.

I like Jon Miller because he is the complete obosete of Morgan. Although upbeat and willing to put up with Morgan’s ego, he (apparently) has to sometimes play the fool to the HOF ensconced Morgan, often asking transparent and simple leading questions so that Morgan can appear the more knowledgeable reporter.

In Jon Miller, you have a smart, seasoned and professional baseball announcer who has been teamed for what seems forever with a self-centered, and in my mind, very marginal HOF 2nd baseman.

I don’t know when it happened but at some point the athlete took over from the professional and the much more entertaining heroes of my youth.

Although Dizzy Dean is in the HOF, he never criticized players the way Morgan does. A free spirit, we was too busy singing the Wabash Cannon Ball song when things on the field got less than interesting! His pal reporter was Buddy Blattner, a true professional and like Harry Caray and Steve Stone, they happily entertwined past baseball history with the events currently transpiring on the field and my TV, or up in the stands. And please don’t forget Vin Scully, a totally entertaining announcer who traditionaly never worked with a “color” man, which is how the ex-baller initially entered broadcasting. Skip Caray comes to mind too with his quick wit and zingy one liners! Too bad his son, Chip, is one of the current breed and overly serious about himself and his profession.

It was fun listening to the old time announcers. Where did the joy go?

Somewhere, somehow, other people like Morgan got hired by ESPN and the other sports networks. As I write, Morgan is describing exactly how a fielder misplayed a ground ball. He may talk about this for another inning or two if he holds to form. He’s been doing this for about 25 years!

Can’t we get back to a time when listening to the announcers was not some brutal form of instruction? When they simply set our imaginations in motion and their words were more about the game and less about when “they” played the game, or how they think it should be played?

I think some past players can honorably sit in the broadcast booth and call a game, so as to make it fun for the listener. Joe McGrane and the “Rays” comes to mind but, as Howard Costell was castigated because he “never played the game,” I think it reasonable to also assume that the average minded, retired professional ball player has no business in the broadcast booth.

Joe Morgan and a host of other ex-players who routinely tell you exactly what went wrong on the field and how it should have been done must be exorcised from baseball broadcasting, or somehow made to understand that we’re tired, real tired of their methods.

I look forward to a new breed of talkers who will entertain while also letting us know what’s happening on the field without being overbearing about their past major league abilities. Thank you and Best Wishes to all you great baseball fans, Lamar

http://sportfiends.com/2008/06/24/cubs-fans-arent-feelin-joe-morgan-right-now/