After 21 years of serving as the face of “Sunday Night Baseball” on ESPN, Hall of Famer Joe Morgan was fired.
The speculation that Morgan and his partner, Jon Miller, would be fired had been bandied about in some quarters for a couple of years.
The four-letter network finalized the end of Morgan’s great career as an astute broadcaster on Nov. 8. Miller was offered a radio spot as the voice of Sunday night games. Some feel that Morgan’s release was the result of frequent on-air mistakes. Upper level ESPN executives criticized him harshly, which is never good for job security. Morgan also came under fire for being personally unpopular with many of his ESPN colleagues regarding the manner in which he prepared for a telecast.
Morgan began his career in the major leagues most notably as a second basemen with the Cincinnati Reds in 1971. Known as the Big Red Machine, he played with one of the greatest infields of all time along with teammates Tony Perez, Dave Concepcion and Pete Rose. Also on that team was Johnny Bench, Cesar Geronimo and Ken Griffey Sr. Morgan drove in the game-winning run in Game 7 of the 1975 World Series and his career included eight consecutive All-Star game appearances. He was the National League MVP in 1975 and 1976, becoming the first second baseman in history to win the MVP two years in a row. Morgan was also a five times Gold Glove recipient winning the award from 1973 to 1977. After winning the 1975 and 1976 World Series with the Reds, his No. 8 was retired.
