We're sorry too! Can't wait!
Chris (Tampa): Joe, is this a lackluster post season without the Yankees or the Red Sox? Who's looking strongest going into the weekend?
Joe Morgan: It's obvious the expectations aren't as high as last year with the Red Sox-Yankees circus atmoshphere. But I think we will find new players that you will enjoy watching into next year.
Joe Morgan: Already, Chris Burke from the Astros has made a name for himself. Joe Crede with the game-winning hit the other night has set the stage for himself as well.
So who's looking strongest going into the weekend? Joe? Joe?
Rob (Brooklyn, NY): What's your take on instant replay? Also, how much does "the Call" affect the angels?
Joe Morgan: Replay would not have helped. I saw the replay over and over and you could say it was inconclusive although I believe he caught the ball.
You could say it was inconclusive, but you would be wrong.
I don't believe replay should be in baseball. You would really be messing with the history of the game. Bad calls are part of the game.
Segregation used to be part of the game. Don't mess with history, Joe.
When would you use replay? On a close play at first in the fifth? Only in the late innings? A play in the fifth is just as important as a play in the ninth.
Well, a committee would propose several ideas. Perhaps only on home run calls. Perhaps coaches could get a limited number of challenges a game like in the NFL. No one's suggesting replay for balls and strikes.
I'm not a fan of replays.
I can tell. You're also not a fan of the concept of change.
The only time it might work is using it on disputed home runs.
That is an option that would almost certainly be suggested.
As for how much it affected the Angels, it is hard to judge. If A.J. got a hit, how would that have affected the Angels? The question is how will it affect them tonight. Will the mental aspect carry over?
YOU JUST ANSWERED A GUY'S QUESTION BY REPHRASING THE SAME QUESTION BACK AT HIM. Joe, no one's going to print these chat transcripts out like they're testimony from a criminal trial and later point out specific instances where you were wrong. (Except us.) You can go out on a limb and say the Angels will play fine. Or you can say the series is over. That's your job. You're a sports analyst.
(The Original) Jeff (Cleveland): Joe, How come the umpires didn't look at the ball to see if there wa s a dirt scuff on it. If it hit the ground, there would be a noticible mark on the ball.
Joe Morgan: No. The ball could have had dirt on it from before. You can't tell just by looking at the ball. It could have hit the dirt and then the dirt rolled off when it was rolled back to the mound.
Joe Morgan: What really happened is the guy got confused. He signaled with his right arm as if to say he was safe and then he showed his first which would mean he is out.
No. That's wrong. He signaled with his right arm that there was no contact between the bat and the ball, just as he had done all game (as shown on BBTN on the Dye and Molina strikeouts). Then he showed his "first," signifying an out. He was confused, sure, but not as to whether it was a strikeout. The error came when he didn't stick to his original call. Eddings got scared when he saw Pierzynski running to first, and he made the wrong decision.
I went to umpire school and when you give a fist that means out. They only do it on the third strike.
If Joe Morgan had umpired the game, I believe there would have been at least forty-eight calls as controversial as the Eddings mistake, including numerous plays where Morgan dozes off mid-call.
Julie (At Work in Weehawken, NJ): Joe, It is truly an honor.... I hope that you take my question... I am a huge Roger Clemens fan... he is my Cy Young winner (even though they are going to give it to Carpenter). Anyway, what possible reason could there be for the Astros being completely unable to score runs for him when he is on the mound? I mean they scored 10 for Pettitte... then 1 for him? What is the deal... ?
Joe Morgan: Baseball goes in cycles.
That is a miserable way to start this answer.
It all depends on how the opposition is pitching as well. If Clemens is always matched up against the other teams' ace, of course you will have problems scoring.
The chances of that are pretty small. Although it is possible that the Clemens' opposing pitchers had a lower than average ERA.
Clemens did get good run support with other teams. If he pitches again next year, the bad luck will probably fall on someone else.
Okay. There you go. All you have to say is: it's 99% certain that his poor run support relative to other Astros pitchers was due to chance. Dumb luck. I agree with you, Joe.
It just goes in cycles for starting pitchers.
All right. You don't have to repeat yourself.
After awhile, it can become mental because the team will start to press. But I guarantee if he pitches next year, he will get much better run support.
You're repeating yourself again.
Billy (Detroit): Do you think the Tigers made the right decision by hiring Jim Leyland in such haste. Would we have been better off with a no non-sense guy like Pinella.
Joe Morgan: From a personal standpoint, I like Leyland a lot. He is a proven manager. But this is the second time the Tigers have gone against baseball's etiquitte of interviewing minority candidates. I heard they gave Juan Samuel a 15-minute interview. The Tigers seem to feel they can do anything they want. They decided they didn't want to wait.
Joe Morgan: And it's not a matter that they should have hired a minority, it's about interviewing and have minorities as part of the hiring process. It seems they feel they are above the law so to speak.
This is a rare appearance of Bizarre Rant Joe. Usually we're only treated to Clueless Joe or Vendetta Joe or Misty-Eyed Nostalgic Joe, and we always get a dose of Just Plain Wrong in Every Way Joe, but here, Joe turns a question about managerial skill into a moratorium on the possible racism of the Detroit Tigers franchise. "It seems they feel they are above the law"? We're talking about whether Jim Leyland is a good choice to manage a baseball team. Next time someone asks about Mark Buehrle's pickoff move, Joe will assess the lack of judicial experience of Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers.
Brad (Albuquerque): Joe!..Always enjoy chatting with you..should the A's make a real play for Orel?..is he management material?
Joe Morgan: I don't know his management background. I just know him as a pitching coach. But I think there are a lot of good management candidates out there. I just don't know him that well to really comment.
Oh. I guess I also forgot Wussily Refuses to Answer the Question Joe.
If you are going to the A's, will you be a manager or a puppet? That's the question.
And there's Vendetta Joe.
Will B. (Va Beach): what's your thought on Field Level reporters. You've had them all from Erin Andrews, to Gary Roberts, to Sam Ryan. Do you have a preference as to what you expect them to bring to the game and whom do you enjoy working with the most?
Joe Morgan: What I expect is different from what the producers expect! I hope if something happens on the field .. if someone gets hurt .. or something controversial .. that they can find out what happened without me having to speculate. But now they are actually part of the broadcast whether there is controversy is not. They just come on and talk. Sometimes it can be irrelevant. Sometimes the game might be in doubt and they are talking about something other than the batter, pitcher, etc. They have a definate place but we don't always use them properly. The broadcasting of the actual game is always the most important thing. I don't necessarily need to know where somebody is going to dinner after the game. But there is a definite place for them if used properly.
Joe Morgan: From the viewers perspective, you just have to ask if that reporter enhances your enjoyment of the game.
It is absolutely no surprise to me that Joe Morgan hates his field reporters. Hates them. This is a guy who refuses to offend Orel Hershiser by offering an opinion on his readiness to manage. Yet he says of his own co-workers, "They just come on and talk. Sometimes it can be irrelevant. Sometimes the game might be in doubt and they are talking about something other than the batter, pitcher, etc.... I don't necessarily need to know where somebody is going to dinner after the game."
So, Joe, what's the most important part of the game? "The broadcasting of the actual game is always the most important thing." And you are ... right. A broadcaster.
And I love that after throwing the field reporters under the bus, he throws his hands in the air and says, hey viewers, make up your own mind.
Dan (Akron): What happened to ARod in the ALDS? He performed like an MVP on boths sides allyear and then just looked lost in those 5 games like a boy amongst men. Your thoughts thanks?
Joe Morgan: Very good observation.
Yes, very good observation, Dan (Akron). No one's been talking about A-Rod at all. Impressive original thinking.
He was an MVP all year but I think it stems back to last year in Boston. From the third or fourth game on, everybody in the lineup looked lost. That has carried over this year a bit in the postseason.
You're kidding me. You think the psychic damage from last year's ALCS Game 4 (the Yankees won Game 3, so I'll discount that he even said that) carried over and caused them to lose to the Angels this year?
Randy Johnson's poor performance is largely to blame for their series loss, and he wasn't on the team last year.
Good Lord. I have to get some fresh air.
Okay, I'm back.
Richie Sebuharara (Denmark): in ur opinion joe, who is the best Molina brother, yadier, jose or bengie, im talkin hitting and feilding
Joe Morgan: I don't have a favorite Molina! They are all funky and cold! Bengie is the best hitter right now.
The question was who is the best, not who is your favorite. Bengie is the right answer.
mike (miami): a little tone loc..nice job hall of famer
Joe Morgan: I like to have fun, too. ; ) This isn't brain surgery.
CINCINNATI, OH - Local brain surgeon Joe Leonard Morgan left several patients dead on the operating room table this morning when he refused to use modern computer technology, CAT scan results, or scalpels made of metal during his surgeries. Said Morgan, "The greatest brain surgeons of all time operated using only sharp rocks, intuition, and hustle. Are you saying you're a better brain surgeon than those all-time greats?" Morgan then leapt onto a waiting horse and proceeded to burn down an iPod nano factory.
I hope I can chat again next Friday but I might be traveling to the World Series. We'll see. Thanks for your great questions, as usual. Take care.
You too!
Labels: joe morgan, joechat
