Joe Morgan, the Hall of Fame second baseman who became the sparkplug of the Big Red Machine and the prototype for baseball’s artificial turf era, has died. And his Hall of Fame teammates and manager readily acknowledged he was the one that got it all started. The smallest cog in the Big Red Machine was its most valuable piece, and easily a first-ballot pick for Cooperstown. The Reds decided to dismantle the Big Red Machine, prompting Morgan to also leave. ″Bench probably had the most raw baseball ability of any of us,” Morgan said before his Hall of Fame induction.

Source: Fox News October 12, 2020 16:41 UTC