Joe Morgan Rant

Ahh...Joe Morgan. Quite possibly the most obnoxious man in sports. If he wasn't blowing up my 70's Strat-O-Matic League (Nerd Alert!), I would have little to say good of the man. My sister's boyfriend, Brian, agrees. What follows is the unexpurgated email I received from Brian this morning. Enjoy.

Michael, So I'm driving in my car Tuesday afternoon listening to the Mike Tirico - Scott Van Pelt show on ESPN Radio and I just happen on their weekly interview with Joe Morgan. Scott Van Pelt starts the interview off by kissing his @ss, "always a pleasure to speak with an HOF-er and such an important ambassador of the game, Joe Morgan. Joe, how are ya..." and so on. So basically, I'm already rolling my eyes and the interview hasn't even started. Van Pelt jumps right into the big baseball news of the day...the turmoil in Queens, with Willie Randolf. Van Pelt asks, "what's going on out there Joe?" Morgan launches into this whole diatribe about how he thinks its unfair and its crazy that people are calling for his head....he also begins to elude that people want him fired for reasons other than his team's performance. He then cites the manager in Texas....some people are calling for his head too, but no one is calling for the heads of other managers for under-performing teams. He says, for example, Ned Yost....no ones yelling for him to be fired. Or the guy in Seattle, no ones yelling for him to be fired. He says that its completely ridiculous that these guys aren't on the chopping block too, but he says that there's a reason why they aren't and the guy in Texas and Wille Randolf are. Scott Van Pelt goes "well, Joe...I think what you're saying is....its because they're African-American." And Joe simply says, "that's how I see the situation". At this point, I almost swerved off the road I was so p*ssed off. I'm literally screaming at radio. My hands are off the steering wheel as they are raised in rage/confusion/embarrassment/etc. Joe Morgan thinks Willie Randolf's job is in jeopardy because he's black. Not because last year the Mets completed the worse collapse in major league baseball history and missed the playoffs. Not because, up until Tuesday, they had gone 1-7 in their last 8 games with a team ERA over 5 and a team batting average under .230. Not because they have shelled out more money then most teams entire payrolls for 3 or 4 players, the underachieving Johan Santana being one of them. Nope....none of those reasons. I am continuously amazed at how out of touch Joe Morgan is with baseball. He says whatever he wants, about whatever he wants, no matter how unrelated to anything it may be. He truly believes that he is above everyone and has a free pass to make an @ss of himself and the game because he's in the hall of fame. Its embarrassing and infuriating. And then, the icing on the cake, is Van Pelt wrapping up the interview with more @ss-kissing, "Always a pleasure to speak with a man who is not afraid to voice his opinion about the game he loves so much and contributed so much to. An amazing second baseman in is own right, hall of famer, Joe Morgan, always a pleasure." Appalling. Brian