joe morgan off to a great start rules wise...

[greymule]

Back in the early 1990s, Joe Morgan claimed that the scorer had erred by awarding the batter (Baker) a single instead of a double on the following play:

Abel on 2B, Baker lined a hit to right field. F9 took it on two hops and threw home where Abel was safe on a close play. Baker took 2B on the throw.

Joe Morgan claimed that since Baker had not stopped running after rounding 1B, but instead kept going when he saw F9 throw home, he should have been credited with a double.

The other announcer made a diplomatic attempt to indicate that Morgan was wrong, but quickly gave up when Morgan insisted.

[mcrowder]

What are you guys talking about? Joe is a former umpire (or claims to be), and is, as such, always right.

[LMan]

Originally Posted by mcrowder

What are you guys talking about? Joe is a former umpire (or claims to be), and is, as such, always right.

Yep. Seems like every coach I talk to was a former umpire, also

[greymule]

Seems like every coach I talk to was a former umpire, also

The last coach who told me that he was also an umpire used that "fact" as evidence that his following assertion was correct:

"On a close play, runners are required to slide."

Believe it or not, he added the following wisdom:

"Even in the big leagues."

[TussAgee11]

A quick McCarver saying...

"David Eckstein, like most players, has 20 digits. 10 fingers, 10 toes. He used them all on that play".

My favorite Joe one from recent memory

R1, R2. 1 out. Deep fly ball to center. U1 sprints out to get the ball. U2 lines up the tag, U3 awaits at 3 and PU at home. Both runners end up tagging, but R1 stops and gets thrown behind at first. U2 has to make a close call on R1 from the saddle.

Joe says that he has umpired for years, and that U2 needs to run out in this situation, not U1. Furthermore, if U1 goes out, then PU should come up and get 1st base.

Where does he come up with this stuff?

[mattmets]

Originally Posted by TussAgee11

A quick McCarver saying...

"David Eckstein, like most players, has 20 digits. 10 fingers, 10 toes. He used them all on that play".

My favorite Joe one from recent memory

R1, R2. 1 out. Deep fly ball to center. U1 sprints out to get the ball. U2 lines up the tag, U3 awaits at 3 and PU at home. Both runners end up tagging, but R1 stops and gets thrown behind at first. U2 has to make a close call on R1 from the saddle.

Joe says that he has umpired for years, and that U2 needs to run out in this situation, not U1. Furthermore, if U1 goes out, then PU should come up and get 1st base.

Where does he come up with this stuff?

This was the Sunday night game between the Mets and Yankees last year...I know Larry Poncino was involved, and we had a great debate over how much of a moron Joe is.

[Paul L]

I can't speak about his rule knowledge, since I haven't heard him much since starting umpiring, but I always thought Joe Morgan was highly informative about inside baseball strategy and mechanics.

[jontheref]

Unfortunately, whatever Morgan and Miller say on the weekend you can bet that some coach will be yelling about it the first week of the season. Oh Joy.

[umpduck11]

Originally Posted by LMan

Yep. Seems like every coach I talk to was a former umpire, also

Not every one, just about half of them. The other half still umpire during their
" off " season........