Joe Morgan Confuses Joe Morgan

Joe Morgan was called out last week about a tale he told during Sunday Night Baseball, and last night he decided to clarify the whole thing. Well per Morgan's usual "misremberings" of his Baseball career, he dug himself into an even bigger hole. From Deadspin via Larry Brown Sports....

Morgan: "Jon [Miller], I want to correct something that I said last week — you weren’t here so you weren’t involved — but last week we were talking about Don Wilson pitching a no-hitter and I remember talking to him about Hank Aaron and saying it wouldn’t be the worst thing if he walked him. And he said ‘get away’ and he went out and struck him out. Well it happened in the dugout, not on the field. I got it mixed up with an incident I had with Al Hollins, who in a similar situation was pitching with me at the Giants, so I had the two confused."

Joe claims he mixed up the Wilson and Holland stories — that Holland was pitching "in a similar situation" in 1981 or 1982, meaning, presumably, that he had a no-hitter going late in the game, and that Joe sauntered over from second and suggested he walk a big bat, etc. Let's have a look at the record, shall we? Surely there are some computer numbers out there that might help us.

Holland was a relief pitcher, a decent one for a time, and he recorded only 11 starts over his 10-year career, 10 of them with the Giants. Only once did he throw more than four innings of no-hit ball. That would've been Sept. 29, 1981, against Cincinnati; Johnny Bench hit a solo shot in the fifth to break it up. Now, I suppose it's conceivable that Joe would've proposed walking Bench at that point, even if his old teammate was then in the winter of his years. But consider: Holland didn't just have a no-no through four-and-a-third. He had a perfect game.

It's obviously a tad bit nit-picky to call out an announcer for not getting a story, that happened thirty plus years ago, exactly right. But Dr. Morgan doesn't even come close when it comes to recapping certain moments during his playing days. Everyone is always up in arms when blogs pick on Joe, but maybe now you have a little insight into why we do so.

Oh and I would also like to refer you to Major League Jerk, for Exhibit B....

Adam (Joplin, MO): What is the hardest thing to deal with throughout a MLB season?

Joe: I don’t know if there’s one, but two things that are very difficult are physical and mental fatigue. A lot of times you’ll play a night game and fly some place for a day game. There aren’t as many days off. For every day players, the grind of playing every day. Facing tough pitching. The grind works on you mentally. I used to get more mentally tired than physically tired. I would think it’s the same with the players today.

Adam: What’s the hardest part about the baseball season?

Joe: I don’t know if it’s one thing so I’m going to narrow it down to every single possible thing ever: the mental and the physical. I’m not sure if that includes the ether that the world floats in or the space between our cells but I would say that everything in the entire universe that could serve as a reason is my answer. But mostly it’s everything.

Joe Morgan Lies Again When Clarifying Previous Lie on Sunday Night Baseball (Larry Brown Sports)
Joe Morgan Clarifies One Fib, Possibly Tells Another (Deadspin)
Fire Joe Morgan Already (Major League Jerk)