“With Tony, Pete and now Sparky gone, the heart of the Big Red Machine had all but ceased. It was… before the 1979 season was even under way that I decided to play out my contract and move on.”
Morgan entered the Free-Agent draft and was selected by the Dodgers, his preferred destination. His signing with Cincinnati’s long-time rival was predicated on incumbent second baseman Davey Lopes agreeing to move to center field. But Lopes balked and Morgan didn’t want to be the reason for a fracture on a pennant-contending club so he announced he wouldn’t be signing with anyone and went back into the secondary phase of the draft.
This time he was selected by the Yankees and the Astros. As was the case with Nolan Ryan, George Steinbrenner’s Yankees lost out to Houston.
On January 31st, Joe Morgan agreed to a deal to return to the city where he began his career in 1963.
“The Astros already have a winning attitude,” Morgan said at his introductory news conference. “With a starting rotation of Joe Niekro, J.R. Richard, Nolan Ryan, and Ken Forsch and Joe Sambito in the bullpen, I’d rather be playing behind them than trying to hit against them.”
The additions of Ryan and Morgan and a talented young outfield of Jose Cruz, Jeffrey Leonard, and Terry Puhl had Astros manager Bill Virdon feeling good about the upcoming season.
“We made great strides during the 1979 season and the pennant race provided some experience for us,” Virdon told reporters in Cocoa, FL that spring. “That should make us a better club in 1980. If we can get good offensive production and pitching we’ll be legitimate contenders.”
From Jack Morris to Len Barker, here are the wins leaders for every major league…
From Robin Yount to Chili Davis, here are the hits leaders for every major league…
From Mike Schmidt to Carmelo Martinez, here is the home run leader for every major…
An excerpt from Patrick Montgomery's new book, Baseball's Great Expectations: Candid Stories of Ballplayers Who…
An excerpt from Eric Vickrey's new book about the 1982 St. Louis Cardinals