Joe Morgan

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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Joe Morgan

Hall-of-Famers as Seen Through Player Won-Lost Records: Joe Morgan

Joe Morgan was elected to the Hall of Fame in his 1st year of eligibility, 1990, with 81.8% of the vote.

Five highlights of Joe Morgan's career:

Joe Morgan made ten All-Star teams, won five Gold Gloves, and finished in the top 10 in MVP voting five times.

Morgan won back-to-back MVP awards in 1975 and 1976. In 1975, Morgan batted .327/.466/.508 with 132 walks, 67 stolen bases (against 10 caught stealing), 17 home runs, 94 RBI, and 107 runs scored. Morgan led the National League in walks, on-base percentage, and OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage, .974). In 1976, Morgan batted .320/.444/.576 with 114 walks, 60 stolen bases (and 9 caught stealing), 27 home runs, 111 RBI, and 113 runs scored. Morgan led the National League in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and, obviously, in OPS.

Morgan is second in MLB history in games played at second base (2,527), behind only Eddie Collins.

Morgan was third in MLB history in walks when he retired (1,865). Barry Bonds and Rickey Henderson have since passed him so that he is currently fifth in career walks.

Morgan's first major-league hit was a game-winning single with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning on September 22, 1963.

The first two tables below present Joe Morgan's career as measured by Player won-lost records, in and out of context.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWORL	pWOPA

Basic Player Won-Lost Records
						Value Decomposition
1963	HOU	19	8	1.1	0.6	0.7	0.6
1964	HOU	20	10	1.1	1.5	-0.2	-0.3
1965	HOU	21	157	20.9	20.5	3.1	1.0
1966	HOU	22	122	16.3	14.3	4.0	2.5
1967	HOU	23	133	16.8	16.1	2.8	1.1
1968	HOU	24	10	1.0	0.7	0.4	0.3
1969	HOU	25	147	19.0	17.5	3.6	1.7
1970	HOU	26	144	20.1	17.8	4.9	3.0
1971	HOU	27	160	22.0	18.7	5.7	3.7
1972	CIN	28	149	25.7	16.1	12.1	10.0
1973	CIN	29	157	26.8	17.2	12.0	9.8
1974	CIN	30	149	23.8	16.9	9.2	7.3
1975	CIN	31	146	24.3	15.4	11.0	9.1
1976	CIN	32	141	23.2	14.4	11.0	9.1
1977	CIN	33	153	22.1	14.9	9.5	7.6
1978	CIN	34	132	16.7	13.5	4.9	3.5
1979	CIN	35	126	15.1	14.1	2.7	1.3
1980	HOU	36	141	17.5	15.4	4.1	2.5
1981	SFN	37	90	12.0	9.4	3.8	2.8
1982	SFN	38	134	18.1	13.9	6.0	4.4
1983	PHI	39	123	16.4	13.0	5.0	3.6
1984	OAK	40	116	12.0	12.2	1.4	0.3
			------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,648	371.9	293.9	117.6	84.9
			------	------	------	------	------
PostSeason (career)			50	6.7	5.7	1.7	1.1
			------	------	------	------	------
COMBINED			2,698	378.7	299.6	119.3	86.1

Season	Team	Age	Games	eWins	eLosses	eWORL	eWOPA

Expected Player Won-Lost Records
						Value Decomposition
1963	HOU	19	8	0.9	0.8	0.2	0.2
1964	HOU	20	10	1.1	1.5	-0.1	-0.3
1965	HOU	21	157	22.1	19.2	5.5	3.5
1966	HOU	22	122	16.2	14.3	3.8	2.3
1967	HOU	23	133	17.9	15.0	4.9	3.3
1968	HOU	24	10	0.9	0.8	0.2	0.1
1969	HOU	25	147	19.7	16.8	4.8	2.9
1970	HOU	26	144	19.9	18.0	4.5	2.6
1971	HOU	27	160	22.2	18.5	6.0	4.0
1972	CIN	28	149	24.5	17.4	9.5	7.5
1973	CIN	29	157	25.8	18.2	10.1	7.9
1974	CIN	30	149	23.8	16.9	9.1	7.2
1975	CIN	31	146	23.7	16.0	9.8	7.9
1976	CIN	32	141	22.7	14.9	10.0	8.1
1977	CIN	33	153	21.7	15.2	8.7	6.8
1978	CIN	34	132	15.8	14.5	3.1	1.6
1979	CIN	35	126	15.5	13.8	3.3	1.9
1980	HOU	36	141	17.2	15.6	3.6	2.0
1981	SFN	37	90	11.5	9.8	3.0	1.9
1982	SFN	38	134	17.9	14.1	5.6	4.0
1983	PHI	39	123	15.8	13.6	3.9	2.5
1984	OAK	40	116	12.4	11.8	2.2	1.1
			------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,648	369.2	296.6	111.7	79.0
			------	------	------	------	------
PostSeason (career)			50	6.6	5.9	1.5	0.9
			------	------	------	------	------
COMBINED			2,698	375.8	302.5	113.2	79.9

As the table above shows, Joe Morgan had an excellent peak that ran from 1972 through 1977 and he added very good years at both ends of that, giving him a sustained prime of excellence that ran from about 1965 through 1983. Joe Morgan's peak and prime were not merely "excellent", however, they were downright historic.

The next table shows the top pWins over replacement level (pWORL) earned over six consecutive seasons since MLB integration (i.e., since 1947).

Best Six Consecutive Seasons, pWORL
	Player	Seasons	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
1	Barry Bonds	1999 - 2004	137.6	76.6	56.0	66.7
2	Mickey Mantle	1952 - 1957	141.7	83.7	53.2	65.0
3	Joe Morgan	1972 - 1977	145.8	94.8	52.9	64.7
4	Mickey Mantle	1953 - 1958	142.2	84.9	52.3	64.0
5	Mickey Mantle	1956 - 1961	142.9	85.8	51.9	63.5
6	Mickey Mantle	1955 - 1960	141.5	85.1	51.2	62.7
7	Barry Bonds	1998 - 2003	138.6	81.7	51.6	62.6
8	Mickey Mantle	1954 - 1959	142.2	86.7	50.2	61.9
9	Barry Bonds	2000 - 2005	123.6	67.1	52.2	61.7
10	Mickey Mantle	1957 - 1962	137.7	82.2	50.4	61.6

The quality of the names on that list speak for themselves (as well how few unique names there are).

Joe Morgan's Career

So how does Joe Morgan rate over his entire career?

The next table shows the top 25 players in career pWins over positional average and replacement level among all players for whom I have calculated Player won-lost records.

		pWins over Positional Average Top 25 Players						pWins over Replacement Level Top 25 Players
	Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
1	Babe Ruth	498.7	291.4	193.9	236.3	1	Babe Ruth	498.7	291.4	193.9	236.3
2	Barry Bonds	466.8	310.6	136.5	174.4	2	Barry Bonds	466.8	310.6	136.5	174.4
3	Willie Mays	465.3	329.8	116.5	156.6	3	Willie Mays	465.3	329.8	116.5	156.6
4	Mickey Mantle	354.1	227.5	112.2	141.9	4	Hank Aaron	496.7	369.1	98.5	142.5
5	Ted Williams	373.0	250.0	104.3	136.6	5	Mickey Mantle	354.1	227.5	112.2	141.9
6	Mel Ott	420.5	295.9	103.6	140.9	6	Mel Ott	420.5	295.9	103.6	140.9
7	Lou Gehrig	310.3	188.0	101.0	126.8	7	Ted Williams	373.0	250.0	104.3	136.6
8	Hank Aaron	496.7	369.1	98.5	142.5	8	Roger Clemens	316.9	228.6	94.6	131.3
9	Roger Clemens	316.9	228.6	94.6	131.3	9	Lou Gehrig	310.3	188.0	101.0	126.8
10	Stan Musial	424.1	311.3	88.2	126.2	10	Stan Musial	424.1	311.3	88.2	126.2
11	Joe Morgan	371.9	293.9	84.9	117.6	11	Joe Morgan	371.9	293.9	84.9	117.6
12	Joe DiMaggio	287.1	193.1	84.5	109.4	12	Greg Maddux	327.2	271.7	77.9	115.0
13	Lefty Grove	264.3	190.7	84.3	113.0	13	Alex Rodriguez	373.8	298.7	81.2	114.9
14	Jimmie Foxx	301.7	200.7	81.9	108.2	14	Warren Spahn	351.1	294.8	74.3	113.8
15	Alex Rodriguez	373.8	298.7	81.2	114.9	15	Lefty Grove	264.3	190.7	84.3	113.0
16	Greg Maddux	327.2	271.7	77.9	115.0	16	Joe DiMaggio	287.1	193.1	84.5	109.4
17	Rogers Hornsby	336.2	261.7	75.8	106.8	17	Jimmie Foxx	301.7	200.7	81.9	108.2
18	Warren Spahn	351.1	294.8	74.3	113.8	18	Frank Robinson	398.0	302.5	70.9	106.8
19	Albert Pujols	359.9	267.3	71.8	104.3	19	Rogers Hornsby	336.2	261.7	75.8	106.8
20	Mike Schmidt	338.5	257.6	71.0	99.7	20	Albert Pujols	359.9	267.3	71.8	104.3
21	Frank Robinson	398.0	302.5	70.9	106.8	21	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	279.8	221.0	69.8	102.9
22	Eddie Mathews	320.7	240.9	70.5	99.1	22	Rickey Henderson	428.4	350.3	62.5	100.5
23	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	279.8	221.0	69.8	102.9	23	Mike Schmidt	338.5	257.6	71.0	99.7
24	Chipper Jones	336.2	257.6	69.6	98.6	24	Eddie Mathews	320.7	240.9	70.5	99.1
25	Pee Wee Reese	299.9	239.2	68.0	96.0	25	Chipper Jones	336.2	257.6	69.6	98.6

Again, the table speaks pretty well for itself.

Article last updated: July 1, 2020

All articles are written so that they pull data directly from the most recent version of the Player won-lost database. Hence, any numbers cited within these articles should automatically incorporate the most recent update to Player won-lost records. In some cases, however, the accompanying text may have been written based on previous versions of Player won-lost records. I apologize if this results in non-sensical text in any cases.

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