One of the concerns Joe Morgan expressed to John Allen when Allen first approached him about the idea of retiring his number was that Morgan felt uncomfortable being placed ''up on a pedestal individually'' when the team for which Morgan played - the Big Red Machine - has gone completely unrecognized at Cinergy Field.
''It's part of the reason I was disenchanted with the Reds,'' Morgan said Tuesday. ''Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, myself, we were in the spotlight. But I've always felt the team didn't get the credit it deserved. That team should be acknowledged in some way.''
Morgan was assured by Allen that it will be.
Morgan, whose No. 8 will be retired by the Reds in a ceremony June 6, said he and Allen first talked ''the winter before last.''
''I was very impressed by him,'' Morgan said. ''We discussed how this was not about me. I'm already in the Hall of Fame. This is about the other guys who helped make me what I was. I can't accept something like my number being retired without some way acknowledging those guys I played with.''
Morgan said Allen's understanding of that point is ''why we kept the dialogue going. I told John, 'People see me on TV, but how about a guy like (center fielder) Cesar Geronimo? What can we do to make people aware of how good a player he really was?' The same is true up and down the line. In my opinion, that team was the best of all time.''
Morgan talked Tuesday morning about having seen press reports that the St. Louis Cardinals are going to unveil statues of Bob Gibson and Stan Musial outside Busch Stadium this season; Lou Brock and Red Schoendienst next season, and Enos Slaughter and Ozzie Smith in future years.
Morgan said that whether the Reds get a new or a renovated stadium, it would be a ''great idea'' if some sort of recognition be given to the Big Red Machine as a whole.
Morgan agreed that if Yankee Stadium is ''The House that Ruth Built,'' then a good case could be made that Cinergy Field - Riverfront Stadium is ''The House The Big Red Machine Built.''
But Morgan wants one thing understood today in Cincinnati. ''I'm not the good guy in all this. The good guy is John Allen.'' Morgan hopes that the numbers of Reds great Tony Perez and Edd Roush are also retired someday.
Last year, Morgan was recognized in a Hall of Fame poll of baseball writers as the second-greatest second baseman of all-time behind only the great Rogers Hornsby, who still holds many all-time hitting records.
''Being second to Rogers Hornsby is not really being second,'' said Morgan. ''He's in a class of his own.''Morgan hopes his many friends and fans in Cincinnati will enjoy his moment. ''They've treated me so well over the years. This is for them.''
WITH ALLEN, THE FAN IS ALWAYS RIGHT Tim Sullivan column
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