Sunday, June 7, 1998

BY JOHN ERARDI
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Joe Morgan accepts a commemorative plaque from Managing Executive John Allen. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

When the veil dropped from the giant plaque above the left field wall at Cinergy Field Saturday night, the sight of "No. 8" hit its former wearer right where the "C-Reds" insignia is sewn.

In the heart.

And, frankly, that's more than No. 8 was prepared for.

Joe Morgan choked up, because he knew what the moment represented to the team on which he starred and for company he will forever keep: Fred Hutchinson (No. 1), Johnny Bench (No.5) and Frank Robinson (No. 20), former Reds greats.

"It was a little more than I expected, but it was great," Morgan said, just after the ceremony. "It kind of got to me. You know it's going to happen, but to see it happen, is what makes it special."

There were about 30,000 fans spread throughout the stands at the time of the ceremony -- one-half hour before the game -- and it worked out perfectly. Almost all of them were Reds fans.

It was Indians fans who were most of the late arrivals this night.

After Reds broadcaster Marty Brennaman introduced Morgan to the fans, the ovation went on . . . and on.

Morgan's jersey, right, joins Fred Hutchinson's, Johnny Bench's and Frank Robinson's on the left-field wall. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

Morgan a proud, confident player, never did anything in the 1970s to make observers think of him being only 5-foot-7.

He hit like a slugger and played second base without fear.

But in these moments when he is being honored -- Saturday night and eight years ago at the Baseball Hall of Fame -- his humility is genuine and felt by everybody.

Only 700 people could feel it in Cooperstown, because that's all that could cram into a high school auditorium when the scheduled outdoor ceremony the day before was rained out.

Former Reds manager Sparky Anderson predicted this week that fans would find out what a "warm" human being Morgan is.

And, as always when it comes to matters of the heart, Anderson was exactly right.

Maybe Morgan never realized how much he meant to Reds fans as an individual because he was so immersed in the game as a team player.

"I guess it (the applause) shows the bond I had with them, and the bond that we had together," Morgan said. "They don't forget. I like to think I was a good player for the fans. But still, it hits you. It's like when I was here three years ago to do an ESPN game and got a standing ovation (when his face was shown on the Jumbotron). It's like "what did I to deserve this (the spontaneous ovation)?' "

Morgan listens to his twin daughters Ashley and Kelly, 7, read a poem. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

Fortunately for him on Saturday the ovation didn't make him break down, because something else already almost had done it: a surprise reading of a "Big Red Machine" poem by his twin daughters, Ashley and Kelly, age 7. They wrote the verses.

"Yeah, I almost lost it when they got up there," said Morgan, smiling. "I'm just happy I was able to get through it and that I was able to let the fans know how I felt about them and my teammates."

Morgan paid tribute to all of his Big Red Machine teammates. With him on the field were Johnny Bench, Ken Griffey Sr. and Don Gullett. Also on the field were his parents, Leonard and Ollie; Ashley and Kelly; his wife, Theresa; his daughter, Lisa, and his attorney and good friend, Tom Reich. He thanked them and other family members and "Gloria Morgan" -- his first wife and mother of his first two daughters, Lisa and Angela.

"Thanks to you all, and thank you to two of the greatest parents in the world," Morgan said. "We've been from Bonham, Texas, to Cooperstown to Cincinnati together, and I'm lucky to have you here tonight."

When he came to Cincinnati 26 years ago, he said, he knew that not many Reds fans were pleased to lose popular players Lee May, Tommy Helms and Jimmy Stewart in a trade to get "a group of guys from Houston."

Morgan hugs Johnny Bench after throwing the ceremonial first pitch to Bench. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

"But the one thing you did do was give me an opportunity to prove I belonged here," he said. "And after a month of spring training, I knew this is where I was supposed to be. Every day, all those years, Tony Perez would walk up to my locker and say, "Joe, you were a big fish in a little pond when you played in Houston. We brought you here and made you a star.' "

Perez was "half right," Morgan said.

"Because besides making me a star, they made me a part of the greatest team that ever played."

That line brought down the house.

A few minutes later -- after having acknowledged various Reds teammates including Pete Rose "who played every game like it was the seventh game of the World Series") and to pointing to various spots on the field where so many magic moments were produced by his teammates in the 1970s -- Morgan threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Bench, who took his spot behind the plate.

Morgan's pitch was high and outside to an imaginary left-handed hitter flapping his back elbow like a chicken. Bench jumped a bit, knocked it skyward with his glove and caught it on the way down.

The fans roared, and the real No. 8 walked off the field, his right arm waving, his head up and his eyes surveying the crowd. His eyes were glistening as the early evening sun glinted off the No. 8 high above the left-field wall.