Vital Statistics:

Before The Bigs:

• Born in Texas, his family moved to Oakland, Calif. and he was a standout at Castlemont High School.
• Signed with the Houston Colt 45s after graduating from high school in 1962.

• Hit .332 with 13 home runs in 95 games with Class-A Durham of the Carolina League in 1963, then five more homers and .263 with Modesto of the California League after moving up. Played in eight games late in the season with Houston.
• Sent to Double-A San Antonio of the Texas League in 1964, he hit .323 with 12 home runs, 90 RBI and 47 stolen bases, and finished the season in Houston. He never went back to the minors.

Career Highlights:

• One of the greatest second basemen of all time, he's the only second baseman to win consecutive MVP awards. "Little Joe" was a huge cog in the Big Red Machine teams with the Cincinnati Reds in the 1970s.
• Stole 40 or more bases nine times in his career, and his 689 stolen bases rank 11th on the all-time list.
• A 10-time All-Star who was selected in every year of the 1970s but one.
• Became the team's regular second baseman at age 21 as the team was rechristened the Houston Astros with the opening of the Astrodome in 1965. Hit .271 with 14 home runs and 40 stolen bases and led the National League with 97 walks. Finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting behind Jim Lefebvre of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

• Named to his first All-Star team in 1966, when he hit .285.
• Made his second All-Star team in 1970, when he hit .268 with eight home runs, 52 RBI and 42 stolen bases..
• Was traded to the Cincinnati Reds as part of a blockbuster trade on Nov. 29, 1971. Lee May, Tommy Helms and Jimmy Stewart went to Houston, and Morgan, Cesar Geronimo, Jack Billingham, Denis Menke and Ed Armbrister went to the Reds. The deal helped Cincinnati become the dominant team in the National League for the next decade.
• Given the freedom to run more by Sparky Anderson, Morgan stole 58 or more bases in each of the next five seasons. He finished fourth in NL MVP voting in his first season in Cincinnati, hitting .292 with 16 home runs, 73 RBI and 58 stolen bases.
• Was fourth in MVP voting again tin 1973, when he hit .290 with 26 home runs, 82 RBI and 67 steals, which was his career-high (which he matched in 1975). Also won his first Gold Glove that season.
• Had his best season as the Reds won the World Series in a classic, seven-game World Series in 1975. He hit .327 with 17 home runs, 94 RBI, 67 SB and 132 walk. Had an .974 OPS, which was best in the NL, and was a landslide winner of the NL MVP. Drove in Ken Griffey for the go-ahead run in Game 7.
• Repeated as MVP in 1976 at age 32 and was even better statistically, hitting .320 with a career-best 27 home runs and 111 RBI along with 60 stolen bases. His OPS was 1.020, and the Reds swept the New York Yankees in the World Series.
• Slumped to .236 in 1978 and .250 in 1979 and signed back with the Astros as a free agent in 1980. Hit .243 with 11 homers and an NL-best 93 walks as he helped lead Houston to the NL West title.
• Signed as a free agent with the San Francisco Giants and played two more seasons, hitting .289 with 14 home runs in 1982. His home run in his final game as a Giant eliminated the Dodgers from the NL West race.
• Joined former teammates Pete Rose and Tony Perez for one season with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1983, when he hit .230 with 16 homers as the Phillies won the NL pennant, but lost to the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.
• Returned to his hometown and played his final season in Oakland with the A's at age 40 in 1984.

After Retirement:

• Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990 on the first ballot, getting 81.8 percent of the vote.
• His No. 8 jersey is retired by the Reds.
• Began his broadcasting career in 1985 doing TV with the Reds, and then worked nine seasons as an announcer with the Giants. Worked nationally for ABC in 1988 and 1989, then teamed up with Jon Miller from 1990 to 2010 on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball telecast. He also called three World Series and four All-Star Games with NBC in the 1990s.
• Returned to the Reds as a special advisor to baseball operations in 2010.
• Daughter Ashley was a top gymnast at Stanford and twin Kelly was a soccer player at USC.