1 Happy St

And thus continues my investigation into the baseball analyst enigma that is Joe Morgan. For my previous installments, click here and here. Here are some exerpts from today's fascinating online chat.

Jeff (Texas): Would Prior or Woods benefit from a shift to the bullpen? It should be less stress on their arms only throwing 70 innings a year.
Joe Morgan: They tried to do that with Wood and they sent him to the bullpen. It's very difficult to throw every day with him. It sounds like a good idea for him, to be honest with you. Just use him for a while, and then go back to starting.

I’ll help translate Joe-speak here. “Wood can’t throw every day, but it’s a good idea for him to throw every day, but I would make him a starter after a while.” Thank you Joe for clearing that up. Wait, what was the question again?

Bobby (VA Beach,VA): Who do you think will be this years NL MVP?
Joe Morgan: That's tough. We're not there yet. Pujols has led his team. The Mets have the best record, so you have to look at their best players. We're not there yet where you can name the MVP yet.

Bobby was just looking for a simple prediction here Joe. He knows the season isn’t over yet. We all know the season isn’t over yet. “I think Albert Pujols will be the MVP” would have been an acceptable answer.

Dave (Blacksburg, VA): This year notwithstanding, what is it going to take to get the Indians back in contention?
Joe Morgan: …….. I think Cleveland faces a difficult path to get back to the top. They have some good players, but they haven't played well together to get in the race.

Ladies and gentlemen, your Emmy award-winning commentator Joe Morgan. What do the Indians need? They need to play better.

Travis (Indy): Who is your pick to win the wild card in the American League? Do the Twins have what is necessary? I would fear them in a short series.
Joe Morgan: They have a shot, because they have Liriano and Santana. I don't think they will, because they played so well for so long and eventually that will catch up with you.

Good thinking Joe. If Ron Gardenhire was smart, he’d ask his players to start laying down now so that they’ll have something left in late August and September. Percentage-wise, it makes the most sense.

NOTE: The 2nd half of Joe's chat was actually okay. I didn't agree with his opinions in each case, but he at least answered the questions directly. Unfortunately, he still didn't answer my question about why he sucks.