Reds players, fans, peers pay tribute to Joe Morgan

Reds legend died on Sunday at 77

Tributes poured in for Joe Morgan on Monday after news of his death broke. The Cincinnati Reds legend, a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 1990, died at 77 on Sunday.

» PHOTOS: Morgan through the years

“One of the coolest memories of my baseball career happened at Spring Training in ’18,” Reds catcher Tucker Barnhart wrote on Twitter. “I asked him to sign a bat for me. He had a ‘Joe’ model and unprompted he signed it ‘from one gold glover to another.’ He always made you smile and his wealth of knowledge was incredible. RIP!”

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine also paid tribute to Morgan on Twitter.

“Fran and I, along with our children, extend our deepest sympathy to the family of Joe Morgan — the greatest second baseman of all time, a great base runner and hitter, and a gracious and genuinely nice person,” DeWine wrote. “He was a player who mastered every detail of the game. We saw him play many times with our older children: Pat, Jill, Becky, and John. It was a thrill to watch him! To Brian, Alice, Mark, and Anna, he was the voice of Sunday night baseball, when later he was an announcer. He had a unique ability to explain what was happening on the field to the average fan. He was a master at explaining the “why” of baseball. In both business and charity, even after his playing days were over, he continued to be involved in the Cincinnati-area community.”

Here’s what more players, fans and media members had to say on Twitter:

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