Larry Dierker and Joe Morgan are featured in the 112th chapter of Everystros.
12. Joe Morgan (Bagwell score 80.59) was a five-foot-seven second baseman from Bonham, TX. Born on September 19, 1943, he was an alum of California State University at East Bay and Merritt College, in Oakland. Just two days after his 20th birthday, he made his major league debut with the 1963 Colt .45s.
Morgan appeared in 891 games for the Colts/Astros from 1963 through 1971, making the 1966 and 1970 National League All-Star Teams. He started 844 games at second base (7539 2⁄3 innings, .974), 13 games in left field (109 1⁄3 innings, no errors), and twice in centerfield (16 2⁄3 innings, no errors).
As a hitter, Morgan was 860-for-3268, slashing .263/.375/.396 with 136 doubles, 58 triples, 61 home runs, and 195 stolen bases in 253 attempts. He drew 585 walks against only 368 strikeouts, scoring 531 runs and driving in another 278. He collected multiple hits in 224 contests.
On September 22, 1963, in Morgan’s second-ever major league appearance, he entered a tie game versus the Phillies with two outs and two runners in scoring position in the ninth inning, and cracked a walk-off RBI-single to top Philadelphia, 2-1. Four days later, he drew a walk and scored in the first, hit a ninth-inning single and stole a base, then singled and scored the game-winning walk-off run in the 11th, on a Bob Aspromonte RBI-single to top the Pittsburgh Pirates.
On April 25, 1965, Morgan singled and scored in the first against the Bucs. He walked and stole a base in the fifth, then hit a walk-off go-ahead RBI-single in a 5-4 victory over Pittsburgh. On July 8, against the Braves, Morgan led off the first inning with a home run, hit a single in the second, hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the fifth, doubled and scored in the seventh, singled and scored in the ninth, then singled and stole a base in the 11th — that’s six hits — in a game the Astros dropped in 12 innings, 9-8 to Milwaukee. Two days later, he hit a pair of home runs and drove in three in a 10-1 victory over the New York Mets. On July 28, he singled in the first, hit a go-ahead third-inning home run, then reached base three more times without another hit in a 6-4 loss to the Braves. On August 17, he hit four singles and scored three times in an 8-6 loss to Pittsburgh. On September 27, he walked and scored in the third, then walked, stole a base, and scored the walk-off game-winner in the 10th inning to top the Braves, 4-3. On October 3, in the final game of the season, he collected three singles and a double, scoring a run in a 5-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals .
On April 13, 1966, Morgan hit a lead-changing three-run homer in the third inning and singled in the sixth to top the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-6. On May 14, he hit a fifth-inning go-ahead two-run double, singled in the seventh, and hit a two-run, go-ahead 11th-inning RBI-triple, later scoring in an eventual 6-5 victory over Philadelphia. On June 13, he singled and scored the game-tying run in the eighth inning, then hit a go-ahead, 11th-inning two-run triple, later scoring an insurance run in a 9-6 triumph at the expense of the Dodgers. On September 24, he hit an eighth-inning go-ahead two-run triple, then added another RBI-triple in the bottom of the 13th inning, in a 9-5, 13-inning loss to the San Francisco Giants.
On April 27, 1967, Morgan hit a fifth-inning double and a lead-changing seventh-inning three-run triple, later scoring a run in a 6-4 win over the Cardinals. On May 15, he hit three singles and a triple, scoring three runs in a 5-3, 10-inning win over the Dodgers. On May 26, he hit a single, two doubles, and a homer with four RBI in a 17-4 win over the Chicago Cubs. Five days later, he hit three singles and a double in a 6-1 victory over the Mets. On July 13, he collected four singles and scored a run in a 10-inning, 5-4 loss to the Giants. On July 26, he singled and scored in the fourth, and finished the night with a walk-off RBI-single off Turk Farrell, scoring Dan Schneider in a 3-2 win against the Phils. On September 25, he drew a game-tying RBI-walk in the fifth, and added a game-tying two-out ninth inning RBI-single, scoring the walk-off winning run on a Jim Wynn single, again off Farrell.
On June 5, 1969, Morgan hit three singles and a solo home run, scoring four times in an 11-6 victory over the Cardinals. On July 5, Morgan hit a two-run homer in the first inning against the San Diego Padres. He drew a walk and stole a base in the third, singled and stole another base in the seventh, then singled to lead off the 12th, kickstarting a four-run inning in an eventual 9-8 loss to San Diego. On August 9, he hit a walk-off two-run 11th-inning homer to top the Montreal Expos, 5-3.
On May 2, 1970, Morgan singled and scored in the sixth, hit a game-tying RBI-single and scored a go-ahead run in the seventh, then doubled and scored another go-ahead run in the 10th inning on a Jesus Alou single, in a 5-3 win over St. Louis. On June 5, he hit a fourth-inning RBI-sacrifice fly, then singled, stole a base and scored a go-ahead run in the seventh. He hit an RBI-double in the eighth, in an eventual 8-7, 11-inning win over the Phillies. On July 11, he hit a go-ahead second-inning RBI-single, singled in the eighth, walked and stole a base in the 10th, doubled in the 12th and singled in the 13th, in a 14-inning, 5-4 win over the Giants. On August 9, in the first game of a double-header against the Giants, he stole second base in the first, singled and scored a go-ahead run in the seventh, then added a two-run go-ahead 10th-inning jack to top San Francisco, 7-5. On August 25, he hit a two-run go-ahead third-inning homer, drew a walk and scored in the fifth, then walked, stole a base, and scored the go-ahead run in the 13th inning of a 6-3 win over Montreal. Four days later, he walked and scored a go-ahead run in the first, hit a game-tying RBI-double in the second, and hit a lead-off double in the sixth in a 9-8 triumph over the Mets. On September 7, in the back-half of a twin bill against the Friars, he hit a single and scored a go-ahead run in the first, singled in the third, hit a two-run lead-changing double in the fourth, doubled in the eighth, and singled in the ninth for a five-hit game in a 9-4 victory.
On April 13, 1971, Morgan hit a lead-changing two-run single in the ninth inning of an 8-4 win over the Cardinals. On April 30, he singled and stole second in the first, singled in the fourth and scored, then hit a game-tying eighth-inning two-run homer in a 4-3, 12-inning loss to the Mets. On May 7, he hit three singles and a double, scoring three times and driving two runs in for an 8-1 triumph over the Phillies. On September 19, he hit an RBI-sacrifice fly in the seventh, then walked off the Cincinnati Reds with a lead-off 11th-inning bomb for a 5-4 win.
On November 29, 1971, the Astros traded Morgan with Ed Armbrister, Jack Billingham, César Gerónimo, and Denis Menke for Jimmy Stewart, Tommy Helms, and Lee May. Morgan’s time with the Reds by far outshone his time with the Astros. Over eight seasons with Cincinnati he made the All-Star Team every time. He won consecutive NL MVP’s in 1975 and 1976, took home five Gold Gloves, led the NL four times in OBP, led the majors in OBP twice, OPS twice, and OPS+ twice. In 1,154 games, he hit .288/.415/.470 with 152 home runs and 612 RBI.
On January 31, 1980, Morgan signed with the Astros through free agency. He appeared in 141 games in total, including 130 starts at second base (1037 innings, .988). At the plate, he hit 112-for-461, slashing .243/.367/.373 with 17 doubles, five triples, 11 home runs, and 24 stolen bases in 30 attempts. He drew an NL-leading 93 walks, striking out 47 times, scoring 66 times, and driving in 49.
On June 29, Morgan hit a two-run lead-changing seventh-inning double against the Reds, in an eventual 12-10 victory over Cincinnati. On September 25, he hit a third-inning go-ahead two-run homer and a fifth-inning go-ahead RBI-single in a 4-2 victory over Atlanta. In four postseason games, he went two-for-13 in four games, but drew six walks for an odd-looking .154/.421/.385 slashline.
Houston released Morgan after the season. He would go on to play two seasons for the Giants (224 games, .270/.388/.414, 22 homers, 92 RBI), and a season each with the Phillies (123 games, .230/.370/.403, 16 homers, 59 RBI) and the Oakland Athletics (116 games, .244/.356/.351, six homers, 43 RBI).
After retiring as a player, Morgan went into broadcasting, first in 1985 with the Reds, then for eight seasons for the Giants. Morgan was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with the class of 1990, in his first year of eligibility along with Jim Palmer. He passed away due to polyneuropathy on October 11, 2020.
11. Larry Dierker (Bagwell score 36.47) is a six-foot-four right-handed pitcher from Hollywood, CA. Born on September 22, 1946, he reached the majors for the first time on his 18th birthday with the Houston Colt .45s in 1964.
Dierker leads Houston’s all-time leaderboard in several pitching categories, including 320 starts, 25 shutouts, and 2294 1⁄3 innings. He’s fourth with 1,487 strikeouts and third with 137 victories.
Over 13 seasons with Houston, Dierker appeared in 345 games in total, starting in all but 25 of them. He was 137-117 with a 3.28 ERA and a 1.214 WHIP. He issued 695 walks and struck out 1487, limiting his opposition to a slashline of .243/.301/.359, with the largest sample size of any Houston pitcher.
Dierker authored 45 “Signature Starts®,” that is, a Quality start with a GameScore of at least 70 and a WPA of at least .300. The 12 games listed below are only the ones where he finished with a WPA of at least .500, plus one no-hitter.
On August 14, 1965, Dierker pitched the first nine innings of a 10-inning 1-0 loss to the Mets. He held them scoreless on four walks and four hits, striking out eight in the setback to New York.
On September 5, 1966, Dierker struck out seven and pitched a five-hitter, walking zero in a 6-0 road victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
On May 24, 1969, Dierker struck out 11 Mets, walking two and pitching a four-hitter to defeat New York, 5-1. On June 8, he pitched a complete game 11-inning five-hitter, striking out seven and walking two to top the Cardinals, 2-1. On August 30, he struck out a career-best-tying 14 batters, walking only one and pitching a seven-hit, 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. On September 5, he walked one and struck out nine Giants, pitching a four-hit, 2-0 win over San Francisco. On September 13, he pitched the first 12 innings of a 13-inning 3-2 loss to the Braves. He walked four and struck out five, allowing only four hits in the tough-luck setback to Atlanta.
On April 27, 1971, Dierker struck out seven Phillies and pitched a six-hitter, walking three to top Philadelphia, 1-0.
On June 19, 1972, Dierker pitched his only career one-hitter, walking two and striking out three in a 3-0 win over the Mets.
On June 16, 1974, Dierker struck out seven and walked four, keeping the Cubs to one run on eight hits over nine innings, in a 10-inning, 2-1 loss to Chicago. On August 23, he pitched a three-hit shutout, walking one and striking out five in a 1-0 victory over the Phillies.
On June 8, 1976, he pitched a five-hitter to top the Cardinals. He walked three and struck out five in the 2-0 win. On July 9, he pitched a complete game no-hitter, walking four and striking out eight in the 6-0 win over the Montreal Expos.
Dierker also leads the Astros in plate appearances for a pitcher. He slashed .136/.149/.169, going 107-for-789 with 14 doubles and four home runs. He walked 12 times and struck out 272 times, with 70 sacrifice hits, 38 runs scored, and 46 driven in. As a defender, he took 455 chances, making 23 errors for a .949 fielding percentage.
On November 23, 1976, the Astros traded Dierker with Jerry DaVanon to the Cardinals for Bob Detherage and Joe Ferguson. Dierker finished out his playing career for the 1977 Cards (2-6, 4.58, 39 1⁄3 IP, six strikeouts.), but he wasn’t done with his baseball career, not by a long shot.
Dierker spent parts of four decades in the Astros’ broadcast booth, serving in the role from 1979 through 2005, with a seven-season break from 1997 through 2003. He had a good reason to sit those years out, as he was taken on as Houston’s manager from 1997 through 2001. He was 435-348 for a .556 winning percentage, winning the 1998 Manager of the Year, and bringing Houston to the postseason in four of his five seasons.