Flap Like a Chicken

The best players don't always leave the game when they stop playing. Sometimes they leave it in someone else's hands.

Joe Morgan grew up swinging a Nellie Fox model bat, the one with the thick barrel and thick handle built for a slap hitter. When the two finally shared a clubhouse in Houston, Fox talked him into a thin-handled bat so he could tap into power Fox himself never had.

Then came the elbow. Morgan was letting his back arm sag at the plate, so Fox told him to flap it like a chicken to keep it up. It looked ridiculous. It worked. That flap followed Morgan all the way to Cincinnati and became one of the signature sights of the Big Red Machine.

Fox had one of the most disciplined bats the game has ever seen. What he handed Morgan wasn't a copy of himself. It was a way for a small second baseman to become something bigger. Two MVPs and a plaque in Cooperstown later, it's fair to say the lesson took.