Every season in the retirements section I like to sort by the oldest player to retire because normally the oldest player to retire is a Hunter legend or at least someone who put together a great career. Call it early scouting for the HOF ballot.
This year the oldest player to retire was Josias Morales at the age of 45..... which caught my eye because normally the oldest is like 40-42. So I assumed Morales had to be an NL legend that I was unaware of and in some ways he is. That said I spent way too much time digging into the Legend of Josais Morales so I figured I should at least share
Hailing from San Luis Rio Colorado Mx, Morales signed as an international free-agent with the Portland Pigeons....... I never remember Hunter having a team called the Portland Pigeons but they did exist for 1 season, as the now Augusta franchise spent (4) seasons bouncing around from Cincy to Portland Helena to Dover before the steady ownership of carmanjr was put into place. Anyone remember the Dover Dragons.
Morales started at Low A in season 30 and finished the season 1-8, going 12/18 Sv opps and sported a 4.85 ERA. It was a rough start for the 22 year old rookie but hey he was doing what he loved playing baseball.
Josias rode buses and stayed at it starting S31 at Low A before being jumped to AA at mid-season. Speaking with him at the end of his career he was surprised not only by the promotion but skipping over Hi A and then being inserted as the closer for Cincy's AA team. He ended the season going 12/17 and an ERA of 5.28.
Sure it was a rough first year in AA but he had always dreamed of being a ML closer so he figured he was all set only 2 levels from the bigs at age 24. The off-season saw another move for the franchise to Helena and new management saw Morales future very differently. he was taken out of the closer role and turned into a Set B but moved up to AAA and after some early success really struggled in his new role with his ERA jumping to 6.42 and 5.47 over the next two seasons. The franchise had moved once again to Helena before finally moving to Augusta for S35.
This is where the past grows hazy and Morales is reluctant to discuss what exactly happened. As a 27 year old at AAA Morales had his best season at that level posting a 3.93 ERA.
Then poof S36 disappear while under contract with Augusta Josias did not pitch a single game. Rumors of drugs, woman and alcohol issues all swirled. The most consistent rumor was that Morales had been caught in an illegal cock fighting ring during the off-season and he was suspended with pay for S36. At this point we may never know the truth. What ever the truth was it took him years to repair his reputation as he pitched a combined 8 innings in S37-S39.
A lot of people would consider this a cross-roads, you're 32 years old you've been riding buses for a decade and you are averaging 2 IP per season. This is where a lot of people would walk away, go find a real job but NOT Josias Morales. This is where the legend grows he doubled down on his attempt to make the major leagues and committed himself to a conditioning regiment of taking the stairs instead of the elevator at his apartment building and this dedication paid off immediately. Ripping off a 5 year stretch of sub 4 ERAs before having his best season ever in S45 with a 2.83 ERA.
Morales always spoke highly of the Augusta franchise but you can tell he felt like that was when he should have gotten a call to the bigs and that disappointment clouded the rest of his career. His ERA spiked to 6.10 and 4.98 in S46 and S47.
Morales at this point is no longer a young man and once again no one would have faulted the then 41 year old from walking away. Instead he once again re-committed himself and started taking the stairs again and cut his smoking down to half a pack a day. This resulted in a turn back the clock season for the ages the 41 year old who was now older than some of the parents of his teammates posted his best career ERA of 1.71 ERA.
But like a star that shines brightest just before it explodes that was the last highlight for Morales who ERA balloned to 6.17 and 4.76. He kept playing hoping to finally either make the bigs or at least participate in a minor league playoff game, but it was not meant to be.
At the end of S51 he was informed that he was being sent down to AA, a level he hadn't pitched at since he was 23 year old. Management wanted him to be a role model for the kids so he agreed to stay but his heart wasn't in it and he posted a career worst 9.92 ERA.
And with that Josias Morales walked away from baseball and into the sunset. I asked if he would be back as a coach, he commented that it was all still too raw for him to deal with. 23 seasons is a long time to not make the majors and never make the playoffs.
I for one expect him to be back baseball is in his blood you don't ride buses for 4 seasons to pitch 8 total innings if you don't love it.
In the end Josias Morales made 1.5 million dollars playing baseball for 23 seasons and ended his career with a 4.29 ERA and 617 IP pitched. While he never won an award, or made the playoffs or the major leagues he has won this owner's respect.
He also managed to pocket a cool $2431 dollars per inning pitched which is not bad work if you can get it.
