Justin Morneau

Justin Ernest Morneau

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 205 lb.

• Debut June 10, 2003

• Born May 15, 1981 in New Westminster, BC CAN

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[edit] Biographical Information

Justin Morneau is a first baseman who was the surprise winner of the 2006 American League MVP award. The favorites had been Derek Jeter and David Ortiz, who finished second and third in the voting. Morneau was only the second Canadian-born player to receive the MVP award (Larry Walker was the first).

In the 2001 Baseball World Cup, Morneau played first base and catcher but went 0 for 8 with a walk as one of numerous Canadians who would later play in MLB who struggled at the plate in that tournament.

Morneau spent six years in the minors, often dominating the leagues he played in. In 2000, he spent most of the season in the rookie league, hitting .402 and slugging .665. In the first half of 2001, he was in Single A ball in the Midwest League, hitting .356 with a .597 slugging percentage. He had pieces of three seasons in the AA Eastern League, and when he started hot in 2003, he moved up to AAA ball and also the majors. The next year, he spent half the season back in Triple A, slugging .615, and moved into the big leagues for good.

Morneau was a big part of the reason why the 2006 Minnesota Twins came from far behind to win their division. Having hit only .239 with a .437 slugging percentage in 2005, he started 2006 very slowly, with a .208 average in April. However, in June and July, he slugged over .700, and ended the season with a batting average of .321 that was 50 points higher than he had ever hit before, and a slugging percentage of .559 that drove in 130 runs, good for 2nd in the league in RBI. That year, he became the first Twins player to hit 30 home runs in a season since Gary Gaetti (31), Tom Brunansky (32) and Kent Hrbek (34) all did so in 1987.

Morneau became the highest-paid player in Minnesota Twins history when he signed a 6-year, $80 million deal in January of 2008.

He became the first Canadian to win the Home Run Derby on July 14, 2008, defeating Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers. After having a great year in 2008, in which he hit .300 with 23 homers and 129 RBI and finished second in the voting for the MVP Award, he played for Team Canada during the World Baseball Classic in Toronto, ON. Morneau was awarded the Tip O'Neill Award for the top Canadian in baseball in 2008 on April 16, 2009 before the Blue Jays-Twins game in Minnesota. Tom Valcke, CEO of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame made the presentation prior to the game. This was Morneau's second award, having previously won in 2006. Morneau reached 30 homers and 100 RBI again in 2009, but he had to miss the last three weeks of the season, with the Twins trying to chase down the Detroit Tigers for the AL Central title, because of a stress fracture in his back. Michael Cuddyer filled in admirably for him at first base during that stretch, and the Twins came out ahead by winning a one-game playoff over the Tigers.

On February 11, 2010, Morneau was one of the torchbearers on the penultimate day of the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay, on the eve of the opening of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. Although his fellow Vancouver native and National Basketball Association star Steve Nash was selected to be one of the final torchbearers in BC Place during the opening ceremonies the next day, Morneau missed out on that honor. He was having another outstanding season in 2010, hitting .345 with 18 homers and 56 RBI in 81 games, when he suffered a season-ending concussion on July 7. The Twins still managed to win a division title, but missed his bat in the postseason when they bowed out in three games against the New York Yankees in the ALDS. He was not cleared to return to action until March 8 of 2011, with spring training already well under way.

Morneau had his 1000th career base hit with an infield single on April 8, 2011 against Oakland, but this was a rare highlight in what was a very frustrating season for him and for the team. He made a first trip to the disabled list in April with a sore neck, then a second one on June 14th with a strained left wrist. In between, he was hitting .265 with 3 homers and 17 RBI, and the Twins, reeling from the absence of C Joe Mauer and 2B Tsuyoshi Nishioka in addition to his ailments, sank to the bottom of the Ameican League standings. While on his second DL stint, it was decided that he should undergo surgery for his pain in the neck, caused by a herniated disk fragment, a procedure that extended his absence from the line-up into August. Also of concern were his continued suffering from post-concussion symptoms, to a point that he told reporters in spring of 2012 that if those did not subside, he would have to contemplate retirement. "There comes a point you can only torture yourself so long. I don't think there will be a career if it's something I'm dealing with. That's the reality of the whole thing. I'm obviously not going to continue to mess around with this if it continues to be a problem."

[edit] Notable Achievements

• 4-time AL All-Star (2007-2010)
• AL MVP (2006)
• 2-time AL Silver Slugger Award Winner (2006 & 2008)
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 5 (2005-2009)
• 30-Home Run Seasons: 3 (2006, 2007 & 2009)
• 100 RBI Seasons: 4 (2006-2009)

[edit] Related Sites

• Justin Morneau on mlb.com
• The Morneau Chronicles.