First Baseman, Minnesota
Twins
Age: 25 (May 15)
4th season
with Twins
Bats – Left,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’4” Weight: 220
Prior to 2006:
A native of New
Westminster, British Columbia, Canada, Morneau grew up playing ice hockey as
well as baseball and was named New Westminster High School’s Athlete of the
Year in 1999. Selected by the Twins in the third round of the ’99 amateur
draft, the 18-year-old Morneau was first assigned to the Rookie-level Gulf
Coast League where he batted .302 in 17 games. With two Rookie-level teams in
2000 he hit .382 with 11 home runs and 61 RBIs. Playing for three clubs from
Class A to AA in 2001 he hit a combined .314 with 16 home runs and 97 RBIs.
Spending 2002 with New Britain of the Class AA Eastern League, Morneau batted
.298 with 16 home runs and 80 RBIs. Due to the presence of Doug Mientkiewicz at
first base in Minnesota, Morneau anticipated another year of minor league play
in 2003, but he was called up to the Twins in June and, appearing primarily as
a Designated Hitter and pinch-hitter, he hit .226 with 4 home runs and 16 RBIs,
which landed him back in Class AAA. Following a stint of winter ball in Puerto
Rico, Morneau started 2004 with Rochester of the Class AAA International
League. When Mientkiewicz was injured, Morneau returned to the Twins to take
over at first base and, while not yet up to par defensively, he batted .271
with 19 home runs and 58 RBIs. The front office was satisfied enough to deal
Mientkiewicz at midseason. The team won the AL Central Division title. A series
of illnesses afflicted Morneau in the offseason, but once healthy he suffered a
concussion due to a beaning in April of 2005. While he hit very well following
his return to the lineup, he slumped in May, prior to suffering an elbow
injury. For the year, his average dipped to .239 and he hit 22 home runs with
79 RBIs.
2006 Season Summary
Appeared in 157
games
1B – 153, DH – 4,
PH – 1
[Bracketed
numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 661
At Bats – 592
Runs – 97 [19,
tied with Paul Konerko & Tadahito Iguchi]
Hits – 190 [7,
tied with Grady Sizemore]
Doubles – 37
[18, tied with Miguel Tejada & Victor Martinez]
Triples – 1
Home Runs – 34 [12,
tied with Richie Sexson]
RBI – 130 [2]
Bases on Balls
– 53
Int. BB – 9 [14]
Strikeouts – 93
Stolen Bases – 3
Caught Stealing
– 3
Average - .321
[7, tied with Manny Ramirez]
OBP - .375 [18,
tied with Grady Sizemore]
Slugging Pct. -
.559 [6]
Total Bases – 331
[5, tied with Vernon Wells]
GDP – 10
Hit by Pitches
– 5
Sac Hits – 0
Sac Flies – 11
[1, tied with Kevin Youkilis & Orlando Cabrera]
Midseason
snapshot: HR – 23, RBI – 73, AVG – .300, SLG – .587
---
Most hits, game
– 5 (in 5 AB) at Boston 9/19
Longest hitting
streak – 16 games
HR at home – 17
HR on road – 17
Most home runs,
game – 2 (in 4 AB) at Cleveland 4/7, (in 5 AB) at Texas 5/9, (in 4 AB) vs.
Baltimore 6/9 – 12 innings
Multi-HR games
– 3
Most RBIs, game
– 6 at Texas 5/9
Pinch-hitting –
0 of 1 (.000)
Fielding
Chances - 1416
Put Outs – 1297
Assists – 111
Errors – 8
DP – 113
Pct. - .994
Postseason: 3 G
(ALDS vs. Oakland)
PA – 12, AB – 12,
R – 3, H – 5, 2B – 1,3B – 0, HR – 2, RBI – 2, BB – 0, IBB – 0, SO – 0, SB – 0, CS
– 0, AVG - .417, OBP - .417, SLG -1.000, TB – 12, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF
– 0
Awards & Honors:
AL MVP: BBWAA
Silver Slugger
Top 5 in AL MVP
Voting:
Justin Morneau,
Min.: 320 pts. - 15 of 28 first place votes, 82% share
Derek Jeter,
NYY: 306 pts. – 12 first place votes, 78% share
David Ortiz,
Bos.: 193 pts. – 49% share
Frank Thomas, Oak.:
174 pts. – 44% share
Jermaine Dye,
ChiWS.: 156 pts. – 40% share
(1 first place
vote for Johan Santana, Min., who ranked seventh)
---
Twins went 96-66
to finish first in the AL Central Division by 1 game over the Detroit Tigers,
while leading the league in hits (1608, tied with the New York Yankees),
batting (.287), and fewest batter strikeouts (872). Off to a slow start that
had them 10.5 games behind the Tigers by the end of May, the Twins surged in
the second half to catch Detroit on Sept. 28 and clinched the AL Central title
on the season’s last day. Lost ALDS to the Oakland Athletics, 3 games to 0.
Aftermath of ‘06:
Morneau
followed up in 2007 by batting .271 with 31 home runs and 111 RBIs while
gaining his first All-Star selection. In the offseason his contract was
extended by six years for $80 million. The Twins battled the White Sox to a tie
atop the AL Central in 2008, losing a one-game playoff to Chicago. Morneau
contributed 23 home runs, 129 RBIs, and a .300 batting average and placed
second in league MVP balloting. Hitting well in 2009, he suffered a stress fracture
in his back and was held to 135 games in which he hit .274 with 30 home runs
and 100 RBIs and he missed the postseason. Catcher Joe Mauer, the other half of
the M & M batting duo, received league MVP honors. In 2010, Morneau was
hitting very well until suffering a concussion while attempting to break up a
double play against Toronto. The injury cost him the second half of the season
and he ended up hitting .345 in 81 games with 18 home runs and 56 RBIs. Neck
surgery cost Morneau two months of the 2011 season and then a shoulder injury
finished it. Limited to 69 games, he batted just .227 with 4 home runs and 30
RBIs. Healthy in 2012, he hit .267 with 19 home runs and 77 RBIs. The Twins
were looking to deal Morneau in 2013 and he was traded to the Pittsburgh
Pirates at the end of August. Batting .259 with 17 home runs and 74 RBIs at the
time of the trade, he filled a need for the Pirates at first base and hit .260
over 25 games as Pittsburgh finished second in the NL Central and reached the
postseason for the first time since 1992. In the offseason he signed a
two-year, $14 million contract with the Colorado Rockies. He won the NL batting
championship in 2014 as he hit .319 with 17 home runs and 82 RBIs. Suffering
another concussion in 2015 in addition to a neck sprain and sore left elbow, Morneau
appeared in 49 games and batted .310 with three home runs and 15 RBIs. He
signed with the Chicago White Sox midway through the 2016 season, while still
recovering from offseason elbow surgery. He appeared in 58 games with the White
Sox as a DH and pinch-hitter and hit .261 with 6 home runs and 25 RBIs in what
proved to be his final season. After sitting out 2017 (other than playing for
Canada in the World Baseball Classic) Morneau retired to take a position in the
Twins organization. For his major league career, he batted .281 with 1603 hits
that included 349 doubles, 23 triples, and 247 home runs. He scored 772 runs
and further compiled 985 RBIs. With the Twins he registered 1318 hits, 669
runs, 289 doubles, 16 triples, 221 home runs, 860 RBIs, and a .278 batting
average. Appearing in 13 postseason games, Morneau hit .302 with two home runs
and 4 RBIs. A four-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger recipient, he
twice finished in the top two in AL MVP voting (with the one win). The injury
problems, most notably those involving concussions, limited his accomplishments
as a player. In addition to his work with the Twins in retirement, he has also
served as a baseball analyst on television.
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
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