Nyjer Morgan

Nyjer Morgan
Milwaukee Brewers — No. 2
Outfielder
Born: July 2, 1980 (1980-07-02) (age 31)
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
MLB debut
September 1, 2007 for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Career statistics (through 2011)
Batting average	.288
Home runs	8
Runs batted in	114
Stolen bases	105
Teams
Pittsburgh Pirates (2007–2009) Washington Nationals (2009–2010) Milwaukee Brewers (2011–present)

Nyjer Jamid Morgan (born July 2, 1980, in San Francisco, California) nicknamed Tony Plush is a Major League Baseball outfielder for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Morgan also played ice hockey, reaching the Major Junior level with the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League in 1999–2000.^[1] Following that season, Morgan turned his focus exclusively to baseball and was drafted by the Pirates in the 33rd round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft.^[2]

Major league career

Pittsburgh Pirates

2007

On September 1, 2007, Morgan made his major league debut for the Pirates against the Milwaukee Brewers as a late-season call-up. On September 14, 2007, Morgan made a catch in Minute Maid Park's center field that proved the difference in a 4–3 Pirates win. Houston Astros manager Cecil Cooper said of the catch "That's probably the best catch I've seen this year.".^[3] The catch garnered references to Willie Mays' The Catch on SportsCenter the following day.^[4] Morgan also showed his tools against the San Diego Padres on September 20, going 2 for 3 with a triple, two runs scored, two stolen bases, and an outfield assist throwing out Scott Hairston.^[5] Morgan's first home run came September 25 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.^[6]

2008

Morgan was expected to make the 2008 roster as the Pirates' starting center fielder, but lost the position battle to Nate McLouth during spring training.^[7] After a poor start to the season, he was optioned to the Triple-A affiliate Indianapolis Indians. Morgan made several appearances for the Pirates, but spent most of his season in Indianapolis until a productive September call up to the parent club.

Morgan batting for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2009.

2009

Morgan overcame an unimpressive spring training in 2009 to claim the job of starting left fielder.^{[citation needed]} Building on his positive second half of 2008, he proved himself to be a defensively-gifted fan favorite, often referring to left field as "Morgantown".

Although he stole 42 bases in 2009 (second in the league), he was caught 17 times—tied for the most in the majors.

Washington Nationals

On June 30, 2009, Morgan was traded to the Washington Nationals along with pitcher Sean Burnett in exchange for outfielder Lastings Milledge and pitcher Joel Hanrahan. Morgan fractured his hand sliding into third base on August 27, 2009, and was placed on the 15-day disabled list on August 28.^[8] In 2009, he was third in the league in steals (34), and led it in caught stealing (17).^[9]

On July 22, 2010, Morgan became the first Nationals player to steal three bases in one game.^[10]

Milwaukee Brewers

On March 27, 2011, Morgan was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for prospect Cutter Dykstra (son of baseball player Lenny Dykstra).^[11] Morgan fractured his middle finger in the 8th inning on a sacrifice bunt against Jonny Venters. After two separate stints on the disabled list, he joined Carlos Gomez in a platoon in center field with Gomez in the lineup versus left-handed pitchers and Morgan in the lineup versus righties. On June 8 against the New York Mets, Nyjer hit his first walk-off with a double down the right field line at Miller Park to win the game 7–6. After the game Morgan was interviewed and was very excited, claiming that he didn't even know it was a walkoff until he saw his teammates running out onto the field. On October 7, Morgan had a series-clinching walk-off base hit in the 10th inning of Game 5 of the NLDS against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Brewers won the game 3–2, giving the Brewers their first playoff series win since 1982.

In 2011, he batted .304 and was third in the NL in hit by pitch (14) and sacrifice hits (15).^[9]

Controversy

On May 23, 2010, Baltimore's Adam Jones hit a fly ball to center. Morgan dropped the ball and it caromed away. Instead of going after the ball, Morgan reacted by angrily throwing his glove to the ground and walked away as the ball rolled into left field. Before a teammate was able to retrieve it, Jones had circled the bases for an inside the park home run. ^[12] On September 7, 2011, Morgan created two posts on his twitter account mocking Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals "Alberta couldn't see Plush if she had her gloves on!!! Wat was she thinking running afta Plush!!! She never been n tha ring!!!", " Where still n 1st and I hope those crying birds injoy watching tha Crew in tha Playoffs!!! Aaaaahhhhh!!! ". The Cardinals would end up making the playoffs, beating the Brewers in the NLCS, and going on to win the World Series. ^[13]

Personal life

Morgan frequently refers to himself as Tony Plush which he states is his "name on the field" or his "gentleman's name." Under his nickname, Morgan will occasionally make a hand signal to look like a "T" after reaching base. In 2011, Nyjer created his own Twitter account. With over 70,000 followers, Morgan often tweets after games using his catchphrase "AAAAAHHHH GOTTA GO!" He is the owner of an adopted cat named "Slick Willie."^[14] Morgan also has one daughter, Niah, who was born in Regina, Saskatchewan during his tenure with the Western Hockey League's Regina Pats. Morgan chose to relinquish custody of Niah in order to pursue his athletic career. ^[15]

References

1. ^ Kruchak,, Matthew (March 31, 2008). "Hockey shaped Morgan". Leader-Post. http://www2.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/story.html?id=9811e4a2-6475-4a32-bb59-78e2a7e66188. Retrieved March 28, 2011. 
2. ^ "Pirates speedster swaps skates for baseball spikes". Calgary Sun. AP: p. S12. March 12, 2008. 
3. ^ Langosch, Jenifer. "Morgan helps Pirates steal win." 09/15/07. Article. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
4. ^ Langosch, Jenifer. "Notes: Van Benschoten gets reprieve." 09/15/07. Article. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
5. ^ "Padres 5, Pirates 3." 09/20/07. Chicago Tribune. Article. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
6. ^ "Pirates hold off D-backs' comeback." 09/26/07. The Sporting News. Article. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
7. ^ Langosch, Jenifer. "Mailbag: Will club raise payroll in '08?." 09/24/07. Article. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
8. ^ "Nationals place CF Nyjer Morgan on 15-day DL, select contract INF Pete Orr from Triple-A Syracuse." 08/28/2009. Article. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
9. ^ ^{a b} "Nyjer Morgan Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/morgany01.shtml. Retrieved October 3, 2011. 
10. ^ Kilgore, Adam (July 23, 2010). "Livan Hernandez's complete game gives Washington Nationals a second straight win over Cincinnati Reds". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/22/AR2010072204332.html?hpid=moreheadlines. Retrieved July 23, 2010. 
11. ^ Boren, Cindy. "Stats, scores and schedules". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/nationals-journal/post/washington_nationals_trade_nyjer_morgan_to_milwaukee_brewers/2011/03/27/AFEWEqiB_blog.html. 
12. ^ {{cite web |url=http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100522&content_id=10325668&c_id=was&vkey=news_was |title=Morgan's gaffe gives Jones inside-the-parker |accessdate=October 13, 2011 |last= |first= |coauthors= |date=05/22/10
13. ^ http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/6942703/milwaukee-brewers-nyjer-morgan-calls-albert-pujols-twitter-loss-st-louis-cardinals
14. ^ "Interview with Rocco DeMaro". 104.7 WPGB-FM Pittsburgh, PA. April 15, 2009. http://a1135.g.akamai.net/f/1135/18227/1h/cchannel.download.akamai.com/18227/podcast/PITTSBURGH-PA/WPGB-FM/EXINN%20Nyjer%20041509.mp3?CPROG=PCAST&MARKET=PITTSBURGH-PA&NG_FORMAT=newstalk&SITE_ID=1945&STATION_ID=WPGB-FM&PCAST_AUTHOR=FM_Newstalk_104.7&PCAST_CAT=Sports&PCAST_TITLE=Extra_Innings. Retrieved July 2, 2009. 
15. ^ "Morgan bringing energy - lots of it - to Brewers". www.jsonline.com. Aug. 23, 2011. http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brewers/128290993.html. Retrieved October 9, 2011. 

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Profile at Yahoo! Sports

Persondata
Name	Morgan, Nyjer
Alternative names	Tony Plush, his gentlemanly name
Short description	Baseball player
Date of birth	July 2, 1980
Place of birth	San Francisco, California
Date of death
Place of death