Friday, August 05, 2011

Morneau: Down on His Luck

Midway through a feature I wrote on Justin Morneau for the Maple Street Press Twins Annual this spring, I made a rather bold proclamation: "It seems Justin might be the unluckiest man in baseball."

The suggestion stemmed from Morneau's back-to-back season-ending injuries in 2009 and 2010, injuries that would have to be described as -- at the very least -- unusual.

Two years ago, Morneau missed all of September, and the playoffs, due to a fractured vertebrae that had apparently been sustained gradually over time. The following season, he missed the final three months, and again the playoffs, after suffering a concussion on a seemingly innocuous play in Toronto.

I've had my quibbles with the ridiculously over prescribed "injury-prone" label in pro baseball, but if there was ever a Twins player who represented the antithesis of the term it would have been Morneau prior to September of 2009.

Between 2006 and 2007, the first baseman missed a total of only 10 games. In 2008, he started every single one of the Twins' 163 contests. And, through August 17th of '09, he'd started all but one game.

Then, the back issue popped up. That cleared, allowing him to go on an MVP-type tear through June of 2010 before the early-July concussion. This year, in trying to return from a brain injury, Morneau has been plagued by a nasty flu, a sore wrist (the only one of these ailments that, from what I've heard, might actually be his fault), and a pinched nerve in his neck that required surgery and has had him shelved since early June.

Last week, Morneau had to temporarily stall his rehab from this latest setback when migraine headaches -- supposedly not related to the concussion or neck problem -- began to bog him down. Of course.

He's probably the best young slugger to wear a Twins uniform since Kent Hrbek retired, so it's a real shame to see Morneau's prime years being absolutely ravaged by repeated unlucky injuries. The guy is more than due for a few good breaks.

Hopefully we see a reversal of fortunes get underway when he gets back on the field for the Twins, which should be within the next couple weeks. (Barring a bout with the bubonic plague.)

17 comments:

frightwig said...

His fellow Canadian Corey Koskie also had a knack for getting sick at inopportune times, and struck down by freak injuries. And of course his career was ended by a concussion that also happened as he was sliding into a base (except that his head hit the ground, as I recall). When they get together, I wonder if they like to compare war stories.

Albert Maruggi said...

as much as many people don't like to admit it, with either success or failure, there is simply an element of luck, fate, whatever, but it just makes you wonder.

SadPanda said...

I really agree with you on this one Nick. Justin seems like a good clubhouse guy and is a heck of a player. It makes me sad to see him out so much and I hope he can get back to wear he was.

Nick N. said...

And of course his career was ended by a concussion that also happened as he was sliding into a base (except that his head hit the ground, as I recall).

I think he was actually chasing a fly ball in the field, but yes, there are some stark similarities. That incident seemed relatively harmless at the time too.

JB_Iowa said...

I feel bad for Justin Morneau and I wonder if there isn't a link between all of these injuries. Thinking about it, they all seem spine-related to some extent. The back injury was spinal. The concussion was a brain trauma - the brain sits atop the spinal column. The pinched nerve in his neck -- again, the neck is an important part of the spinal column and the pinched nerve may have been directly in the column (there was something about fragments if I remember right). Migraines can have a variety of causes but again, a bad spine can contribute. That may even be true of the sore wrist.

I wish Justin Morneau well but I truly wonder if he will ever be healthy enough to play a full season. The body endures a lot during the course of a season and the spine is, quite literally, the backbone of our bodies. I hope that these injuries don't foreshadow more problems in the future. Justin's injuries remind me a little of Joe Crede's back injuries -- the durability needed for a full season may not be there. And, unfortunately, it isn't something that can really be "cured" through hard work (I know Justin would do what's necessary but it may just be the state of his body.)

Anonymous said...

Wow, I love in how this article we feel sorry for Justin Morneau. Joe Mauer though and his injuries = Soft. The consensus - Mauer doesn't play hurt and doesn't play enough. Who cares if he plays the most difficult position in baseball? Morneau though what an unlucky guy.
The Concussion is the PC thing for the Media today. You can call it a 'brain injury' but you can also call it a mild head injury. Morneau had a Grade 1 severity concussion. Basically you can go back out and resume sports in a couple of weeks. In reality sooner but we don't want to be harsh. The mortaility rate for a concussions is zero. What Morneau had/has is Post-concussion syndrome. So, basically it's in his head. He got mad and punched a wall with his hand causing his wrist issue and his other he could have played through. But no, he is a great clubhouse guy despite having minor headaches causing him to miss the playoffs last year.
Mauer is the whipping boy and Morneau is the good clubhouse guy who is missing his prime because he is unlucky. He only costs the Twins 15 million a year. Nobody thought he was a wimp missing 6 months with a mild head injury while I watch players in the NFL get multiple concussions and maybe miss a game? I did. If he went out and played and dropped dead it would have been the first time in history someone died from a mild head injury.
Sean

Anonymous said...

"Nobody thought he was a wimp missing 6 months with a mild head injury while I watch players in the NFL get multiple concussions and maybe miss a game? I did." Yes, and NFL players are sick with dementia and all kind of mental illness by age 50 because of that. Is that what you want for the guy?

SadPanda said...

Nobody thought he was a wimp missing 6 months with a mild head injury while I watch players in the NFL get multiple concussions and maybe miss a game? I did.

Baseball and football are much different games. Football is a game that relies much more on physical strength and speed. Baseball is all about reaction time and precision, which are two things much more affected by a concussion.

Matt said...

Football is a game that relies much more on physical strength and speed. Baseball is all about reaction time and precision, which are two things much more affected by a concussion.
QB, WR, CB, Safety, LB...
ALL of those rely on reaction time and precision, too. But outside of QB and WR, football players have been known to hide concussions and get away with it- and as we've found out especially recently- to horrible life long consequences.
Good for Justin for taking time off to recover from the concussion. The rest of your life isn't worth a 40 HR season.

Anonymous said...

Yeah football players go out and get rocked and hit on the field. Morneau plays a no contact game. If he was really 'unlucky' he would get in another slight colission or beaned. There is no proven study Concussions cause NFL players to be messed up in their 50s. Media talk to get us to not 'man' up. I'd say that players are more messed up in the NFL is because of all the contact and wear and tear. I think we are just asking Morneau to go out and swing a bat. It's not like it takes precision because he was hitting 230. Nishioka and Morneau were trading swing stances before he broke his wrist.

Anonymous said...

Everybody owes Mauer an apology. He is playing good ball. I didn't think he could even play 1st but he is already a better fielder than Morneau (Who sucked). AND way better than Clubhouse guy and all around just AWESOME 'medicore' outfielder Cuddyer. Mauer is playing solid catcher to. Just total Jackanapes on Twins blogs. Obviously his career isn't over yet. Not by a long shot. He doesn't have fake minor head injuries where he can cash 15 million sitting on th beach while the Twins lose to the Yanks in the Playoffs.
Sean

Laches said...

Totally agree, Nick. There's a big difference between 'injured' and 'injury-prone' that most fans either aren't aware of but choose to ignore. Morneau has been injured due to a run of horrible luck. It has nothing to do with him being soft, weak or unwilling to play through pain. Our pro teams seem to have been on a stretch of bad luck for the last couple of decades. (The T-wolves in the draft lottery?!) I often wonder whether Puckett, Hrbek and Gladden made a deal with the devil bank in the day: '87 and '91 for a generation of suffering.

Ed Bast said...

Wow swept by the Sox. Doing nothing at the deadline really...did nothing for this club. Really glad we held onto our old overpaid free agents-to-be so they could treat us fans to 2 more months of emotionless underachieving. It truly is the Twins Way.

Dan H. said...

I think we can now say the Twins season is officially in the crapper.

MN said...

He's a Glass Cannon, nothing we can do about that. And it's obviously in his own best interest not to play with a concussion, or with the other ailments because he'd be useless on the field.

But it's frustrating to think of all that money thrown away on him.

Anonymous said...

Morneau doesn't have a concussion anymore. He has post concussion syndrom or had it for about 6 months after his mild head inury healed which took about 1 week. Post concussion syndrom is all in the head and not an actual condition. It's been hyped like it is but it's not.

Mike said...

Good God, thank you Dr. Anonymous for that mindless, incompetent drivel about concussions. Personally, I trust real doctors more than I trust anonymous posters who've taken a break from their time in fairy-tale land to prove their lack of medical knowledge on baseball boards.

And there are studies about the long-standing effects of playing through concussions without letting them heal. It causes symptoms that mirror Lou Gehrig's disease pretty closely. And I'm sure that it's merely coincidental that football players have so many problems and they "man up" and play through their injuries.