Morgan’s temper getting the best of him
PITTSBURGH – It was one of those moments where a sense of baseball clubhouse humor was needed to get the joke. Washington first baseman Adam Dunn walked past Nationals center fielder Nyjer Morgan the other night and said, “Hi, Milton.” Everyone within listening distance cracked up.
Dunn meant Milton as in Seattle outfielder Milton Bradley, in many respects the most temperamental player in the major leagues. While Morgan doesn’t have anger issues on Bradley’s level, he has become the most controversial player in baseball in the past two weeks, being suspended twice by Major League Baseball for a combined 15 games.
For those who knew Morgan during his Pirates’ days, which ended midway through last season when he was traded to the Nationals, the idea of him being a troublemaker is jarring. He was the most upbeat, energetic and friendly player in the Pirates’ clubhouse.
So, what has happened to loveable Nyjer Morgan? Has he suddenly become a monster?
Morgan, whose Nationals conclude a three-game series with the Pirates this afternoon at PNC Park, doesn’t want to talk much about his suspensions, smiling and saying, “hey, you know me, I love to talk but I’m already in enough trouble.”
In casual conversation, Morgan seems like the same bubbly guy. Yet, he has been in a series of events that are incongruous to his personality.
He was suspended for seven games on Aug. 25 for an incident at Philadelphia in which he got into a verbal altercation with a fan and allegedly threw a baseball at him.
Friday, he was penalized eight more games for a variety of offenses, including running over catchers Bryan Anderson of St. Louis and Brett Hayes of Florida in a four-day span, and then inciting a bench-clearing brawl a day later when he charged the mound after the Marlins’ Chris Volstad threw a pitch behind him.
“All I’m going to say is that I play the game hard,” Morgan said. “I’m not a dirty player and I don’t set out to hurt anybody.”
However, Nationals manager Jim Riggleman called Morgan’s play on Anderson “unprofessional” and Hayes wound up with a season-ending separated shoulder.
Morgan has appealed both suspensions and is scheduled to have his hearing this upcoming Friday. In the meantime, he is quickly gaining a reputation as a dirty player with a temper problem.
“Some of the things he has done have made me stop and take pause, but I also want to say he has been nothing but a model citizen off the field, in the clubhouse and in the community,” Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said. “He’s a good person.”
Morgan was in Pittsburgh. Hopefully, that isn’t changing.
Herald-Standard sports correspondent John Perrotto is editor-in-chief of BaseballProspectus.com