Justin Morneau: On balance, he's better
“He had no strength,” Twins hitting coach Joe Vavra said. “He saw all those other guys going down and tried gutting it out, but it actually did more harm than good. The more he played, the worse he became mechanically.”
Morneau traces his other health concerns in 2011 to spring training, when he was so focused on clearing his head that he couldn’t prepare the rest of his body. He didn’t start playing exhibition games until mid-March, and though he was in the Opening Day lineup, pitchers quickly sensed this wasn’t the same hitter.
“I wanted to be back so bad,” he said. “As athletes, sometimes our desire wins out over common sense.”
His left wrist began bothering him in May. In June, he underwent surgery to relieve a pinched nerve in his neck, which was causing weakness and numbness in his left arm. When he returned two months later, the wrist was still a big problem.
“I was never comfortable at the plate because I was never healthy,” Morneau said. “If they threw a fastball on the inside corner, I never had confidence that my wrist was going to be able to get to it.”
Finally, after the Aug. 28 concussion, Morneau shifted into 2012 mode, with a goal of getting as healthy as possible for spring training. On Sept. 19, he went through two surgeries — one to remove a cyst in his left knee, and another to chisel a bone spur from his right foot. Eleven days later, he had another procedure to stabilize a tendon in his left wrist.
He left Minnesota full of fresh scars, returning to a place where he could finally heal.
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Underneath the reception desk at Fischer Sports, there’s an autographed picture of Nathan in a Giants jersey, circa 2003, after he had rotator cuff surgery.
“To Brett,” it says. “Thanks for getting me back on track.”
Brett Fischer is a physical therapist for the Arizona Cardinals whose other clients have included five-time Cy Young Award winner Randy Johnson, New York Jets All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis and three-time Grand Slam tennis champion Maria Sharapova. When Diamondbacks shortstop Stephen Drew suffered a horrific ankle injury last July, he planned his recovery inside Fischer’s 20,000-square-foot facility.
Morneau has known Fischer since 1999. This past fall, Fischer urged him to be patient as his body healed, leading him through a long series of light workouts, designed to restore his focus, balance and core strength.
By Tuesday, Morneau had graduated to a much more vigorous program, joining fellow big leaguers Drew, Mark Reynolds, Chien-Ming Wang, J.J. Putz, Rene Tosoni and others for various strength and agility drills. At one point, Morneau flashed a big smile as he lugged 160 pounds behind him on an aluminum sled.
“It’s just great to see him out here with the other guys, having fun,” said Fischer, who also helped Morneau heading into his 2006 American League MVP season. “To me, this is more rewarding [than 2006] because of what he’s been through. With the concussions and the wrist [injury], we didn’t know what was going to happen.”
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With his workout finished, Morneau plotted the rest of his day, wondering what adventures his wife, Krista, and 15-month-old daughter, Evelyn, had planned for him. The Barrett-Jackson car auction was in Scottsdale, and Morneau hoped to add to his collection of vintage cars.
His garage already holds a 1972 Chevelle, a ’65 Mustang and a ’33 Ford. Later that day, he landed a ’68 Camaro convertible with a $38,500 bid.
Car collecting has become a fun hobby, but Morneau isn’t ready to give that his full-time attention. Far from it. He said he hopes to play seven or eight more years.
“I know if I’m healthy that I’m a good baseball player,” he said. “My only issue has been staying healthy. There’s no way for anyone to know if they can do exactly what they’ve done in the past, but I’m still 30 years old. I’m not 38 or 39.”
Still, the concussions have become a very real concern. His outstanding 2010 season was derailed when his head collided with Blue Jays infielder John McDonald’s knee as Morneau slid into second base. He also suffered a concussion in April 2005 when he got beaned by a Ron Villone fastball in Seattle. Asked if he worries about that happening again, he paused.
“I think it’ll take some time to build some confidence back,” he said. “Just to prove I can dive for a ball and everything will be all right. I can slide into second base and break up a double play.
“I have faith that the guy’s a major league pitcher. It’s very rare that somebody gets hit in the head. They have a new helmet out this year that will help protect me.
“I have faith that if I’m healthy I should be quick enough to be able to get out of the way. Hopefully, everything goes well in spring training and we start to move past that stuff.”
Most of all, Morneau trusts his doctor. Collins is one of the country’s foremost concussion experts. Another one of his patients is NHL star Sidney Crosby.
“The doctor’s not going to put me in a situation where I have a chance to have long-term issues,” Morneau said.