Justin Morneau had a career defining year in 2006. In his second full season in the major leagues and with the Twins, he easily established personal bests in average, home runs and RBI’s, .321, 34 and 130. He was named the American League’s Most Valuable Player by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
The 25-year-old first baseman led the majors in hitting after June 8 with a .362 average. Prior to last season Morneau had twice hit under .240 in seasons with the Twins and never had more than 22 home runs or 79 RBI’s.
He told Sports Headliners the success of 2006 taught him to become a more patient hitter and provided more confidence. He was asked to be more specific. “Not afraid to get behind in the count, not afraid to hit with two strikes,” Morneau said. “You feel like you can get a hit. It doesn’t matter what the situation is…it kind of carries over and it stops you from swinging at bad pitches and chasing pitches.”
During the long major league season Morneau, who turns 26 next month, emphasizes a steady emotional approach. “You learn it’s 162 games, and (if) you get all excited every time you get a hit and if you beat yourself up every time you get an out, you’re going to drive yourself nuts the whole year,” he said. “So you just kind of stay somewhere in the middle. The only thing that really matters is if the team wins.”
Winning is the likely result for the 2007 Twins who are trying to repeat as Central Division champions in arguably baseball’s best division. Morneau said one or two teams from the division may make the playoffs and once in the post season a team can make a run at a World Series championship. Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland stand between the Twins and another division championship, the team’s fourth in five years.
“It’s going to be a battle everyday,” Morneau said of the division race. “You can’t really take a night off. It could cost you the division. In the end last year we ended up by winning the division by one game on the last day of the season. Every day is important. You can’t afford to give games away.”