Justin Morneau

Early Life and Family

Justin Morneau is the youngest child of Audra Sinclair and George Morneau. Justin’s older brother, Geordie, also played baseball. Audra played fast pitch softball, while George was a hitting coach in softball and baseball. Audra was an elementary school teacher, and George “probably had a hundred different jobs,” Justin once said. George had been a high-performance athlete himself. He played with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League in 1968–69. (See Canadian Junior Hockey.) Justin’s parents divorced when he was seven years old.

Early Athletic Career

Justin Morneau grew up in New Westminster, British Columbia. Like his father, he also played hockey in the WHL. He was a third-string goaltender for the Portland Winterhawks when they won the Memorial Cup in 1998. Justin’s idols were goaltenders Patrick Roy and Andy Moog. (Morneau wore No. 33 for most of his MLB career, the same number as Roy and Larry Walker, another goaltender-turned-baseball star from BC.)

As a teenager, Morneau realized he simply wasn’t good enough to make it to the NHL and focused instead on baseball. He was a catcher for the North Delta Blue Jays of the Island Premier Baseball League.

At the national level, Morneau won two consecutive Baseball Canada Championships representing BC at the midget level in 1997 and 1998. He was the best hitter and catcher at the 1998 Baseball Canada Championships in Red Deer, Alberta. In April 1999, at the age of 17, Justin played for the junior national team at a spring training camp in Orlando.

Early Career with the Minnesota Twins (1999–2005)

In June 1999, Justin Morneau was drafted in the third round, 89th overall, out of New Westminster High School by the Minnesota Twins. He was drafted as a catcher but did not stay behind the plate for long. He moved to first base in rookie ball in 2000 and progressed rapidly through the minor leagues. He batted .402 in 52 games in 2000 and .356 in 64 games in single-A in 2001. In 2002, he was selected to the MLB Futures Game in Milwaukee.

Morneau made his MLB debut on 10 June 2003. He hit two singles in a 5–0 loss to the Colorado Rockies. Morneau’s first MLB home run came on 17 June 2003. Blocked at the MLB level by Twins first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, Morneau spent most of 2003 and 2004 in triple-A. He slashed .268/.345/.498 in 71 games in 2003 and .306/.377/.615 in 72 games in 2004.

The following season, the Twins were involved in a blockbuster trade that sent Mientkiewicz to the Boston Red Sox. This opened up a starting job for Morneau at first base. In 2004, he hit .271 with 19 home runs and 58 runs batted in (RBI). Morneau then batted .239 with 22 home runs and 79 RBI during 141 games in 2005.

American League MVP (2006)

In 2006, Justin Morneau became the second Canadian player (after Larry Walker in 1997) to win an MLB Most Valuable Player Award. Morneau had career highs in home runs (34), RBI (130), runs scored (97), hits (190), stolen bases (three), total bases (331) and an MLB-leading 11 sacrifice flies (tied with three other players that year). He also had the distinction of being the 10th player in MLB history to be named an MVP without being selected as an All-Star that season.

All-Star Seasons with the Twins (2007–10)

After not being selected as an All-Star in 2006, Justin Morneau was an American League All-Star for four straight seasons from 2007 to 2010. During this period, he had 588 hits, 102 home runs, 396 runs batted in and a batting average of .298. In 2008, Morneau won the Home Run Derby during the All-Star festivities at Yankee Stadium. He also won his second American League Silver Slugger Award (best hitter at his position). He previously won the Silver Slugger Award at first base in 2006.

During the 2010 MLB season, Morneau was on pace to win a second MVP award. He had a sizzling batting average of .345 along with 18 home runs, 102 hits, 25 doubles and 56 RBI over only 81 games. However, on 7 July 2010, Morneau suffered a concussion after hitting his head on the second baseman’s knee while sliding into second base. Morneau missed the remainder of the 2010 season.

Later Career (2011–16)

Still plagued by the injury, Justin Morneau saw his numbers drop significantly in 2011. He only batted .227 with four home runs and 30 RBI. He played one more full season with the Twins in 2012 before being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates during the 2013 season for outfielder Alex Presley and pitcher Duke Welker.

Morneau then played two seasons with the Colorado Rockies in 2014 and 2015 before his final season with the Chicago White Sox in 2016. While with the Rockies in 2014, Morneau won the National League batting title with a batting average of .319. He also won his third Tip O’Neill Award (presented to the best Canadian baseball player of the year) after previously winning in 2006 and 2008.

Career Statistics

In 14 MLB seasons, Justin Morneau hit 247 home runs and 985 RBI. In 1,545 games, 5,699 at bats and 6,392 plate appearances, he scored 772 runs and had 1,603 hits, 349 doubles, 23 triples, five stolen bases, 573 walks, 2,739 total bases, 74 sacrifice flies, and a slash line of .281/.348/.481 for an OPS of .828.

Team Canada

Justin Morneau represented Canada internationally seven times: as part of the junior national team in 1999, at the 2001 World Cup in Taiwan, the 2003 Olympic Games Qualifying Event in Panama, and the first four World Baseball Classics (2006, 2009, 2013, 2017).

Post-Baseball Career and Charity Work

Since retiring as a player, Justin Morneau has stayed active in baseball. He has worked in broadcasting as an analyst for the Twins’ TV broadcasts and as a panel analyst for Rogers Sportsnet during the World Series. Morneau has also worked for the Twins as a special assistant in baseball operations.

Justin and his wife, Krista, have also developed the Justin Morneau Family Foundation to support “underserved communities” in areas where Justin and Krista have lived with their five children: Evelyn, Marty, Estelle, Maximus and Myles. In Minnesota, Morneau helps organize a winter coat drive for the Salvation Army. He also raises awareness of and organizes fundraisers for juvenile arthritis, as his niece Maddie has the disease. Morneau is also involved with the United Heroes League, which provides sports equipment and registration fees for children of military families.

Honours

On 2 February 2008, a 116-year-old baseball diamond in New Westminster’s Moody Park was named Justin Morneau Field. Morneau was inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame in 2021, the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022 and the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 2024.