Back From Japan, Former Vernon Viper Morgan Fondly Remembers 2011:

Here is an article on former Vernon Vipers defenceman Nyjer Morgan.  Morgan is in his first season with the Cleveland Indians still remembers 2011 and the 2011 National League Championship Series with the Milwaukee Brewers.   

The Cleveland Indians signed Morgan to a Minor League contract on January 16th 2014.   Morgan earned a roster spot with the Indians to start opening day.

Morgan returned to the Majors after playing last season in Japan where he spent the 2013-14 season with the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Yokohama DeNa BayStars. Morgan & the Indians open the 2014-15 MLB Spring Training season Wednesday vs the Cincinnati Reds.

Morgan signed with the BayStars on January 23rd 2013 after spending the previous two seasons with the MLB Milwaukee Brewers before electing free agency, a day after the Brewers hastened his departure by outrighting him from the 40-man roster.

Morgan was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 33rd round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft. On September 1st 2007 Morgan made his major league debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Milwaukee Brewers as a late-season call-up. On June 30 2009 Morgan was traded to the Washington Nationals along with pitcher Sean Burnett in exchange for outfielder Lastings Milledge and pitcher Joel Hanrahan. On March 27 2011 Morgan was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for prospect Cutter Dykstra (son of baseball player Lenny Dykstra). Morgan played for three MLB teams, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Washington before heading to Japan.
Morgan attended the Vernon Vipers Training camp in 1996-97. Morgan played as an "AP" as a 16 year old with the Vipers during the (1996-1997) season while playing with the KIJHL North Okanagan Kings.

Nyjer Morgan's Player Profile:

http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=460579#gameType='R'&sectionType=career&statType=1&season=2014&level='ALL'

This was in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Newspaper:

Back from Japan, Cleveland's Nyjer Morgan fondly remembers 2011

Nyjer Morgan is safe with the Cleveland Indians after a season in Japan.

By Todd Rosiak of the Journal Sentinel

March 26, 2014

Goodyear, Ariz. — Nyjer Morgan has been around the world and back again, and he still has nothing but love for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Having just made the Cleveland Indians roster this week, Morgan on Wednesday reacquainted himself with the team that he helped into the 2011 National League Championship Series with one of the biggest hits in franchise history.

It was his 10th-inning single off J.J. Putz that scored Carlos Gomez to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 5 of the NLDS at Miller Park, giving the Brewers their first post-season series victory in almost three decades.

Almost as big was Morgan's megawatt smile, the "Beast Mode" signal he helped make popular and his "Tony Plush" alter ego that made him one of the biggest Brewers fan favorites in recent memory.

"Just a great group of guys, a great organization," Morgan said before the Brewers' Cactus League game with the Indians at Goodyear Ballpark. "For me, it's still home. It's nothing but great memories of Milwaukee."

Acquired just before Milwaukee broke camp in 2011, Morgan first platooned in center field with Carlos Gomez before eventually taking over full time after Gomez went down with a broken left collarbone. He finished with a .304 average, four home runs and 37 runs batted in while serving as a catalyst atop a power-packed lineup.

His game-winning single against Arizona, after which he was mobbed by his Brewers teammates on the field, still stands as one of the enduring memories of his career.

"That's one of the best," he said. "That group of guys, just the fun we had that year, nothing could take that away."

Morgan was involved in his fair share of fireworks with opposing teams and fans, most notably late in the 2011 season with Chris Carpenter and the St. Louis Cardinals, but overall he was a positive clubhouse presence for manager Ron Roenicke.

"I thought his energy was great," Roenicke said. "Even though there was a couple things he got a little bit in trouble for... the guy means well in whatever he does. He's a really good teammate and he's got so much energy; he's contagious. I really like Nyjer.

"It's nice to have some characters on the team. It makes things loose, it gives you energy. There's a lot of things that happen. He played great for us that year and was a huge part of us winning."

Morgan was asked what made that 2011 team so special.

"I think it was just all the personalities in the clubhouse," he said. "It was just one of those things; you don't know if all the pieces of the puzzle are going to fit until you test it out."

Morgan got off to a slow start in 2012 and never really recovered, eventually being phased out in favor of Gomez and finishing with a .239 average, three homers and 16 RBI. He played last season in Japan and, not surprisingly, became a fan favorite over there as well.

"I can play the game still," he said. "It was just one of those things where I had a better opportunity to go out there, plus see another part of the world. That's why I took it."

He signed a minor-league deal with the Indians heading into this spring and with Michael Bourn injured, Morgan will make the Indians' 25-man roster for opening day. Now noticeably more muscled up, Morgan is hitting .205 this spring with six RBI.

Not a bad turnaround for a 33-year-old who most assumed had played his final game in the major leagues with Milwaukee.

"Honestly, I didn't even know," Morgan said of bouncing back after his year in Japan. "It wasn't even really a plan. It was kind of whatever happens, happens. Just kind of take it year by year."

With experience as a bench player that final year with the Brewers, Morgan is ready for whatever this season holds with the Indians. Roenicke, for one, credited Morgan for his professionalism in handling his diminished role down the stretch in Milwaukee in 2012.

"I'm just excited to do whatever role they want me to do on this team," Morgan said. "I'm happy with it."

Morgan is fitting in well in the Cleveland clubhouse these days, according to former Brewers teammate John Axford, now the Indians' closer.

"There's still flashes of T-Plush," he said. "He just picks his spots now."

That comes with maturity, according to Morgan.

"Just kind of tone it down now, you know what I mean? I don't want Tony Plush to take over who Nyjer Morgan is," he said. "It's just, I'm wiser now. You know when to bring him out and when to calm it down.

"But I still have the fun in me, going out there joking, yelling at guys. Basically bringing the hard work."

At some point, Morgan knows he'll be back in Milwaukee. And he's looking forward to it.

"I know 20 years from now when they bring us all back, I'll be a part of that group," he said with a smile. "A special moment. I know for sure I'll be coming back as an older 'T,' a wiser 'T.'"