Morgan was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 33rd round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft. On September 1, 2007, Morgan made his major league debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Milwaukee Brewers as a late-season call-up. On March 27, 2011, Morgan was traded to the Brewers in exchange for prospect Cutter Dykstra (son of baseball player Lenny Dykstra). Morgan played for three MLB teams, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Washington. Morgan played as an "AP" as a 16 year old with the Vipers during the (1996-1997) season.
Nyjer Morgan's Player Profile:
http://brewers.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=460579#gameType='S'§ionType=career&statType=1&season=2012
This is posted on the ESPN website:
Nyjer Morgan: 'I love it' in Japan
Updated: July 31, 2013
Associated Press
NAGOYA, Japan -- Given his past as a two-sport athlete, former Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Nyjer Morgan figured he would have no trouble adjusting to Japan's unique brand of baseball.A slow start and demotion to the minor leagues may have shaken that confidence, but Morgan is now starting to make a major impact with the Yokohama DeNa BayStars of Japan's Central League.
The 33-year-old native of San Francisco is batting .303 with 31 RBIs and a career-high seven home runs in 67 games as the No. 3 hitter for the BayStars. His progress has been so steady, the team was able to send veteran Alex Ramirez to the minor league team. Ramirez is one of the most successful foreign players in the history of Japanese baseball and earlier this season collected his 2,000th hit in Japan.
"It's all a learning process," Morgan said. "I didn't get mad because I failed in my first month here. In this game you are going to fail more than you succeed. You've just got to keep a good attitude about things and make the adjustments."
Going from the major leagues to Japan is one thing. Switching from ice hockey to baseball is something different all together, but that's what Morgan did earlier in his career.
Inspired by the 1988 Calgary Olympics when he was 7, Morgan got involved in hockey and made it all the way to the major junior level with the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League.
"I was watching the Calgary Olympics and saw the great rivalries, the banging and the face washing with the gloves and said 'let's try it,' " Morgan said. "I told my old man 'Let's go to sign ups' and the next week I was on the ice."
When you've lived in the frigid conditions of Saskatchewan, the transition to Japan is not that harsh. Morgan said the main thing was getting used to the quirky tendencies of Japanese pitchers, who throw more off-speed pitches than their major league counterparts.
"The timing is different here," Morgan said. "The pitchers mess up your timing, it's not just a rapid fire like I was used to in the States."
Before coming to Japan, he spent two seasons in Milwaukee, where he was teammates with Ryan Braun, who was suspended for the rest of the MLB season for violating baseball's anti-drug policy.
"Being a former teammate and being one of his friends, it's a tough situation," Morgan said. "I'm pretty sure he's glad everything came out and he got it off his chest."
While Morgan spoke out against doping, he said he can understand the temptation for some.
"I've batted .300 twice in the major leagues and that is hard to do," Morgan said. "To consistently do that and stay on the field you've got to produce cause it's a business even though it's a game and you want to give the fans a good show, but you want to do it on a level playing field. A lot of guys do it so they can reach their dream to be a major league ballplayer."
Morgan said if things continue in a positive direction, he'd like to finish his playing career in Japan.
"I love it here," Morgan said. "The fans are great, everyone shows you so much respect and it's just a lot of fun to be here."
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