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Sloppy Cases: Nyjer Morgan, the Colorful Attitude

Milo Coulter / MLB / February 4, 2021

It’s easy to make assumptions that the Washington Nationals have had a brush of bad luck with prima donnas. As mentioned before they dealt with Elijah Dukes, and more recently Bryce Harper. These players have had talent, but have lost respect on the field with their attitude. Luckily, Harper never really has off-field problems. However, whether off the field or not, here’s the story of a former outfielder named Nyjer Morgan who really just couldn’t keep it together wherever he went.

A constant trend with these players is the fact they cannot remain on one team for a long period of time. Management ultimately cannot handle them nor their actions, calling for DFAs and trades. Nyjer Morgan played for Pittsburgh, Washington, Milwaukee, and Cleveland in just seven years. He was speedy leadoff man who got on base a lot. He recorded a .282 average, a .343 OBP, and 120 stolen bases. Statistically, he was a throwback player who was fun to watch. He also propelled the Milwaukee Brewers to the 2011 National League Championship Series with a walk-off hit against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

But upon observing what he actually did on the field, he was very outspoken and temperamental. One example was when he was a National during a game against the Baltimore Orioles. Morgan missed an extra-base robbing catch off the bat of Orioles batter Adam Jones. As a result, he threw his glove down in frustration and allowed Jones to easily score on an inside-the-park home run. He also took a ball during the game and had the audacity to throw it at a fan. Not cool, Nyjer, not cool. Don’t swoop to the Ron Artest levels.

Nyjer was just a chirpy person who had a Napoleon complex. In a game against the Marlins in which the Nationals were down by 10 runs, a ball was thrown behind Morgan. He dropped his bat and charged the pitcher, Chris Volstad. The reason? Morgan was stealing bases even though being down by 10 runs, breaking the unwritten rule. The Marlins felt the need to retaliate, and once Nyjer caught on, he served an eight-game suspension after throwing punches.

Sloppy Cases: Elijah Dukes, a Major League Problem

Now I know Morgan doesn’t have the track record of players like Milton Bradley or Elijah Dukes, but Nyjer Morgan falls into the category of a player with a fiery personality in which teams couldn’t stand. He actually kept his act together for the most part off the field as far as we all know. If you ask a baseball fan who one of the most annoyingly energetic players were, Nyjer Morgan is right there.

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