Oh, Nyjer Morgan. You may remember how the former Washington Nationals outfielder claimed his ticket was booked out out town thanks to a fight with Jayson Werth during spring training. The fight did happen, of course, but it was the last straw, not an incident that changed things. Frankly, it was surprising Morgan was on the roster in spring training.
All that is a distant memory now that Morgan has revitalized his career as a sparkplug for the Milwaukee Brewers as they make a World Series run. With all that happening, Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post talked to Morgan about the incident and his journey back to respectability. In the story, we learn more details of the fight itself between Morgan and Werth.
Jayson Werth, the Nationals’ new $126 million right fielder — who was brought in, in part, to give the Nationals a strong clubhouse presence — felt Morgan was short-cutting some wind sprints in the outfield, and said so.
"Man, you don’t know me," Morgan said, according to people familiar with the incident. "You’ve been here two weeks."
The two men reportedly nearly came to blows before they were separated. A few days later, Morgan was gone and both teams moved on. The Nationals improved by 11 games, and the Brewers got this far. Win/win, right?
Well, yes, but that doesn't mean Morgan's going to stop needling Werth. Via Sheinin's story:
"Even in my worst year [in 2010], I hit .253," Morgan said. "What did [Werth] hit?"
The answer to that rhetorical question, of course, is that Werth hit .232 in 2011.
Sad thing is, Morgan won that scoreboard argument. Whatever. Good for him. Sometimes, things work out for all involved.