Justin Morneau

Justin Ernest George Morneau (born May 15, 1981) is a Canadian former professional baseball first baseman.

He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies, and Chicago White Sox.

Morneau attended St. Thomas More Collegiate in 1994–95 for his eighth grade year, where he played basketball.

Coaches approached him to play for the school's famed football program, based on his athletic ability, but he declined.

He was named the New Westminster High School Athlete of the year and was a member of Canadian national champion baseball teams in 1997 and 1998.

In 1998, he was selected the best hitter and catcher of the National Championships playing for Team British Columbia.

Morneau was associated with the Portland Winter Hawks of the Western Hockey League; he attended training camp and played one preseason game of Major Junior hockey as a goaltender.

Morneau chose his jersey number (33) for goalie Patrick Roy.

He is listed as winning the Memorial Cup in 1998 with the Winter Hawks.

As Morneau put it, "I was the third goalie. A backup to the backup. If somebody got hurt, I might have gotten out there as a backup. I played in an exhibition game and backed up some regular-season games.".

Morneau remained on Portland's Protected Player List until he decided to focus on baseball instead of hockey.

According to Winter Hawks assistant coach at the time, Mike Williamson, "He was young and raw — a big guy who covered a lot of the net. I remember a conversation we had with him when recruiting him. We told him he should go to hockey because not many Canadian guys end up going very far and doing very well in baseball. He showed us otherwise."

Morneau did not attend college, despite receiving many attractive offers from NCAA schools.

At 6 ft and 220 lb, Morneau was drafted as a catcher by the Twins in 1999.

Morneau transferred to New Westminster Secondary School and graduated in 1999.

He continued to play basketball and hockey while in high school.

He was selected by the Twins in the third round (89th overall) of the 1999 Major League Baseball draft.

He converted to first base in 2001 while playing for the Class-A Quad Cities River Bandits.

In six minor league seasons, he hit .310 with 87 home runs, 153 RBI and 122 doubles.

Morneau participated in the 2002 and 2004 All-Star Futures Games, playing for the World teams.

He was twice named Eastern League Player of the Week in 2002 (April 22–28 and July 15–21).

On September 3, 2002, Morneau was promoted to Minnesota's Triple-A team, the Edmonton Trappers, but did not play in a game for the team that season.

He converted to first base in the minor leagues and made his MLB debut in 2003.

He made his first Triple-A appearance in 2003 with the Twins' new affiliate, the Rochester Red Wings, and finished the season batting .268 with 16 home runs and 42 RBI in 71 games.

Morneau made his major league debut with the Twins on June 10, 2003 against the Colorado Rockies, batting clean-up.

A four-time All-Star despite an injury-riddled career, Morneau was named the 2006 American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP), finished runner-up for MVP in 2008, and won two Silver Slugger Awards.

Internationally, Morneau represented Canada at the 2006, 2009, 2013, and 2017 World Baseball Classic.

After retirement from baseball, he was elected to the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame and currently serves as a Special Assistant in the Twins front office, as well as a color commentator for the team on Bally Sports North.

Morneau is the youngest son of George Morneau, a hitting coach for many softball and baseball teams, childcare worker, and sporting goods store owner.

His mother Audra Chartrand is an elementary school teacher and former fast-pitch softball player.

Justin has an older brother, Geordie.

His father once played hockey for the Brandon Wheat Kings and attended the training camp of the Minnesota North Stars.

Morneau grew up in New Westminster, British Columbia, the historic "Royal City", adjacent to Vancouver, where he played hockey for the local minor team, the New Westminster Royals, and emerged as a star goaltender, playing for teams a year older than he was.

He also played baseball in the New Westminster Minor Baseball Association and for the North Delta Blue Jays in the B.C. Premier Baseball League.

Morneau attended Lord Tweedsmuir Elementary School in New Westminster, later transferring to Richard McBride Elementary School, where his mother was a teacher and coach and where he enrolled in a French immersion program.

He played basketball and volleyball and ball hockey on the school teams.

Growing up, Morneau was an avid sports fan, whose favourite athletes included hockey players Patrick Roy, Cam Neely (also a native of British Columbia), and Ray Bourque; and baseball players John Olerud, Ken Griffey Jr., Jack Morris and Larry Walker.

His favorite NHL team was the Boston Bruins, and his favorite MLB team was the Toronto Blue Jays.

Morneau held that position throughout his career and in 2007 became the first Twin since Gary Gaetti in 1987–1988 to hit 30 home runs in consecutive seasons.

Additionally, Morneau won the 2008 Home Run Derby and the 2014 National League (NL) batting title.