The confetti has been cleaned from the stands at Miller Park. The champagne and Miller Lite that drenched the clubhouse has dried.
And this morning, Nyjer Morgan is a Wisconsin folk hero.
A man of many personalities — Tony Plush, Tony Tombstone, Tony Gumble and even Tony Hush among others — a fter struggling for most of the NLDS, Morgan came through big last night when the Brewers needed him the most.
Tony Plush? Forget that, call him Tony Clutch.
Aside from a misplayed fly ball that nearly lead to a Diamondbacks run, his performance last night may have high school baseball coaches throughout the Midwest teaching Plushdamentals to their players. And if the end result is anything like what unfolded in Milwaukee last night, those players will be a lot better off for it as well.
Let’s break down Morgan’s night, shall we?
After doubling in the 4th inning off of Diamondbacks starter Ian Kennedy, Morgan hustled to third on a wild pitch. Then, with the bases loaded and the Brewers trailing by 1, Morgan put on a baserunning clinic. Jerry Hairston lofted a shallow fly ball into right field that Aaron Hill caught with his momentum taking him away from the plate. Morgan, recognizing this, tagged up and raced home to score the game-tying run, even though the ball wasn’t nearly deep enough to score on had Hill caught the ball normally.
His 10th inning at bat though will be remembered in Wisconsin for years to come. With Carlos Gomez on first following a single, Morgan faked a bunt attempt. It was enough to distract Diamondbacks catcher Henry Blanco, who watched the ball sail past him to the backstop and Gomez advance to second. Two pitches later, Morgan lined a pitch on the outside corner up the middle for the game winning base hit, sending Gomez flying around third and into a happy mob at home plate.
One had to feel slightly sorry for TBS’s Sam Ryan, who had the assignment of not only wrangling Mr. Plush but getting him to give a coherent interview moments after the game winning hit. As Brady Green over at Awful Announcing noted, said interview went…well about as well as you’d expect a live interview with Morgan would go in that situation.
Morgan will forever be remembered as the first player in Brewers history to end a series with a walkoff hit, a “tickler” as he callled it that sent the state of Wisconsin into a collective euphoria. And just like their first ever playoff series win back in 1982, this one earns the Brewers a date with the St. Louis Cardinals, only this time it’s in the NLCS and not the World Series.
Not a bad result for a guy who was acquired towards the end of Spring Training for a minor leaguer (Cutter Dykstra, Lenny’s kid) and cash.
Regardless of what you think of his histrionics, Morgan is a guy who makes baseball fun to watch, playing the game you or I would if we were fortunate enough to be blessed with his abilities. He’s the kind of player every winning clubhouse needs, a childlike persona who keeps things light even when the pressure is at its highest. Granted, the fact that he’s been really good at his job so far this season helps when it comes to getting away with such histrionics, but even still he’s earned the respect of his teammates and perhaps more importantly his boss.
Per ESPN.com:
“He’s a joy to have, I’ll tell you,” Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. “I don’t care about all the little issues we have. This guy, I love him on this team. I like him as a really nice young man. He came through big, again, when we needed him.”
In the NLCS, Morgan’s role will be one part player, one part agitator — although the Brewers would appreciate it if he could give the Cardinals as little bulletin board material as possible. Back in September, Morgan emptied both benches by jawing at Cardinals’ ace Chris Carpenter after Carpenter struck him out, throwing a wad of chewing tobacco at the hill and taunting Albert Pujols on Twitter.
If Morgan can limit his contributions to clutch hits between the lines instead of running his mouth at the opposition, the story of Tony Clutch will have many, many more happy chapters left to be written.
