Justin Morneau plays as a #27 starting first baseman for the Minnesota Twins. Minnesota Twins selected him in the 3rd round (89th overall) of the 1999 amateur entry draft. He was born on May 15, 1981 in New Westminster , British Columbia . Morneau graduated from New Westminster Secondary School in 1999, where he showed his versatility of playing three different sports; baseball, basketball and hockey. In his final year New Westminster High School named him their Athlete of the Year. In 1997 and 1998, he became the member of National Championship baseball team, where he was named top catcher and hitter in 1998. In 1999, he played on Canadian World Junior team and in 20001, played on Canadian National team in World Baseball Championship. Morneau did not attend the college; instead he chose to play professional baseball immediately after graduating from high school. Morneau made his Major League debut on June 10, 2003 . He began the 2003 season at New Britain . On his major league debut day he singled off Jason Jennings for first major league hit and had season-high 3 hits against Colorado . In 2004, the Twins recruited him as their starting first baseman after trading veteran Doug Mientkiewicz to the Boston Red Sox. In 2004, Morneau committed only three errors in 61 games and provided a powerful bat behind the plate. |
