DOWNTOWN • Shortly after Cardinals first
baseman Albert Pujols offered up a complimentary view of
Nyjer Morgan as a talented player who "sometimes
goes a little overboard," the Milwaukee Brewers center fielder had
something to say about Pujols on Twitter.
It started by calling him "Alberta."
In the ninth inning of the Cardinals' 2-0 victory Wednesday at
Busch Stadium, Morgan had one of the best at-bats of the game
against Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter. The
Cardinals' ace had been efficient and effective against the
Brewers, getting 21 outs on his first 75 pitches. Morgan worked him
for a 10-pitch at-bat to open the ninth inning, striking out on the
10th pitch.
Morgan then began yelling at Carpenter, firing off a series of
curse words that are fit for a family blog. Morgan also flung a wad
of chewing tobacco in the direction of the mound -- an infraction
that drew Albert Pujols into the screaming match and also got
Morgan ejected by crew chief Derryl Cousins.
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Undeterred, Morgan then took to Twitter.
On his official Twitter feed -- @theRealTPlush -- Morgan ramped up the taunting with a
series of blasts directed at the Cardinals and Pujols. They are
presented here unedited:
Morgan has
been ruffling feathers with the Cardinals for several years, going
back to his collision with young Bryan Anderson at the plate in
Washington and continuing this season with an odd series of
vulgarities hurled at Carpenter from the dugout. His teammates
urged him to be quiet during that game in August, and it took the
umpires addressing the dugout for the show to stop.
After the
game, Morgan insisted that Carpenter fired first in the exchange of
colorful suggestions.
Carpenter
insisted he did not say anything to Morgan. In the past, Carpenter
has yelled at opposing players, sometimes breaking from his
composure to scream down an opponent for an afront, such as spiking
a bat in apparent disbelief of a poor swing (see: Carlos
Lee) or at an opposing pitcher for throwing inside (see:
Edwin Jackson). Carpenter has, in the past,
acknowledged when he had an issue with a player and when he
responded verbally.
"I'm not even
going to go there," Carpenter said after his shutout. "He's a good
player. He has some serious talent. He just plays the game a
different way. I didn't know anything was going on until I heard
Albert."
Morgan had
more to say after the game, most of which you can read in
Rick Hummel's side bar from the game and from
Tom Haudricourt's coverage in The Milwaukee
Journal-Sentinel (see
here).
The Cardinals
and Brewers do not play each other again this season. The fallout
from the Tweets could be difficult to determine.
"It's just one of those things, the competitiveness coming out
in both teams," Morgan told reporters in the Brewers' clubhouse
before his salvos on Twitter. "He was battling and I was battling.
He felt he had to say something. If he feels he has to say
something, let him say it. But as soon as he said it, he turns his
back and runs away.
"Whatever. It is what it is."
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