Setting the record straight

They both shrug it off, downplaying the moment as a quick meeting in the manager's office. They both say Ron Gardenhire wasn't making a statement when Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau was left out of the starting lineup for a June 7 game in Seattle, making only a pinch-hitting appearance in front of family and friends who had driven down from Canada.

Dig a little deeper, and Morneau admits the significance of the conversation. The pregame meeting allowed the manager to tell his young slugger that the team had confidence in him; that he had confidence in him. That the Twins had faith he could become a great player if he started focusing more on baseball.

Because, without him, they weren't going to win anything.

``Just him pointing out to me that I can do a lot of things not a lot of people can do," said Morneau, a candidate for the American League's MVP Award. ``He was just trying to help me see that. You know, it took me a minute to kind of figure it out. I either could have took it one way, gotten mad, and said he's just mad at me or whatever. Or I could see it as him trying to help me, which he did. He tried to help me see that I can help this team win."

And that is exactly what he did. Before and including that game, Morneau had batted .236 with just 11 home runs, 38 RBIs, and a .747 OPS in 53 games. In the 104 games that followed, Morneau batted .362 with 23 home runs, 92 RBIs, and a 1.023 OPS. After the 10-9 loss that night, the Twins were 24-33 and, essentially, treading water. But they went 71-33 the rest of the way and headed straight for the playoffs.

``Never really struggled before for an extended period of time," Morneau said of his season in 2005 -- .239 average, 22 home runs, 79 RBIs, and a .741 OPS -- and the first half of 2006. ``In the minor leagues I always hit for average, and all of a sudden you're struggling. You don't know how to deal with that, you know. Sometimes when the team's not doing well, you feel like you're the reason the team's not winning games. You can be too hard on yourself."

From super prospect in the minor leagues to stumbling major leaguer, Morneau lost faith in himself, reacting to each mistake as if it would get him sent back down to Triple A. Frustration and self-flagellation merged.

``He wanted to hit 40 home runs before he'd hit four, and that's typical of young players," Gardenhire said.

And then came that meeting.

``Now he's a little more personable," said teammate Michael Cuddyer. ``Not saying he was a bad guy, by any means. I'm not saying that, but you could just see it weighing on him. If he made an out, he would really get down on himself, really get hard on himself. I don't know what made it click, or what happened.

``I'm more proud of him for [maturing] than I am for the stuff he's been doing on the field. I'm more proud of Justin maturing than for his numbers this year, because he's been an unbelievable teammate. If he's 0 for 4, he's still on that top step cheering for the next guy to get the job done. That's what makes our team go. We really rely on camaraderie. We really rely on chemistry. And he's a big reason for that."

Camaraderie and comebacks. Because in close and late situations, Morneau had six home runs and 26 RBIs in 87 at-bats. He hit .389 with the bases loaded, and .323 with men in scoring position. With men in scoring position and two outs, Morneau had 41 RBIs in 89 at-bats. Check the headlines from much of the late summer, especially for a July in which he hit .410, and over and over and over it was Morneau who smashed through opposing closers, who turned deficits into leads.

So, with his transformation coming almost immediately after that minimized meeting in the manager's office, that begged the question: Had Gardenhire not talked to Morneau, would his 25-year-old first baseman have gotten it? How long would it have taken?

``I think so," Gardenhire said. ``I think it was just a matter of time. He had enough people talking to him. His father was talking to him about things. He would have got it. I just think he would have figured it out. But, as a manager, that's your job. You see something, you say, `Hey, this is what I see.' Reassuring him. That's what my job is, to get everything out of each player that you can. So when we talked, that's what it was about. I told him how good I thought he could be."

And that's about how good he has been, finishing the season with a .321 batting average with 34 home runs and 130 RBIs. After a five-hit game in Boston Sept. 19 (his first), Red Sox manager Terry Francona called Morneau's lefthanded swing ``beautiful."

He came through again Wednesday in Game 2 of the Division Series against Oakland, when he and Cuddyer hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth (Morneau's blast tying the score at 2-2), though the Twins eventually lost, 5-2, to go down, 2-0, in the best-of-five series.

That's why, even with ace Johan Santana the likely Cy Young Award winner, and Joe Mauer the AL batting champion, it is Morneau the team calls its MVP.

``I know people say this guy's the MVP," Gardenhire said. ``I know this: Without him driving in the runs and doing what he's done for this baseball team, we wouldn't be here. No way. No chance."