Jim Souhan: No time for Morneau to feel burdened

Baseball can be cruel.

Michael Jordan never lost his jumper, Joe Montana never lost his touch, yet every autumn great hitters lose their swings.

The contagion -- know as A-Rod-itis -- has infected Justin Morneau, and during the Twins' 4-2 loss to Kansas City on Saturday it appeared to turn viral.

Morneau keeps one MVP award on his mantle and has another on order, yet the big Canadian is suddenly swinging like the game is back-yard badminton and he's sipped one too many Labatt's.

Saturday, Morneau eked a grounder through the right side to break an 0-for-10 streak but otherwise looked like a man unfamiliar with the strike zone and all too familiar with his burden.

With 46 more RBI than anyone on the roster and that second MVP trophy within reach, Morneau knows it is his responsibility to produce the runs that would send the Twins to the playoffs. The curse of baseball is that intensity can be counterproductive, and desire can boomerang.

The more Morneau cares -- and he's cared enough to play every game this season, even on legs that have barked like guard dogs for weeks -- the more he looks like a blindfolded kid feeling for a piñata. He has six hits in his past 35 at-bats, and his four outs on Saturday proved telling.

He left six runners on base, and as his soft fly to left with two on and two out in the ninth ended the game, he smashed his bat on the Metrodome turf, leaving nothing but a handle in his right hand. "It's been a while since I've done that," he said, after marching quickly to his locker to face reporters after the game. "I usually like to save it for the tunnel."

He shrugged and said, "It's an emotional game."

In the first inning, with Alexi Casilla on third and two outs, Morneau took a called third strike and complained to home plate umpire Marty Foster. Whether the call was accurate or not, normally Morneau would be looking to drive any pitch near the strike zone to produce a run, not hoping to coax a walk.

In the third, Morneau singled to right.

In the fifth, with Joe Mauer on first and one out, Morneau struck out swinging, but none of the swings was of the confident-bordering-on-violent rips to to which we have become accustomed, and Morneau walked away from Foster asking about the location of the pitch he had missed.

In the seventh, the Twins presented Morneau with one of those moments that can win a game, a title or a few extra MVP votes. Morneau came up with two on and one out. He hacked at the first pitch, grounding into a routine double play. "I was looking for a fastball over the plate," he said. "I got it. I just didn't do anything with it."

In the ninth, Morneau came up representing the tying run, flew to left and broke his bat.

"He's pressing a little bit," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "You can see that. But he's also played 160 [now 161] games. He knows he's gotta be out there. I'm sure his body's feeling the effects of that, so there's a lot of things going on with him, and no one wants to do it more than this guy, so he's been trying to force the issue.

"Some days the ball looks like a beach ball. Some days, it's a golf ball."

This week, Morneau looks like he's swinging at a whiffleball with a garden hose. He's trying to become the 14th player to win more than one American League MVP Award, yet he's 3-for-19 with one RBI on this homestand, as losses to the Royals the past two days have left his team in limbo with one game remaining.

"I'd want to be up in that situation tomorrow," Morneau said. "I hope I get that chance."

The Twins would want him in the batter's box, too, but on the last day of the season, what will sound louder to Morneau -- the fans' chants of "M-V-P," or the voices in his head?

Jim Souhan can be heard Sundays from 10 a.m.-noon on AM-1500 KSTP. • jsouhan@startribune.com